Sonder krag is die kamer te donker om te lees.

It means without power.

In everyday Afrikaans, krag often refers to the electric power supply, so sonder krag can naturally mean without electricity or when the power is out.

Because krag is being used as an uncountable noun in a general sense, like power in English.

So Afrikaans says sonder krag, just as English says without power, not without the power.

Because Afrikaans main clauses usually follow a verb-second pattern.

Here, Sonder krag has been placed first for emphasis or setting. Once that happens, the finite verb is must come next:

• Sonder krag = first position
• is = second position
• die kamer = subject

So the word order is completely normal for Afrikaans.

Yes, but the sentence would be arranged differently and the emphasis would change.

The given sentence puts the condition first: Without power, ...

If you start with Die kamer, you would usually need to reshape the sentence a bit, for example:

• Die kamer is te donker om te lees sonder krag.

That is possible, but Sonder krag is die kamer te donker om te lees sounds very natural because it introduces the situation first.

This is a very common Afrikaans pattern:

• te + adjective = too + adjective
• om te + verb = to + verb

So:

• te donker = too dark
• om te lees = to read

Together, te donker om te lees means too dark to read.

They do different jobs.

• The first te in te donker means too
• The second te in om te lees is part of the infinitive structure om te + verb

So even though both words are te, they are not the same grammatical item.

Not mainly in this sentence.

Here, om te lees completes the idea of te donker. It works like English too dark to read.

So this is not really about purpose. It is about result or possibility:

• the room is so dark that reading is not possible.

After om te, the infinitive verb normally comes at the end of that phrase.

So:

• om te lees = to read

This is standard Afrikaans word order for an infinitive phrase.

Also, Afrikaans verbs do not have a special infinitive ending like English sometimes does. The base form is simply lees.

Because donker is being used after the linking verb is.

After is, adjectives normally stay in their basic form in Afrikaans:

• Die kamer is donker = The room is dark
• Die kamer is te donker = The room is too dark

So donker does not change here.

Die here means the.

A useful thing about Afrikaans is that die does not change for masculine, feminine, or neuter gender. Afrikaans does not have grammatical gender the way some other languages do.

So:

• die kamer = the room

Krag is very normal in this context, especially when talking about the power supply being on or off.

For example:

• Daar is nie krag nie = There is no power
• Ons is sonder krag = We are without power

Elektrisiteit is also a real word, but it can sound a bit more technical or less idiomatic in everyday situations. In ordinary speech, krag is often the more natural choice.