Die kassier glimlag wanneer sy my beursie en die kontant sien.

Because wanneer introduces a subordinate clause, and in Afrikaans subordinate clauses usually send the finite verb to the end.

So:

• Main clause: Die kassier glimlag
• Subordinate clause: wanneer sy my beursie en die kontant sien

If you turned that second part into a main clause, the order would be:

• Sy sien my beursie en die kontant.

This verb-final pattern after words like wanneer is very common in Afrikaans.

Wanneer means when.

It introduces a time clause: the cashier smiles when she sees the wallet and the cash.

Depending on context, wanneer can sometimes feel like when or whenever in English, but the basic idea is a time relationship.

Here, sy means she.

Afrikaans sy can be ambiguous in isolation because it can also mean his, but the grammar makes the meaning clear:

• sy sien = she sees
• sy beursie = his wallet

In your sentence, sy is followed by the verb sien, so it is a subject pronoun: she.

Yes. Afrikaans my can mean both me and my.

The sentence position tells you which meaning it has:

• Before a noun: my beursie = my wallet
• After a verb or preposition: Hy sien my = He sees me

So in my beursie, it is definitely possessive: my.

Because Afrikaans verbs do not change form the way English verbs often do in the present tense.

In English:

• I smile
• she smiles

In Afrikaans:

• ek glimlag
• sy glimlag
• hulle glimlag

The verb stays the same. This is one of the simpler parts of Afrikaans grammar.

It is the present tense.

In Afrikaans, the simple present often covers both English meanings:

• smiles
• is smiling

and

• sees
• is seeing

So Die kassier glimlag can mean The cashier smiles or, depending on context, The cashier is smiling.

Die is the definite article in Afrikaans, meaning the.

A few useful points:

• die kassier = the cashier
• die kontant = the cash

Afrikaans does not have different definite articles for masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns. Die is used very broadly.

Also, kontant is a mass noun, like cash in English, but Afrikaans can still use die when talking about specific cash already understood in the situation.

Yes. Kassier itself is not grammatically marked as male or female.

The pronoun tells you the gender in this sentence:

• sy = she

So this particular cashier is female. If it were male, you would normally see hy.

Beursie means wallet or purse, depending on context.

The -ie ending is a very common Afrikaans diminutive ending. Diminutives are used much more often in Afrikaans than in English, and they do not always sound especially “small” or “cute” in translation.

So even though -ie historically suggests something smaller, beursie is simply the normal everyday word here.

Sometimes, yes.

Afrikaans wanneer can refer to:

• a specific time: when
• repeated occasions: whenever

Only the wider context tells you which one is intended. In a standalone sentence like this, English often uses when, but whenever could also make sense if the action happens repeatedly.

The sentence has two parts:

1. Main clause: Die kassier glimlag
2. Subordinate clause: wanneer sy my beursie en die kontant sien

So the pattern is:

• Subject + verb
• then wanneer + subject + object + verb

That gives:

• Die kassier glimlag wanneer sy my beursie en die kontant sien.

A useful comparison is:

• Main clause: Sy sien my beursie en die kontant.
• After wanneer: wanneer sy my beursie en die kontant sien