Ek is dors, daarom drink ek eers water en eet later die toebroodjie.

Because dors is used like an adjective meaning thirsty. Afrikaans normally expresses this idea with the verb is, just like English says I am thirsty. So:

• Ek is dors = I am thirsty

Ek dors is not the normal standard way to say it.

Daarom means therefore, for that reason, or that is why. It connects the second part of the sentence to the first:

• Ek is dors → reason
• daarom drink ek eers water... → result

So it is showing cause and result: I am thirsty, therefore...

This is because Afrikaans main clauses usually follow a verb-second pattern. That means the finite verb normally comes in the second position.

If the sentence begins with the subject, you get:

• Ek drink water.

But if something else comes first, like daarom, the verb still stays second, and the subject moves after it:

• Daarom drink ek water.

So daarom drink ek is the normal Afrikaans word order.

Afrikaans verbs are much simpler than English verbs in this way. In the present tense, the verb usually stays the same for all subjects:

• ek drink
• jy drink
• hy drink
• ons drink

And likewise:

• ek eet
• jy eet
• hulle eet

So unlike English I eat / he eats, Afrikaans does not usually add a special ending.

Here eers means first or before anything else. It shows sequence:

• first: drink water
• later: eat the sandwich

So eers works together with later to create the contrast.

In Afrikaans, short adverbs such as later, nou, gou, and eers often come before the object in a simple clause:

• eet later die toebroodjie

That sounds natural and keeps the time word close to the verb. It also matches the earlier pattern nicely:

• drink ek eers water
• en eet later die toebroodjie

You may also hear other word orders in real speech depending on emphasis, but this version is perfectly normal.

Because water is being used as a general mass noun, not as one specific item. In cases like that, Afrikaans often uses no article:

• drink water

But die toebroodjie means the sandwich, a specific sandwich already known in the situation.

So the contrast is:

• water = water in general
• die toebroodjie = the specific sandwich

If it were not a specific sandwich, you could say 'n toebroodjie.

Because the subject is still understood to be the same person: ek. Afrikaans can coordinate two verbs with the same subject without repeating it:

• drink ek eers water en eet later die toebroodjie

This means I drink water first and eat the sandwich later.

You could repeat the subject:

• ... en ek eet later die toebroodjie

But that is a bit heavier and usually unnecessary unless you want extra emphasis.

Toebroodjie means sandwich. The ending -jie is a very common Afrikaans diminutive ending. Diminutives are extremely common in Afrikaans and often become part of the normal everyday word.

So even though -jie originally has a small/little sense, in a word like toebroodjie it usually just means the ordinary word sandwich, not necessarily a tiny one.

The comma separates two main clauses:

• Ek is dors
• daarom drink ek eers water en eet later die toebroodjie

The second clause gives the result of the first one. With a linking word like daarom, the comma helps show that break clearly. In speech, you would usually hear a small pause there too.

This is a very common question, because daarom and omdat are related in meaning but work differently.

• daarom = therefore / so / for that reason
• omdat = because

With daarom, you get two main clauses:

• Ek is dors, daarom drink ek eers water...

With omdat, you introduce a subordinate clause, and the verb goes to the end of that clause:

• Ek drink eers water en eet later die toebroodjie omdat ek dors is.

So the big difference is:

• daarom gives the result
• omdat gives the reason and changes the word order in its clause