Ek haal my broer by die lughawe.

Here haal means pick up / fetch / collect.

A very common Afrikaans pattern is:

iemand by 'n plek haal
= to pick someone up at/from a place

So in this sentence, haal does not just mean get in a general sense. It specifically suggests going to the airport to collect your brother.

A useful comparison:

• Ek haal my broer by die lughawe. = I’m picking up my brother at the airport.
• Ek ontmoet my broer by die lughawe. = I’m meeting my brother at the airport.

The second sentence does not necessarily mean you are collecting him and taking him somewhere.

Because my already works as a possessive determiner, like my in English.

So:

• my broer = my brother
• jou motor = your car
• ons huis = our house

You normally do not add die before a noun when it already has a possessive word in front of it.

So die my broer is not correct.

For the same reason as in English: possessives usually replace the article.

Compare:

• die broer = the brother
• my broer = my brother

You use either a definite article or a possessive, not both together in normal usage.

Literally, by often means at, by, or near.

In this sentence, by die lughawe tells you the location where the action of picking up happens. In natural English, this is often translated as at the airport, though the idea can also feel like from the airport because you are collecting someone there.

So:

• by die lughawe = at the airport
• with haal, the whole idea becomes pick up at/from the airport

This is a good example of how the preposition is not always translated word-for-word.

This is the normal word order for a simple main clause in Afrikaans:

Subject + finite verb + object + other information

So here:

• Ek = subject
• haal = finite verb
• my broer = direct object
• by die lughawe = place phrase

Afrikaans main clauses usually keep the finite verb in the second position.

That is why haal comes right after Ek.

Yes. Afrikaans often allows that, but the verb must still stay in the second position.

So you could say:

By die lughawe haal ek my broer.

That is grammatical, but it gives extra emphasis to the location.

What you cannot do is keep the normal subject-verb order after fronting the place phrase. So this is wrong:

• By die lughawe ek haal my broer.

Afrikaans is a verb-second language in main clauses.

It can often do both, depending on context.

Afrikaans frequently uses the present tense for:

• actions happening now
• habitual actions
• near-future or planned actions

So Ek haal my broer by die lughawe can mean:

• I am picking up my brother at the airport.
• I pick up my brother at the airport.
• I’m going to pick up my brother at the airport.

If the context is about a plan later today, native speakers may still use this present form naturally.

Die is the definite article in Afrikaans, meaning the.

So:

• die lughawe = the airport

A useful thing for English speakers is that Afrikaans does not have grammatical gender like German or Dutch in the article system. Die is used for singular and plural definite nouns:

• die man = the man
• die vrou = the woman
• die kinders = the children

So die lughawe is simply the normal way to say the airport.

Yes, but it would change the meaning.

• by die lughawe = at the airport / at the specific airport
• by 'n lughawe = at an airport / at some airport

In your sentence, die sounds more natural if the airport is known or understood from the situation, which it usually is.

Afrikaans nouns usually do not change form for case the way nouns do in some other languages.

So the noun stays the same whether it is:

• the subject
• the object
• after a preposition

Here:

• broer stays broer
• lughawe stays lughawe

This makes Afrikaans simpler than many European languages in this area.

Yes, usually.

• haal = fetch, go and get, pick up
• optel = lift up, pick up physically; sometimes also pick up a person, depending on context

In the airport sentence, haal is the most natural standard choice if you mean you are going there to collect your brother.

Optel can sometimes be used for picking someone up, especially in spoken language, but haal is the safer and more standard verb for this specific idea.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

LUKH-haa-vuh

A few points:

• lug- has the Afrikaans g, a throaty sound not found in standard English
• ha is like haa
• -we is a weak ending, roughly vuh

The g is often the hardest sound for English speakers. It is the same kind of guttural sound heard in many Afrikaans and Dutch words.

Before a noun, my stays my:

• my broer
• my huis
• my kinders

Afrikaans does not change it for gender or number.

But when it stands alone as a pronoun, you can get different forms in some contexts, such as myne meaning mine.

Compare:

• Dit is my broer. = That is my brother.
• Die tas is myne. = The bag is mine.

So in your sentence, my is correct because it comes directly before a noun.