Sy sit 'n pleister oor die sny sodat die wond skoon bly.

Yes, sit often means to sit, but in everyday Afrikaans it can also mean to put / place / apply, depending on context.

In this sentence, Sy sit 'n pleister oor die sny means she is putting/applying a plaster over the cut.

So Afrikaans sit can work a bit like English put:

• Sit dit op die tafel. = Put it on the table.
• Sy sit 'n hoed op. = She puts on a hat.

The object 'n pleister makes it clear that sit here is not about sitting down.

'n is the Afrikaans indefinite article, equivalent to English a or an.

So:

• 'n pleister = a plaster

A few useful things to know:

• It is written with an apostrophe: 'n
• It is normally not stressed in speech
• Even at the beginning of a sentence, it usually stays lowercase: 'n

Pleister usually means a plaster in British English, or a Band-Aid / adhesive bandage in American English.

Depending on context, it can also mean plaster in the building sense, but here the medical meaning is obvious because it is being put over the cut.

They are related, but not exactly identical.

• sny = a cut
• wond = a wound

So the sentence first mentions the specific injury:

• oor die sny = over the cut

Then it refers more generally to the injured area:

• die wond skoon bly = the wound stays clean

That is very natural. English also does this:

• She puts a plaster over the cut so that the wound stays clean.

Oor means over, which fits the idea of covering the cut.

• oor die sny = over the cut

With a plaster, the idea is not just that it touches the cut, but that it covers it. That is why oor is a good choice here.

Op often means on and can sometimes also be used in related contexts, but oor emphasizes coverage more clearly.

Sodat means so that or in order that.

It introduces a clause of purpose or result:

• Sy sit 'n pleister oor die sny sodat die wond skoon bly.
• She puts a plaster over the cut so that the wound stays clean.

It is a very common word when explaining why someone does something.

Because sodat introduces a subordinate clause, and in Afrikaans subordinate clauses usually send the verb to the end.

Main clause:

• Sy sit 'n pleister oor die sny

Subordinate clause:

• sodat die wond skoon bly

This final-verb pattern is very important in Afrikaans:

• omdat hy moeg is = because he is tired
• dat sy kom = that she is coming
• sodat die wond skoon bly = so that the wound stays clean

So bly goes to the end because of the clause introduced by sodat.

Here bly means stay or remain, not live.

Afrikaans bly can mean:

• to stay/remain
• to live/reside

In this sentence:

• die wond skoon bly = the wound stays clean

So it is about a continuing condition, not where someone lives.

Because bly itself already expresses the idea of remaining in a state.

• skoon = clean
• bly = stay/remain

So:

• die wond skoon bly literally means the wound clean stays
• natural English: the wound stays clean

Afrikaans often uses this kind of structure directly, without needing an extra verb like English sometimes does.

Yes. It follows normal main-clause Afrikaans word order:

• Sy = subject
• sit = verb
• 'n pleister = object
• oor die sny = prepositional phrase

So the pattern is basically: Subject + Verb + Object + Other information

That is very standard for a simple main clause in Afrikaans.

The article 'n is usually pronounced like a very short, unstressed uh sound, similar to the vowel in about.

So 'n pleister is roughly:

• uh PLY-ster or uh PLAY-ster, depending on accent and how narrowly you represent Afrikaans sounds

The main stress is on pleister, not on 'n.

No. In this sentence, Sy means she.

Afrikaans can be confusing because:

• sy can mean his
• Sy at the start of a sentence here means she

Context tells you which one it is.

Examples:

• Sy sit 'n pleister... = She puts a plaster...
• sy hand = his hand

So the same written form can have different meanings, but the sentence structure makes it clear.