Tydens hersteltyd raak vloeistofinname al hoe belangriker.

Because Tydens hersteltyd means during recovery time or during the recovery period, and it sets the time frame for the whole sentence.

In Afrikaans, it is very common to put a time expression at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis or flow. English can do this too:

• During recovery, fluid intake becomes more important.

So the sentence starts by telling you when this is true.

Tydens means during.

It is a preposition, so it introduces a time period:

• tydens die winter = during the winter
• tydens die klas = during the class
• tydens hersteltyd = during recovery time

It is slightly more formal than very basic everyday wording, but it is completely normal and common.

Afrikaans very often forms compound nouns by writing them as a single word.

So:

• herstel = recovery / repair
• tyd = time
• hersteltyd = recovery time

This is very typical in Afrikaans and also happens in Dutch and German. English sometimes writes these as two words, where Afrikaans prefers one compound word.

Yes, raak can mean touch in some contexts, but here it means become.

In this sentence:

• raak ... belangriker = becomes more important

This use is extremely common in Afrikaans:

• Hy raak moeg. = He gets tired.
• Dit raak koud. = It is getting cold.
• Vloeistofinname raak belangriker. = Fluid intake becomes more important.

So here raak is about a change of state, not physical contact.

This is because Afrikaans follows the verb-second rule in main clauses.

The first element in the sentence is:

• Tydens hersteltyd

Once that time phrase is placed first, the finite verb must come second:

• Tydens hersteltyd raak ...

Then the subject follows:

• Tydens hersteltyd raak vloeistofinname ...

If you started with the subject instead, you would get:

• Vloeistofinname raak tydens hersteltyd al hoe belangriker.

That is also grammatical.

So the order changes because Afrikaans wants the conjugated verb in the second position, not necessarily the subject.

Vloeistofinname means fluid intake.

It is another compound noun:

• vloeistof = liquid / fluid
• inname = intake
• vloeistofinname = fluid intake

Again, Afrikaans usually writes this as one word, while English often uses two words.

This kind of compounding is very productive in Afrikaans, so learners should get used to seeing long nouns built from smaller parts.

Because the sentence is talking about fluid intake in general, not a specific, countable item.

Compare:

• Vloeistofinname is belangrik. = Fluid intake is important.
• Die vloeistofinname van die pasiënt is laag. = The patient's fluid intake is low.

In the original sentence, the noun is being used in a general or abstract sense, so no article is needed.

Al hoe belangriker means more and more important or increasingly important.

This is a common Afrikaans pattern:

• al hoe beter = better and better
• al hoe moeiliker = more and more difficult
• al hoe belangriker = more and more important

So the idea is that as recovery continues, fluid intake becomes progressively more important.

The comparative form of belangrik is belangriker = more important.

Afrikaans comparatives are often formed with -er, but the exact spelling can vary depending on the word. With belangrik, the accepted comparative is:

• belangrik = important
• belangriker = more important
• die belangrikste = the most important

So this is something to learn as the standard comparative form rather than trying to build it mechanically from English.

Sometimes English become corresponds to Afrikaans word, but in this sentence raak is the natural choice.

• raak often suggests a gradual change of state
• word is also possible in some contexts, but it can sound more formal, passive-like, or less idiomatic depending on the sentence

Here:

• vloeistofinname raak al hoe belangriker

sounds very natural for fluid intake becomes more and more important.

So a learner should recognize that Afrikaans often uses raak where English uses become or get.

A more directly parallel subject-first version would be:

• Vloeistofinname raak tydens hersteltyd al hoe belangriker.

This still means the same thing: Fluid intake becomes more and more important during recovery.

The original version simply emphasizes the time phrase first:

• Tydens hersteltyd ...

That kind of fronting is very normal in Afrikaans.