Aan wie behoort die motor?

Because behoort in this sense is normally used with the preposition aan: behoort aan = belongs to. So when you ask about the owner, you keep aan and say aan wie.

This is similar to formal English To whom does the car belong? Even though everyday English often puts the preposition at the end, Afrikaans usually keeps it before wie.

Here, behoort means belongs.

A useful warning: behoort can also mean ought to / should in other contexts, for example Jy behoort te gaan = You ought to go. In your sentence, though, it clearly has the ownership meaning because of aan.

Afrikaans main clauses usually follow the verb-second rule. That means the finite verb comes in the second position.

In this sentence:

• Aan wie is the first element
• behoort must then come second
• die motor comes after the verb

So Aan wie behoort die motor? is the normal main-clause order.

The version Aan wie die motor behoort would sound like a subordinate-clause pattern, not a normal standalone question.

Yes. Van wie is die motor? is very common and often sounds more natural in everyday speech.

There is a slight difference in feel:

• Aan wie behoort die motor? is a bit more formal or careful
• Van wie is die motor? is more everyday and conversational

Both ask about ownership.

Die is the definite article, meaning the.

Afrikaans does not change the article for gender, so die works for masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns. In this sentence, die motor means the car.

Yes, motor is a normal Afrikaans word for car.

However, in casual speech, many speakers also use kar. So:

• die motor = the car
• die kar = the car, more informal/everyday

In a sentence like this, motor sounds perfectly fine.

Usually, yes. Wie is used for people, and also for owners treated as people or groups of people, such as a family, company, or organization in context.

If you wanted to ask more specifically, you could also use a phrase like:

• Aan watter persoon behoort die motor?
• Aan watter maatskappy behoort die motor?

But aan wie is the normal general way to ask who the owner is.

A basic answer would keep the same verb pattern:

• Die motor behoort aan Jan.
• Die motor behoort aan my buurman.
• Die motor behoort aan hulle.

In everyday Afrikaans, people also often answer more simply with is:

• Dit is Jan s’n.
• Dit is my buurman se motor.

So learners should recognize both the behoort aan pattern and the more conversational possession patterns.

Not as the normal neutral question.

Aan wie behoort die motor? is the standard way to ask it.
Die motor behoort aan wie? sounds more like an echo question, as if you are surprised and asking someone to repeat or confirm the owner.

So for ordinary questioning, use Aan wie behoort die motor?

A simple English-style approximation is:

uhn vee buh-HOORT duh MOH-tur

A few helpful points:

• aan has a long aa sound
• wie sounds like vee
• behoort has stress on the second syllable
• r in Afrikaans is usually trilled or tapped more than in English, depending on the speaker

You do not need a perfect accent at first; getting the stress and vowel length roughly right will already help a lot.