Ons spandeer geld by die gastehuis.

Here ons means we.

It is the subject of the sentence: Ons spandeer geld by die gastehuis. = We spend money at the guesthouse.

A useful extra point: ons can also mean our in other contexts, for example ons huis = our house. In this sentence, though, it clearly means we.

Because Afrikaans verbs usually do not change according to the subject in the present tense.

So you get:

• ek spandeer = I spend
• jy spandeer = you spend
• ons spandeer = we spend
• hulle spandeer = they spend

This is much simpler than English, where you have I spend but he spends. In Afrikaans, the verb normally stays the same.

It can mean both, depending on context.

Afrikaans often uses the simple present where English might use either the simple present or the present continuous:

• Ons spandeer geld by die gastehuis.
  • We spend money at the guesthouse.
  • We are spending money at the guesthouse.

If you really want to stress an action that is in progress, Afrikaans can use a longer structure such as besig om te, but in many everyday sentences the plain present tense is enough.

Geld means money.

In this sentence it is being used as a general, uncountable noun, just like English money. That is why there is no article before it.

So:

• geld = money
• not a money

If you wanted to talk about a sum or amount of money, the sentence around it would normally make that clear.

Here by means at.

So by die gastehuis means at the guesthouse.

This is something English speakers often notice, because Afrikaans by does not always match English by exactly. Depending on context, it can have meanings like at, with, or sometimes something close to by. In this sentence, the natural meaning is definitely at the guesthouse.

Because die means the, while 'n means a/an.

So:

• die gastehuis = the guesthouse
• 'n gastehuis = a guesthouse

Afrikaans does not have different words for the based on gender, so die is used for all nouns.

A small extra note: although die looks like the English word die, it is just the normal Afrikaans word for the here.

Yes. Gastehuis is a single compound noun, written as one word.

Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, very often joins nouns together into compounds. So:

• gastehuis = guesthouse

This is very normal in Afrikaans spelling. English sometimes writes similar words as one word, two words, or hyphenated, but Afrikaans strongly prefers solid compounds.

In this sentence, yes, it is quite close to English:

• Ons = subject
• spandeer = verb
• geld = object
• by die gastehuis = place phrase

So the basic pattern is:

subject + verb + object + place

However, Afrikaans has an important rule in main clauses: the finite verb normally stays in the second position. That means if you move another part to the front, the subject usually comes after the verb:

• By die gastehuis spandeer ons geld.

That literally looks like At the guesthouse spend we money, but it is normal Afrikaans word order.

You would usually say:

Ons spandeer nie geld by die gastehuis nie.

Afrikaans commonly uses a double nie in negative sentences:

• the first nie comes after the verb or after the element being negated
• the second nie comes near the end of the clause

So this is a very useful pattern to remember.

Yes, spandeer is a normal and straightforward verb for spend.

So spandeer geld is a perfectly natural way to say spend money.

Another common way to express the idea is geld uitgee, literally give out money:

• Ons gee geld by die gastehuis uit.

Both are possible, but spandeer is simple, clear, and very common.