Learn Hardcore Afrikaans: Ons kry 'n nuwe kans om beter te werk.

kry is the Afrikaans verb “to get” or “to receive.” It originates from Dutch krijgen, but Afrikaans simplified both spelling and conjugation. Note the present-tense form is the same for all persons:

Ek kry (I get)
Jy kry (you get)
Hy/sy kry (he/she gets)
Ons kry (we get)

Why is the indefinite article written as 'n, and how do you pronounce it?

'n is the shortened form of een (one) used as the indefinite article a/an.

The apostrophe shows that the ee has been dropped.
It’s pronounced [ən], very similar to the “a” in English about.

Why is nuwe spelled with an -e instead of nuut?

In Afrikaans, most adjectives take an -e ending when they directly precede a noun (attributive position). Because nuut (new) comes before kans (chance), it becomes nuwe:

’n nuwe kans (“a new chance”)
If the adjective stood alone as a predicate, you’d say Die kans is nuut (“The chance is new”), without the -e.

What roles do om and te play in om beter te werk?

The pair om ... te introduces an infinitive clause—much like the English “to” before a verb. Specifically:

om marks the start of the subordinate (infinitive) clause
te precedes the main verb of that clause

Together they give to work, and inserting beter between om and te yields to work better.

Why does the verb werk come at the end of the clause?

In om ... te constructions, the infinitive verb always goes to the very end. The pattern is:

om
(optional adverb, here beter)
te
verb (werk)

This is normal Afrikaans word order for subordinate infinitive clauses.

Is beter acting as an adjective or an adverb here? How can I tell?

Here beter is an adverb modifying the verb werk, meaning “better.” Clues:

It appears in the infinitive clause directly before the verb.
It’s the comparative form of goed (good).

If it were an adjective, it would modify a noun (e.g. beter werk “better work” as a noun phrase, without om ... te).

Why isn’t there a comma before om?

Afrikaans generally does not use a comma before an om ... te infinitive clause that follows the main clause. Commas appear in longer or more complex sentences, but here the short subordinate clause flows directly without punctuation.

Could I use ons het instead of ons kry? What’s the nuance?

Yes, you could say Ons het 'n nuwe kans om beter te werk (“We have a new chance to work better”).

ons kry emphasizes the act of receiving or being given the chance.
ons het simply states possession of the chance.
Both are grammatically correct; the choice depends on whether you want to stress the moment of getting the opportunity (kry) or the fact that it exists now (het).

How would I express “We will get a new chance to work better” in Afrikaans?

Introduce the future auxiliary sal after the subject:
Ons sal 'n nuwe kans kry om beter te werk.
Here sal signals the future (“will”), and the rest of the sentence follows the same structure.