Op Sondag loop ons deur die park en sit ons later op 'n bankie.

Because Afrikaans usually puts the finite verb in the second position of a main clause.

Here, Op Sondag comes first, so the verb loop must come next, and the subject ons follows it:

• Op Sondag
  • loop
    • ons

This is very similar to the word order pattern found in Dutch and German.

If the sentence started with the subject, you would get:

• Ons loop op Sondag deur die park.

Both are correct, but when you begin with a time phrase like Op Sondag, inversion happens.

For the same reason: after en, the clause is still treated as a new main clause.

So in:

• ... en sit ons later op 'n bankie

the verb sit comes before the subject ons because the verb is again in second position. The conjunction en does not force the verb to the end.

You can think of it as:

• ... and then sit we later on a bench

That is not natural English, of course, but it shows the Afrikaans structure more clearly.

In Afrikaans, op is commonly used with days of the week to mean on:

• op Maandag = on Monday
• op Dinsdag = on Tuesday
• op Sondag = on Sunday

So this is a normal time expression. English uses on, and Afrikaans uses op in the same kind of context.

Because names of days in Afrikaans are capitalized:

• Maandag
• Dinsdag
• Woensdag
• Donderdag
• Vrydag
• Saterdag
• Sondag

This is like English, where Sunday is also capitalized.

Deur die park means through the park. It suggests movement from one side or part of the park to another.

• Ons loop deur die park = we walk through the park

If you said in die park, that would mean in the park, focusing more on location than movement through it.

So:

• deur die park = movement through it
• in die park = being in it / happening inside it

Because die is the definite article and 'n is the indefinite article.

• die park = the park
• 'n bankie = a bench / a little bench

The speaker is referring to a specific park that is known in the context, but not to a specific bench.

So the choice of article works much like English the versus a.

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

It is usually pronounced like a very weak uh sound, similar to a schwa:

• 'n bankie ≈ uh bankie

A few useful things to know:

• It is written with an apostrophe: 'n
• It is normally not stressed
• Even at the beginning of a sentence, it stays lowercase:
  
  • 'n Kind speel buite.

That last point often surprises English speakers.

Bankie is a diminutive form.

The base word is bank, and -ie makes it smaller, more familiar, or more affectionate:

• bank = bench / bank
• bankie = little bench, small bench, or simply bench in many everyday contexts

Afrikaans uses diminutives very often, much more naturally and frequently than English does. So even if English would just say bench, Afrikaans may still use bankie.

Later is an adverb meaning something like later or afterward.

In this sentence it comes after the subject:

• sit ons later op 'n bankie

That placement is normal. Afrikaans adverbs can move around depending on emphasis, but this position is very natural.

For example, you might also see:

• Later sit ons op 'n bankie.

That would put more emphasis on later.

Yes. Afrikaans usually uses the present tense much more simply than English.

So:

• loop can mean walk or are walking
• sit can mean sit or are sitting

The exact meaning depends on context.

In this sentence, the present tense can describe a habitual action, such as something people do on Sundays in general. English often needs more wording to make that clear, but Afrikaans can leave it to context.

Yes, if you change what comes first in the clause.

For example:

• Ons loop op Sondag deur die park en ons sit later op 'n bankie.

That is also grammatical. It sounds a little more straightforward because the subject comes first in both clauses.

But in the original sentence, the speaker chooses to begin with Op Sondag, so the verb must come before the subject:

• Op Sondag loop ons ...

That is a very common Afrikaans pattern.

In this kind of sentence, sit usually means sit or be seated.

If you want to emphasize the action of moving into a seated position, Afrikaans often uses gaan sit:

• Ons gaan sit op 'n bankie. = We sit down on a bench.

So the original sentence is more about the resulting action or state, while gaan sit highlights the moment of sitting down.

Afrikaans verbs are much simpler than English verbs.

There is:

• no person agreement like I walk / he walks
• no do support in ordinary positive sentences
• no extra helper verb here

So loop stays loop with ons, and sit stays sit with ons.

Compare:

• Ek loop
• Jy loop
• Ons loop
• Hulle loop

That simplicity is one of the nice features of Afrikaans grammar.