Die kind is te bang om nou in die donker te slaap.

They do two different jobs:

• te bang = too afraid
• om ... te slaap = to sleep

So in:

Die kind is te bang om nou in die donker te slaap

the first te means too, while the second te is part of the infinitive structure om ... te + verb.

English does something similar with two different words:

• too afraid
• to sleep

Afrikaans just happens to use te in both roles.

om ... te slaap is an infinitive phrase meaning to sleep.

In this sentence, it completes the idea of te bang:

• te bang om te slaap = too afraid to sleep

So the child is not just afraid in general; the sentence tells you what the child is too afraid to do: sleep.

In standard Afrikaans, when an infinitive phrase follows certain adjectives or verbs, you normally use om ... te.

So:

• te bang om te slaap = correct
• te bang te slaap = not standard here

You can think of om ... te as the usual way to say to + verb in this kind of structure.

te bang means too afraid or too scared.

That te does not just mean ordinary degree. It means the fear is excessive for doing something.

Compare:

• Die kind is bang. = The child is afraid.
• Die kind is te bang om te slaap. = The child is too afraid to sleep.

So te bang implies that the fear prevents the action.

nou means now, and its position here is natural Afrikaans word order inside the infinitive phrase:

om nou in die donker te slaap

Afrikaans often places time expressions like nou before place expressions like in die donker.

So this order feels very normal:

• nou = time
• in die donker = place/situation
• te slaap = verb at the end of the infinitive phrase

in die donker means in the dark.

Word by word:

• in = in
• die = the
• donker = dark / darkness

Afrikaans often uses die donker where English says the dark. It can refer to darkness as a situation or environment, not just the adjective dark.

So:

• in die donker = in the dark

Because Afrikaans usually sends the main verb to the end in an infinitive clause with om ... te.

So the structure is:

• om
  • other information + te
    • verb

Here:

• om nou in die donker te slaap

This is very typical Afrikaans word order.

Compare:

• om huis toe te gaan = to go home
• om vandag te werk = to work today
• om nou in die donker te slaap = to sleep now in the dark

Afrikaans does not have grammatical gender the way some other languages do, and it does not distinguish the by gender.

So:

• die kind = the child

Whether the child is a boy or a girl, die stays the same.

Also, kind is a neuter-type idea in English anyway, but in Afrikaans you do not need to change the article for gender.

Yes, but that would make a different structure.

• bang vir die donker = afraid of the dark
• te bang om in die donker te slaap = too afraid to sleep in the dark

So:

• Die kind is bang vir die donker.
  = The child is afraid of the dark.

• Die kind is te bang om in die donker te slaap.
  = The child is too afraid to sleep in the dark.

In your sentence, bang is followed by an infinitive phrase showing what the child is too afraid to do, so vir is not used there.

It can mean both, depending on context.

In this sentence, nou could be understood as:

• now
• right now
• at the moment

So it adds a present-time sense. It suggests the child is currently too afraid to sleep in the dark.

Some small changes are possible, but the given version is very natural.

Standard and natural:

• Die kind is te bang om nou in die donker te slaap.

You might also hear:

• Die kind is nou te bang om in die donker te slaap.

That shifts the focus slightly toward now.

But the basic rule remains the same: in the om ... te phrase, the verb slaap stays at the end.

It can match either afraid or scared in English.

• bang = afraid / scared / frightened, depending on context

In everyday English, scared often sounds a bit more conversational, while afraid can sound slightly more neutral. Afrikaans bang covers both very well.

So in this sentence, both of these work:

• The child is too afraid to sleep in the dark now.
• The child is too scared to sleep in the dark now.