Eintlik wou my neef vroeg huis toe gaan, maar nou sit hy nog by die vuur en praat met my nig.

Afrikaans normally follows a verb-second pattern in main clauses. That means the finite verb comes second, even if something other than the subject comes first.

So in:

Eintlik wou my neef vroeg huis toe gaan

• Eintlik = first element
• wou = second element, so it must come next
• my neef = the subject, which comes after the verb here

A more basic order would be:

My neef wou vroeg huis toe gaan.

But when you move Eintlik to the front, the verb stays in second position:

Eintlik wou my neef...

This is very common in Afrikaans.

Wou is the past form of wil (to want).

• wil = want / wants
• wou = wanted

So:

• My neef wil huis toe gaan = My cousin wants to go home
• My neef wou huis toe gaan = My cousin wanted to go home

In this sentence, wou suggests that earlier he intended or wanted to leave, but the rest of the sentence shows that this has not happened yet:

...maar nou sit hy nog by die vuur...

So the idea is something like: He was planning to go home early, but he is still sitting there now.

Because wou is the finite verb, and gaan is the second verb in the verb cluster.

In Afrikaans, when you have a modal or similar verb like wil / wou, the other verb usually goes to the end of the clause.

So:

• wou ... gaan = wanted to go

That is why you get:

Eintlik wou my neef vroeg huis toe gaan

and not:

Eintlik wou my neef gaan vroeg huis toe

The end position for the main infinitive is normal in Afrikaans.

Eintlik often means actually, really, or in fact. In this sentence, it gives a nuance like:

• actually
• originally
• as a matter of fact

Here it contrasts what was expected with what is happening now:

Eintlik wou my neef vroeg huis toe gaan, maar nou...

So the feeling is: He had actually meant to go home early, but now...

It is not just random emphasis; it helps set up the contrast with maar nou.

Huis toe means home in the sense of going home or toward home.

It is written as two words because toe adds the idea of movement towards a place.

Compare:

• by die huis = at the house / at home
• huis toe gaan = go home

So huis toe is not just the noun huis by itself; it is part of a directional expression.

You will also see this pattern with other expressions of movement in Afrikaans.

Here vroeg means early, and it is functioning as an adverb, because it describes the action gaan.

So:

• ’n vroeë trein = an early train (adjective)
• Hy gaan vroeg huis toe = He goes home early (adverb)

In your sentence, it tells us when he wanted to go home.

Here nog means still.

So:

nou sit hy nog by die vuur = now he is still sitting by the fire

It shows that the situation is continuing, even though we might have expected it to stop already.

This fits the contrast in the sentence:

• he wanted to go home early
• but now he is still there

So nog is an important word for the meaning.

Yes, literally it does mean sit and talk, but Afrikaans often uses verbs like sit, staan, and lê plus another verb to describe an ongoing action in a natural, vivid way.

So:

sit hy nog by die vuur en praat met my nig

literally: he is still sitting by the fire and talking to my cousin

In natural English, you might translate that simply as:

• he’s still sitting by the fire talking to my cousin
• or he’s still by the fire, talking to my cousin

So yes, it is literal, but it also works a bit like a progressive description of what he is doing.

By usually means by, at, or near, depending on context.

So:

by die vuur = by the fire / near the fire

That is the normal preposition here. It tells you where he is sitting.

Some quick comparisons:

• by die tafel = at the table
• by die deur = by the door
• by die vuur = by the fire

In this sentence:

• neef = male cousin
• nig = female cousin

So:

• my neef = my male cousin
• my nig = my female cousin

A useful thing to know is that in Afrikaans these words can also refer to nephew and niece in some contexts, so the exact meaning can depend on the situation. But in a sentence like this, where both appear together, they are very naturally understood as male cousin and female cousin.

This is again because of the verb-second rule in a main clause.

After maar (but), you start a new main clause:

nou sit hy nog by die vuur

Here:

• nou = first element
• sit = second element
• hy = subject

So the order is:

maar nou sit hy...

not:

maar nou hy sit...

This is very typical Afrikaans word order, and English speakers often need some time to get used to it.