Sy bel weer, maar die selfoon bly stil; ek hoor net my broer lag.

She calls again, but the cellphone remains silent; I only hear my brother laugh.

Breakdown of Sy bel weer, maar die selfoon bly stil; ek hoor net my broer lag.

• ek: I
• weer: again
• sy: she
• my: my

Questions & Answers about Sy bel weer, maar die selfoon bly stil; ek hoor net my broer lag.

What does bel mean in this sentence? Why isn’t there an extra preposition like English call up or Dutch opbellen?

In Afrikaans bel simply means to call (on the phone). You don’t need a particle such as op or aan—unlike Dutch opbellen or English “call up,” you just say bel. For example, sy bel my = “she calls me.”

Why don’t the verbs bel, bly, hoor and lag change form in the third person? There’s no -s ending like in English.

Afrikaans verbs do not conjugate for person or number. You use the same basic form with all subjects:

• ek bel / jy bel / sy bel / ons bel …
• ek hoor / hy hoor / julle hoor …
  No extra endings, so the verb stays identical regardless of who’s doing the action.

What does bly mean in bly stil? Could you just say die selfoon is stil instead?

Here bly means “remain” or “stay”. bly stil = “remain silent” or “stay quiet.” You could say die selfoon is stil (“the phone is silent”), but bly adds the sense of continuing to be silent rather than just describing its current state.