Ten spyte daarvan dat kneusing klein is, teken personeel dit aan.

It is a fixed expression meaning despite the fact that or even though.

It is built like this:

• ten spyte van = in spite of / despite
• daarvan dat helps connect that expression to a whole clause

So:

• ten spyte van die reën = despite the rain
• ten spyte daarvan dat dit reën = despite the fact that it is raining

In your sentence, it introduces a contrast: the bruise is small, but staff still record it.

Usually, no. In this structure, ten spyte daarvan dat is the normal idiomatic way to say despite the fact that.

So a learner should treat ten spyte daarvan dat as one chunk.

You can think of daarvan as a linking element that lets ten spyte van connect to a full clause rather than just a noun.

Compare:

• ten spyte van die kneusing = despite the bruise
• ten spyte daarvan dat die kneusing klein is = despite the fact that the bruise is small

Because that part is a subordinate clause introduced by dat.

In Afrikaans, subordinate clauses typically send the finite verb to the end.

So:

• Main clause: Die kneusing is klein.
• Subordinate clause: ... dat kneusing klein is

This is very common after words like:

• dat = that
• omdat = because
• as = if/when
• terwyl = while

The comma separates the opening subordinate clause from the main clause.

Structure:

• Ten spyte daarvan dat kneusing klein is, = subordinate clause
• teken personeel dit aan. = main clause

Afrikaans usually uses a comma when a subordinate clause comes before the main clause.

Kneusing is a noun meaning bruising, a bruise, or contusion, depending on context.

In medical or administrative language, kneusing is quite natural. It can sound a bit more formal or clinical than everyday English bruise.

So in context, it refers to the injury being discussed.

Afrikaans sometimes leaves out the article when speaking in a general, clinical, or report-like way.

So kneusing klein is can sound like the bruising is minor or bruising is small/minor in a formal register.

But in other contexts, you absolutely can use an article:

• 'n kneusing = a bruise
• die kneusing = the bruise

A fuller, more everyday version might be:

• Ten spyte daarvan dat die kneusing klein is, teken personeel dit aan.

That may sound more natural to many learners.

Aanteken is a separable verb meaning to note down, to record, or to make a note of.

In a main clause, the verb splits:

• Personeel teken dit aan.

Here:

• teken = the verb part in second position
• aan = the separable particle at the end

So the sentence does not mean staff are literally drawing something. It means they are recording it.

Because aanteken is a separable verb.

In a normal present-tense main clause, separable verbs split:

• Ek teken dit aan.
• Sy merk dit op.
• Hulle vul dit in.

But in some other forms, the parts stay together or behave differently:

• infinitive: om dit aan te teken
• past participle: dit is aangeteken

So aan at the end is completely normal.

Dit refers back to the bruise or bruising that was just mentioned.

So Personeel teken dit aan means The staff record it.

Afrikaans often uses dit exactly where English would use it to refer back to something already mentioned.

Personeel means staff or personnel.

It is a collective noun: it refers to a group of people as one unit. In English, staff works similarly.

In this sentence, you can understand it as the staff or staff members in general.

Afrikaans often uses personeel without an article in formal or institutional language:

• Personeel teken dit aan. = Staff record it.

If you want to refer more clearly to individual staff members, you might also see:

• personeellede = staff members

Yes, it sounds fairly formal, especially because of:

• ten spyte daarvan dat
• kneusing
• personeel teken dit aan

That makes it sound like medical, workplace, or policy language.

A more everyday alternative could be:

• Al is die kneusing klein, teken die personeel dit aan.

Here al is means even if / although, and the whole sentence sounds a bit less formal.

Yes. Afrikaans allows different orders depending on what you want to emphasize.

For example:

• Ten spyte daarvan dat kneusing klein is, teken personeel dit aan.
• Personeel teken dit aan ten spyte daarvan dat kneusing klein is.

Both are possible. The first version emphasizes the contrast right away. The second starts with the main action.

The original order is very common when the speaker wants to foreground the despite idea.

It works, but in English we would often say a bruise is minor rather than small. Afrikaans can also do that more explicitly with words like gering or lig, depending on context.

So these are possible stylistic alternatives:

• ... dat die kneusing klein is
• ... dat die kneusing gering is

The original is understandable, but gering may sound more formal and medical.