Hy lieg soms oor klein sake, maar later vertel hy die waarheid.

Hy means he. It is the subject pronoun for a male person, just like English he.

So:

• Hy lieg soms ... = He sometimes lies ...

Afrikaans subject pronouns are often very straightforward, and hy is one of the most common ones.

No. One helpful thing about Afrikaans is that verbs usually do not change form according to the subject in the present tense.

So you get:

• Ek lieg = I lie
• Jy lieg = you lie
• Hy lieg = he lies
• Ons lieg = we lie

Unlike English, there is no special -s form for he/she/it. The same is true for vertel in this sentence.

Soms means sometimes.

In this sentence:

• Hy lieg soms oor klein sake = He sometimes lies about small matters

Its position is very natural here: after the verb lieg. Afrikaans adverbs like soms can move around a bit depending on emphasis, but this placement is common and idiomatic.

For example:

• Hy soms lieg is not normal here.
• Soms lieg hy ... is possible, but then the sentence begins with emphasis on sometimes.

Here oor means about.

So:

• oor klein sake = about small matters / about little things

This is a common use of oor when talking about a topic or subject:

• Ons praat oor die werk = We talk about the work
• Hy skryf oor geskiedenis = He writes about history

So in this sentence, lieg oor means lie about.

Klein means small or little, and sake is the plural of saak.

So:

• 'n klein saak = a small matter
• klein sake = small matters

In natural English, this part often comes across as:

• about little things
• about small matters
• about trivial issues

So klein sake does not only mean physically small things; it usually refers to matters or issues that are not very important.

Because saak forms its plural as sake. This is a normal Afrikaans plural pattern for some nouns.

Examples:

• saak → sake
• taak → take

So klein sake is simply the correct plural form of small matters.

Maar means but.

It connects two contrasting ideas:

• Hy lieg soms oor klein sake
• maar later vertel hy die waarheid

So the contrast is:

• he sometimes lies
• but later he tells the truth

This is very close to English usage.

This is a very important Afrikaans word-order rule.

Afrikaans is a verb-second language in main clauses. That means the finite verb usually comes in the second position.

In the second clause, later is placed first for emphasis, so the verb must come next:

• later vertel hy die waarheid

Structure:

• later = first element
• vertel = second position, so it must come next
• hy = then comes the subject

This is exactly the same pattern you see in many other Afrikaans sentences:

• Vandag werk ek tuis = Today I work at home
• Nou gaan ons = Now we go

If you said later hy vertel, that would break the normal main-clause word order.

Yes, that is possible, but the emphasis changes slightly.

Compare:

• maar later vertel hy die waarheid = emphasis on later
• maar hy vertel later die waarheid = more neutral, with he coming first

Both are understandable, but the original sentence highlights the time element: later.

Vertel usually means tell.

In this sentence:

• vertel hy die waarheid = he tells the truth

It is not exactly the same as English say.
Afrikaans often uses vertel where English naturally uses tell.

Compare:

• Hy vertel 'n storie = He tells a story
• Vertel my = Tell me

In the expression die waarheid vertel, Afrikaans matches English very closely: tell the truth.

Because the normal expression is die waarheid vertel = tell the truth.

Here die waarheid means the truth:

• die = the
• waarheid = truth

Afrikaans often uses the definite article in the same places English does, especially in fixed expressions like this one.

Waarheid means truth.

It is related to waar, which means true.

So roughly:

• waar = true
• waarheid = truth

The ending -heid is a very common Afrikaans noun ending, similar to English -ness or sometimes -ity in function.

Other examples:

• moontlik = possible
• moontlikheid = possibility

So waarheid is an abstract noun meaning truth.

Yes. Both verbs are in the present tense:

• lieg = lies / is lying
• vertel = tells / tells later

Afrikaans often uses the present tense in places where English also uses the present tense. The word later gives the sense of sequence, so the sentence means that first he lies, and afterwards he tells the truth.

Because maar joins two main clauses here, and a comma before it is standard punctuation in Afrikaans.

So the sentence is divided into:

• Hy lieg soms oor klein sake
• maar later vertel hy die waarheid

The comma helps show that contrast clearly.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• lieg sounds somewhat like leekh or leeg, but with the Afrikaans g sound at the end.

Important points:

• ie is usually like the ee in see
• the final g is the guttural Afrikaans g, not an English hard g

So it is not pronounced like English lig or lieg with an English g.

Yes. Saak is a common word, and it can mean:

• matter
• issue
• case
• affair

So klein sake can mean small matters or little issues.

You may also see it in other contexts, for example:

• Dit is 'n ernstige saak = It is a serious matter
• besigheidsake = business matters

So in this sentence it has the sense of matters/issues, not necessarily physical objects.

It breaks down like this:

• Hy = he
• lieg = lies
• soms = sometimes
• oor klein sake = about small matters
• maar = but
• later = later
• vertel = tells
• hy = he
• die waarheid = the truth

So the overall pattern is:

• He sometimes lies about small matters, but later he tells the truth.

It is a useful example because it shows both normal subject-verb order in the first clause and verb-second word order after a fronted adverb in the second clause.