Sy kla nie oor pyn nie, maar haar suster sê die hoes hou haar wakker.

Afrikaans usually uses double negation for a negative statement.

So:

• Sy kla oor pyn. = She complains about pain.
• Sy kla nie oor pyn nie. = She does not complain about pain.

A very common pattern is:

• first nie somewhere after the verb
• second nie at the end of the clause

In this sentence, the whole idea is being negated, so you get:

• kla nie ... nie

This is one of the most important grammar patterns in Afrikaans.

The verb kla means complain.

With kla, Afrikaans commonly uses the preposition oor to mean about:

• kla oor iets = complain about something

So:

• Sy kla oor pyn = She complains about pain

Here, oor does not literally mean over in the physical sense. It is just the normal preposition used with kla in this meaning.

In Afrikaans, as in English, abstract or general nouns often appear without an article.

So:

• pyn = pain
• die pyn = the pain

In this sentence, oor pyn means about pain in a general sense, not about a specific pain already identified.

Compare:

• Sy kla oor pyn. = She complains about pain.
• Sy kla oor die pyn in haar been. = She complains about the pain in her leg.

They are different pronoun forms:

• sy = she
• haar = her

In the sentence:

• Sy kla nie oor pyn nie → sy is the subject: she
• haar suster → haar means her
• hou haar wakker → haar again means her, this time as the object

So sy is used when the person is doing the action, and haar is used for her.

Because haar can be used in more than one way:

1. Possessive: haar suster = her sister
2. Object pronoun: hou haar wakker = keeps her awake

So the same form haar can mean:

• her as in her sister
• her as in keeps her awake

English does this too, but with different forms in some cases depending on function. Afrikaans often uses haar for both of these roles.

sê means say or says.

In this sentence:

• haar suster sê = her sister says

The accent in sê helps show pronunciation and distinguishes it in writing. It is a very common word in Afrikaans.

Examples:

• Ek sê nee. = I say no.
• Hy sê dit is reg. = He says it is correct.

So here:

• maar haar suster sê ... = but her sister says ...

Here hoes means cough.

Afrikaans often uses the definite article die in places where English might also say the cough, especially when referring to a particular symptom the speaker has in mind.

So:

• die hoes = the cough

The phrase means that a particular cough is keeping her awake, not just coughing in general as an abstract idea.

Compare:

• Hoes is irriterend. = Coughing / a cough is irritating.
• Die hoes hou haar wakker. = The cough keeps her awake.

Literally:

• hou = hold / keep
• haar = her
• wakker = awake

So:

• hou haar wakker = keeps her awake

This is a very normal expression in Afrikaans. It works much like English keep someone awake.

Examples:

• Die geraas hou my wakker. = The noise keeps me awake.
• Die baba hou hulle wakker. = The baby keeps them awake.

Yes, wakker is basically an adjective meaning awake, but in this pattern it works as a complement after hou.

So in:

• Die hoes hou haar wakker

the structure is:

• hou
  • object + adjective/state

That gives the meaning keep someone in a certain state.

Other similar patterns:

• Dit hou my besig. = It keeps me busy.
• Die nuus maak haar gelukkig. = The news makes her happy.

So wakker describes the state she is being kept in.

Afrikaans word order is often closer to English than German, especially in straightforward statements.

Here you have:

• maar = but
• haar suster sê = her sister says
• die hoes hou haar wakker = the cough keeps her awake

That is a normal main-clause order:

• subject + verb + rest

After sê, the reported statement can also keep normal clause order:

• die hoes hou haar wakker

So the sentence is quite direct and natural in Afrikaans.

Yes, in this sentence maar means but.

It links two contrasting ideas:

• She does not complain about pain
• but her sister says the cough keeps her awake

So maar introduces a contrast between what she is doing and what her sister reports.

It can often be understood either way depending on context.

Out of context, it most naturally means something like:

• She does not complain about pain
• She isn’t complaining of pain

Afrikaans simple present can cover meanings that in English might be:

• general present
• current situation
• habitual action

So context tells you whether it means a general tendency or what is happening at the moment.

If you remove the negation, you get:

• Sy kla oor pyn, maar haar suster sê die hoes hou haar wakker.

That means:

• She complains about pain, but her sister says the cough keeps her awake.

So the negative part is created entirely by the nie ... nie around the first clause.