Learn Hardcore Afrikaans: Gister het ek 'n kaartjie gekoop.

Afrikaans main clauses follow a verb-second (V2) rule. If you start with a fronted element like Gister (yesterday), the finite verb (het) must occupy the second position. That pushes the subject (ek) into third place. Hence:
• Gister (time) – first position
• het (verb) – second position
• ek (subject) – third position

Can I also say Ek het gister ’n kaartjie gekoop? Does it change the meaning?

Yes. When the subject (ek) comes first, you follow the normal Subject–Verb–Time–Object order:
• Subject: Ek
• Verb: het
• Time: gister
• Object: ’n kaartjie
It means exactly the same thing; it only shifts emphasis slightly (more neutral word order).

Why do we use het plus gekoop instead of a single past-tense verb like English bought?

Afrikaans does not inflect the main verb for past tense. Instead it forms the past/perfect with an auxiliary plus past participle:

het (auxiliary verb in past)
past participle of the main verb (gekoop)
Together they translate as “bought.”

I see gekoop rather than something like gekoopt. Why is there no -t or -d suffix on gekoop?

Unlike Dutch, Afrikaans past participles generally drop the final -t/-d. You simply prepend ge- to the infinitive stem.
• koop → ge + koop = gekoop

What role does ’n play in the sentence, and why the apostrophe?

’n is the indefinite article (a/an). Historically it’s a reduced form of een (“one”), hence the apostrophe. In modern Afrikaans ’n functions exactly like English “a” or “an” and is used before singular count nouns:
• ’n kaartjie = a ticket

Why is the word for “ticket” kaartjie instead of just kaart?

kaart means “card” or “map.” Afrikaans uses the diminutive suffix -jie very widely to form many nouns. In this case a “small card” or “little card” serves as a “ticket.” So kaart + -jie = kaartjie (ticket).

If I want to say “Yesterday I didn’t buy a ticket,” how do I form the negative?

Afrikaans typically uses two nies to negate a verb phrase. You place the first nie before the object (or complement) and the second nie at the end of the clause:
• Gister het ek nie ’n kaartjie gekoop nie.