Die meisie vra vir my pa of hy vandag werk.

Die meisie means the girl.

• die = the
• meisie = girl

Afrikaans does not change the for gender, number, or case the way some languages do. So die can mean the for singular and plural nouns.

In this sentence, Die meisie is the subject, so it comes first in a normal statement.

vra means asks or is asking, depending on context.

Afrikaans verbs usually do not change form for different persons:

• ek vra = I ask
• jy vra = you ask
• hy vra = he asks
• ons vra = we ask

So unlike English, Afrikaans does not add -s for he/she/it in the present tense.

Here, vir marks the person being asked.

So:

• vra vir my pa = ask my father

This is very common in Afrikaans when a person is the object of the verb.

A learner may notice that vir often appears before people:

• Ek sien vir Jan. = I see Jan.
• Sy bel vir haar ma. = She phones her mother.
• Die meisie vra vir my pa... = The girl asks my father...

In everyday Afrikaans, this is very normal.

Sometimes learners see sentences without vir, but in a sentence like this, vra vir my pa is the natural and common form.

So for learning purposes, it is best to treat vir here as the normal way to say that someone is being asked.

In Afrikaans, possessive words before a noun are simple:

• my pa = my father
• jou boek = your book
• sy huis = his house
• ons kar = our car

So my is the correct possessive form before a noun.

Pa is an informal and very common word for dad or father.

Here, of means whether or if in an indirect question.

So:

• ...of hy vandag werk = ...whether he is working today / ...if he works today

This is not the same as English of. It is a conjunction used to introduce a yes/no-type embedded question.

Compare:

• Ek weet nie of hy kom nie. = I don’t know if/whether he is coming.
• Sy vra of hy vandag werk. = She asks if/whether he is working today.

Because of introduces a subordinate clause, and in Afrikaans subordinate clauses the finite verb usually goes to the end.

So the pattern is:

• of
  • subject + other information + verb

That is why you get:

• of hy vandag werk

and not normal main-clause word order like:

• Hy werk vandag.

Compare:

• Main clause: Hy werk vandag.
• Subordinate clause: ...of hy vandag werk.

This is one of the most important word-order rules in Afrikaans.

In a main clause, Afrikaans often puts the verb early:

• Hy werk vandag.

But after a subordinating word like of, the verb moves to the end:

• ...of hy vandag werk

So the final werk is not unusual—it is required by subordinate clause word order.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Afrikaans often uses the simple present where English might use:

• works
• is working
• sometimes even a future sense, depending on context

So hy vandag werk can be understood as:

• he works today
• he is working today

The time word vandag helps make the meaning clear.

Hy means he.

It refers back to my pa. Since pa is male, the pronoun is hy.

So:

• my pa → hy

If it referred to my ma (my mother), you would use sy:

• ...of sy vandag werk

Vandag means today.

In this sentence, it appears before the verb because the verb is at the end of the subordinate clause:

• of hy vandag werk

In a main clause, you might also see:

• Hy werk vandag.
• Vandag werk hy.

So time expressions are somewhat flexible, but in this sentence the placement is very natural.

No. The whole sentence is a statement, not a direct question.

It says that the girl asks my father whether he is working today.

The direct question would be something like:

• Werk hy vandag? = Is he working today?

But inside this sentence, it becomes an embedded or indirect question:

• ...of hy vandag werk

That is why the word order changes.

Afrikaans does not use a helper like English do/does in this kind of sentence.

English says:

• Does he work today?

Afrikaans simply uses verb position and word order:

• Werk hy vandag?

And in the embedded version:

• ...of hy vandag werk

So you should not look for a separate word meaning does here.