Die boek behoort aan my.

Die is the definite article, the equivalent of the. Afrikaans does not have separate definite articles for masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns the way some other European languages do. It also uses die for both singular and plural definite nouns.

So in die boek, die simply means the.

Yes. That can confuse learners at first.

• die boek = the book
• die boeke = the books

The article stays die. The noun form tells you whether it is singular or plural.

Afrikaans verbs usually do not change form for person or number in the present tense.

So you get:

• ek behoort
• jy behoort
• hy behoort
• ons behoort
• die boek behoort

That is normal Afrikaans grammar. Unlike English, you do not add a special -s form for he/she/it.

Yes, that is a very good way to learn it.

In this sentence, behoort ... aan is the pattern used to express belong to. The owner comes after aan:

• Dit behoort aan my
• Dit behoort aan jou
• Dit behoort aan haar

So it is helpful to remember behoort aan as a set pattern.

With behoort in the sense of ownership, aan is the normal preposition. You should not replace it with vir.

So:

• correct: Die boek behoort aan my
• not standard here: Die boek behoort vir my

Even though aan often means to, after behoort it is simply the preposition required by the verb.

Because ek is a subject pronoun, while my is the form used after prepositions and as an object.

Compare:

• Ek lees. → I read.
• Die boek behoort aan my. → The book belongs to me.

So after aan, you need my, not ek.

Yes, it is the same spelling, but the grammar is different.

• my boek: my is a possessive determiner, meaning my
• aan my: my is a pronoun after a preposition, meaning me

So English separates my and me, but Afrikaans uses my for both of those roles in spelling.

Yes. Afrikaans has a few natural ways to express ownership.

Common alternatives are:

• Dit is my boek.
• Die boek is myne.

Compared with those, Die boek behoort aan my is correct but can sound a bit more explicit or formal. In everyday speech, learners will often hear Dit is my boek more often.

Afrikaans normally uses a double negative with nie ... nie.

So:

• Die boek behoort aan my.
• Die boek behoort nie aan my nie.

The first nie usually comes after the finite verb, and the second nie goes at the end of the clause.

In a simple main-clause question, Afrikaans usually puts the verb first.

So:

• Die boek behoort aan my.
• Behoort die boek aan my?

That is the normal yes/no question pattern.

No. In Afrikaans, die here is pronounced roughly like dee, not like English die.

A rough beginner-friendly pronunciation of the whole sentence would be:

dee book buh-HOORT ahn may

That is only an approximation, but the most important point is that die does not rhyme with English my or die.

Yes. That is useful to know.

• behoort aan = belongs to
• behoort te
  • verb = ought to / should

For example:

• Die boek behoort aan my.
• Jy behoort te luister. = You ought to listen.

So the words that come after behoort help tell you which meaning is intended.