Sy skryf 'n nuwe lys uit die kookboek neer voordat ons vertrek.

Here Sy means she.

A useful thing to know is that lowercase sy can also mean his in other sentences. Because this sentence starts with Sy, the capital letter does not help you tell which one it is. The grammar does:

• Sy skryf = She writes
• sy boek = his book

So in this sentence, because Sy is followed by the verb skryf, it is clearly the subject pronoun she.

Afrikaans verbs usually do not change form for different subjects in the present tense.

So you get:

• ek skryf = I write
• jy skryf = you write
• hy skryf = he writes
• sy skryf = she writes
• ons skryf = we write

That is much simpler than English, where you have I write but she writes.

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

So:

• 'n nuwe lys = a new list

A few important points:

• It is written with an apostrophe: 'n
• It is normally written in lowercase, even if it starts a sentence
  Example: 'n Nuwe lys is gereed.
• It is pronounced very weakly, like a schwa sound, not like the English letter name en

Because the adjective comes before the noun.

In Afrikaans, many adjectives take an -e ending when they are used directly before a noun. Sometimes the spelling changes too.

• nuut = new
• 'n nuwe lys = a new list

Compare:

• Die lys is nuut. = The list is new.
  Here the adjective stands after the verb, so you use nuut.
• 'n nuwe lys = a new list
  Here it comes before the noun, so you use nuwe.

Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, often forms compound nouns by writing them as one word.

So:

• kook = cook / cooking
• boek = book
• kookboek = cookbook

This is very normal in Afrikaans. English sometimes writes similar words as one word, two words, or hyphenated, but Afrikaans strongly prefers the one-word compound.

Here uit die kookboek means from the cookbook or out of the cookbook.

It is a prepositional phrase:

• uit = out of / from
• die kookboek = the cookbook

In this sentence, uit is not part of the verb. It just tells you the source of the list.

So the meaning is that she is writing down a new list, using the cookbook as the source.

Because skryf neer is a separable verb expression meaning write down.

In a main clause, the finite verb goes near the front, and the particle goes to the end of the clause:

• Sy skryf dit neer. = She writes it down.

That is exactly what is happening here:

• Sy skryf 'n nuwe lys uit die kookboek neer

The word neer is not random; it belongs with skryf.

The dictionary form is usually neerskryf.

Separable verbs often look different depending on the structure:

• neerskryf = dictionary form
• Sy skryf dit neer. = main clause
• om dit neer te skryf = infinitive with te
• Sy het dit neergeskryf. = perfect tense

So when you see skryf ... neer, think of the underlying verb neerskryf.

Voordat means before and introduces a subordinate clause.

So:

• voordat ons vertrek = before we leave

In Afrikaans subordinate clauses, the verb tends to go to the end. In this short clause, that is not very obvious because there are only two parts:

• ons vertrek

But if you add more words, you can see it more clearly:

• voordat ons môre vertrek = before we leave tomorrow

Compare the main-clause order:

• Ons vertrek môre.

So voordat is a signal that a subordinate clause is starting.

Afrikaans often uses the present tense to talk about the future when the context makes the time clear.

So:

• ons vertrek can mean we leave or we are leaving

With voordat, the future meaning is understood naturally:

• voordat ons vertrek = before we leave

This is very similar to English, which also says before we leave, not usually before we will leave.

Yes. That is completely natural:

• Voordat ons vertrek, skryf sy 'n nuwe lys uit die kookboek neer.

When you put that subordinate clause first, the main clause still follows Afrikaans verb-second order, so you get:

• skryf sy
• not sy skryf

That inversion is normal after something has been placed at the front of the sentence.