Ek hou daarvan om in die tuin te werk.

Here hou daarvan om ... te ... means to like doing something.

A rough breakdown is:

• Ek = I
• hou = like / am fond of
• daarvan = of that / of it

But in natural English, you would not translate daarvan separately here. The whole pattern hou daarvan om in die tuin te werk means like working in the garden.

That is a very common learner question.

Afrikaans often uses hou van before a noun:

• Ek hou van koffie = I like coffee

But when what you like is an action, Afrikaans commonly uses hou daarvan om + infinitive:

• Ek hou daarvan om te lees = I like reading
• Ek hou daarvan om in die tuin te werk = I like working in the garden

So daarvan helps connect hou to the following action.

It means to work in the garden.

This whole part is an infinitive phrase:

• om ... te werk = to work
• in die tuin = in the garden

So:

• om in die tuin te werk = to work in the garden

In natural English, this can also be translated as working in the garden.

Afrikaans often uses both om and te in infinitive clauses.

A useful way to think about it is:

• om introduces the infinitive phrase
• te marks the infinitive verb

So in:

• om in die tuin te werk

the verb is werk, and te goes right before it.

This feels unusual to English speakers because English normally just uses one to, but in Afrikaans this is a normal pattern.

Because in an om ... te clause, the main verb usually comes near the end.

So Afrikaans puts the other information first:

• om in die tuin te werk

not:

• om te werk in die tuin

The place phrase in die tuin comes before the final verb part te werk. This end-of-clause verb position is very typical of Afrikaans.

in die tuin means in the garden.

The parts are:

• in = in
• die = the
• tuin = garden

Afrikaans uses die as the definite article for the. Unlike English, Afrikaans does not have different forms like the for different genders, and unlike some other languages, the article does not change much in this kind of sentence.

It can mean either one in English.

Both are natural translations:

• I like to work in the garden
• I like working in the garden

The Afrikaans sentence expresses a general preference or enjoyment of that activity. It does not mean that the person is necessarily working in the garden right now.

Yes, but it means something different.

• Ek hou van die tuin = I like the garden
• Ek hou daarvan om in die tuin te werk = I like working in the garden

So if you remove the action part, you change the meaning from liking an activity to liking the garden itself.

Yes. A very common alternative is:

• Ek werk graag in die tuin

This also means I like working in the garden or I enjoy working in the garden.

The word graag often expresses liking or enjoying doing something. So Afrikaans speakers very often use graag where English would use like to.

No. hou only means like in certain expressions such as hou van or hou daarvan om.

In other contexts, hou can have different meanings, for example:

• hou vas = hold tight
• hou dit = keep it
• hou op = stop

So it is best to learn hou daarvan om as a set pattern meaning to like doing something.