Op die tafel is 'n foto van my broer en suster.

Afrikaans often allows a place phrase to come first when you want to set the scene or emphasize location.

So:

• Op die tafel is 'n foto van my broer en suster. = On the table is a photo of my brother and sister.

This is similar to English sentences like:

• On the table is a book.

When Afrikaans puts something other than the subject first, the verb usually comes next. That is why you get:

• Op die tafel
  • is
    • 'n foto ...

not:

• Op die tafel 'n foto is ...

Op usually means on.

So:

• op die tafel = on the table

It is the normal preposition to use for something resting on top of a surface.

Die here means the.

So:

• die tafel = the table

Afrikaans uses die as the definite article for singular and plural nouns:

• die tafel = the table
• die tafels = the tables

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not change the form of the.

'n is the Afrikaans indefinite article, meaning a or an.

So:

• 'n foto = a photo

A few useful points:

• It is written with an apostrophe: 'n
• It is pronounced very weakly, like a neutral vowel sound, roughly uh
• It is not stressed in normal speech

Also, even if it begins a sentence, it is normally still written 'n, not capitalized as 'N.

This is because Afrikaans follows a verb-second pattern in main clauses.

If the sentence starts with the subject, you might get:

• 'n Foto van my broer en suster is op die tafel. = A photo of my brother and sister is on the table.

But in your sentence, the location phrase comes first:

• Op die tafel
  • is
    • 'n foto van my broer en suster

Since Op die tafel takes the first position, the verb is moves into the second position.

This is a very important Afrikaans word-order pattern.

Here van means of.

So:

• 'n foto van my broer en suster = a photo of my brother and sister

In this context, van shows what the photo is of.

Be careful: van can also mean from in other contexts. For example:

• Ek kom van Kaapstad. = I come from Cape Town.

So the exact meaning depends on context.

In Afrikaans, just like in English, you do not need to repeat the possessive if it clearly applies to both nouns.

So:

• my broer en suster = my brother and sister

This normally means my brother and my sister.

You can repeat my for extra clarity or emphasis:

• my broer en my suster

But it is often unnecessary.

Because each noun is still singular:

• broer = brother
• suster = sister

The phrase means:

• my brother and sister

That is, one brother and one sister.

If it were plural, you would see plural forms such as:

• broers = brothers
• susters = sisters

Yes, basically.

• foto = photo / photograph

Afrikaans often uses foto where English might say either photo or picture, depending on context.

The plural is:

• foto's = photos

Yes. That is also a correct sentence.

Compare:

• Op die tafel is 'n foto van my broer en suster.
• 'n Foto van my broer en suster is op die tafel.

Both are grammatical. The difference is mainly focus:

• Op die tafel ... emphasizes the location
• 'n Foto ... starts with the thing being talked about

So the original sentence sounds a bit more like: As for what is on the table—there is a photo of my brother and sister there.

It is the subject phrase of the sentence, even though it comes after the verb.

The basic idea is:

• A photo of my brother and sister is on the table.

In the original word order, the subject is simply placed later because Op die tafel has been moved to the front.

So the structure is roughly:

• Op die tafel = fronted location phrase
• is = verb
• 'n foto van my broer en suster = subject

A rough learner-friendly pronunciation would be:

• Op die tafel is uh FOH-toh fan may BROO-er en SUS-ter.

A few notes:

• 'n is very weak, like uh
• v in van is often pronounced close to f
• broer has two vowel sounds, something like BROO-er
• g does not appear in this sentence, so there is no harsh guttural sound to worry about here

A natural rhythm would keep 'n unstressed:

• Op die tafel is 'n FOTO van my BROER en SUSTER.