Die tafel is so deurmekaar dat ek my boek tussen die rommel verloor.

Because dat introduces a subordinate clause in Afrikaans.

In a main clause, Afrikaans usually keeps the finite verb in the second position:

• Die tafel is deurmekaar.

But after subordinating words like dat (that), the verb typically moves to the end of the clause:

• ... dat ek my boek tussen die rommel verloor.

So this is a very important pattern to learn:

• so + adjective/adverb + dat + subordinate clause
• Die tafel is so deurmekaar dat ...
• ... dat ek my boek tussen die rommel verloor.

This verb-final order is one of the most common things English speakers notice in Afrikaans subordinate clauses.

So ... dat means so ... that.

It is used to show result:

• Die tafel is so deurmekaar dat ek my boek verloor.
• The table is so messy that I lose my book.

So:

• so = so
• dat = that

This structure is very close to English, except that the word order after dat changes.

Here deurmekaar means something like:

• messy
• in a mess
• disorganized
• cluttered

So Die tafel is so deurmekaar means the table is in such a messy state that things get lost on it.

A useful point: deurmekaar can describe physical disorder, but it can also describe confusion more generally in other contexts.

For example:

• My kamer is deurmekaar. = My room is messy.
• Ek is deurmekaar. = I am confused / mixed up.

Yes. Afrikaans uses die as the definite article for all genders and both singular and plural.

So unlike languages that have different forms for masculine, feminine, neuter, or plural, Afrikaans keeps it simple:

• die tafel = the table
• die boek = the book
• die boeke = the books
• die rommel = the clutter / rubbish

That means you do not have to memorize different forms of the.

In Afrikaans, possessive words are simple and do not change for gender or case the way they do in some other languages.

So:

• my boek = my book
• jou boek = your book
• sy boek = his book
• haar boek = her book
• ons boek = our book

You just put the possessive before the noun, much like in English.

A small warning: my in Afrikaans is pronounced differently from English my.

Yes, verloor here is the present tense form.

Afrikaans verbs do not change much by person:

• ek verloor
• jy verloor
• hy verloor

So the same form is used with different subjects.

If you want to say lost in the past, Afrikaans usually uses the perfect tense:

• Ek het my boek verloor. = I lost my book / I have lost my book.

In your sentence, the present tense is used:

• ... dat ek my boek tussen die rommel verloor.

That can sound like:

• ... that I lose my book among the clutter or, depending on context,
• ... that I end up losing my book among the clutter

Yes, tussen often means between, but it can also mean among depending on context.

Here, tussen die rommel is best understood as:

• among the clutter
• in the middle of the mess

So although the direct word is tussen, the natural English meaning here is closer to among.

This is common in many languages: one preposition can cover several related ideas.

Rommel usually means:

• clutter
• junk
• mess
• rubbish / trash in some contexts

In this sentence, it most likely means clutter or mess, not necessarily literal garbage.

So:

• tussen die rommel = among the clutter / among all the messy stuff

It is a useful everyday word for untidy piles of objects.

Because Afrikaans often expresses things more simply than English.

English may use:

• I do lose
• I am losing
• I end up losing

Afrikaans often just uses the main verb itself:

• ek verloor

The exact English translation depends on context, but Afrikaans does not always need an extra helping verb where English might use one.

So in this sentence:

• ... dat ek my boek tussen die rommel verloor simply states the result: I lose my book among the clutter.

It is literally I lose my book, but in normal use it can easily imply:

• I misplace my book
• I can’t find my book because of the mess

So the idea is not necessarily that the book is gone forever. It often means it gets lost in the clutter because the table is so untidy.

That is a very natural use of verloor in this kind of context.

Yes, in many situations you could, but the nuance is slightly different.

• deurmekaar = messy, disordered, mixed up
• morsig = untidy, dirty, sloppy, messy

So:

• Die tafel is deurmekaar suggests things are all over the place.
• Die tafel is morsig can suggest it is untidy, possibly dirty as well.

In this sentence, deurmekaar works especially well because the next part talks about losing a book among the clutter.

Yes:

• Die tafel = the table
• is = is
• so deurmekaar = so messy / so cluttered
• dat = that
• ek = I
• my boek = my book
• tussen die rommel = among the clutter
• verloor = lose

Structure:

• Main clause: Die tafel is so deurmekaar
• Subordinate clause: dat ek my boek tussen die rommel verloor

This is a very good example of how Afrikaans combines familiar vocabulary with different clause word order.

A few natural translations would be:

• The table is so messy that I lose my book among the clutter.
• The table is so messy that I end up losing my book in the clutter.
• The table is so cluttered that I can’t find my book among all the junk.

The exact wording depends on the tone you want, but the Afrikaans structure stays the same.