Mobiele data werk nie.

Afrikaans does not use do/does the way English does.

So English Mobile data does not work becomes simply:

• Mobiele data = mobile data
• werk = works / work
• nie = not

Afrikaans just negates the main verb directly. You do not need a separate helper like does.

Good question. Afrikaans often uses the nie ... nie pattern, but when the first nie would already come at the end of the clause, you normally only see one nie.

So:

• Mobiele data werk nie. = Mobile data doesn’t work.

There is nothing after nie, so a second nie is not added.

Compare:

• My mobiele data werk nie vandag nie. = My mobile data is not working today.
• Die data werk nie op my foon nie. = The data doesn’t work on my phone.

In those examples, something comes after the first nie, so the final nie appears too.

Because mobiele is the form used when the adjective comes before the noun.

• mobiel = mobile
• mobiele data = mobile data

This -e ending is very common for Afrikaans adjectives used attributively (that is, directly before a noun).

So:

• mobiele data
• goeie idee
• groot huis

The plain form without -e is more typical in other positions, especially after a linking verb:

• Die netwerk is mobiel.

Because mobiele data is being used in a general sense, like a mass noun.

This is similar to English:

• Mobile data doesn’t work.
• not necessarily The mobile data doesn’t work.

If you want to refer to a specific mobile-data connection, you can add die or a possessive:

• Die mobiele data werk nie. = The mobile data isn’t working.
• My mobiele data werk nie. = My mobile data isn’t working.

So the version without die is natural when speaking generally or when the context already makes it clear.

Yes. werk is very commonly used for machines, devices, apps, networks, services, and connections.

So Afrikaans uses werk much like English uses work in:

• Die internet werk. = The internet works.
• My foon werk nie. = My phone doesn’t work.
• Wi-Fi werk nie. = Wi-Fi isn’t working.

So Mobiele data werk nie sounds very natural.

In this sentence, data is being treated like an uncountable/mass noun, similar to everyday English data in the sense of internet or mobile data.

So mobiele data means:

• mobile data
• cellular data
• data service / data connection

It is not being used here as the plural of a technical noun like datum. In everyday phone/network language, learners can safely think of data here as a single mass concept.

It is in the present tense.

• Mobiele data werk nie. = Mobile data doesn’t work / isn’t working.

Like English, the present can describe:

• a general fact
• a current situation
• a problem happening right now

If you want other tenses:

• Mobiele data het nie gewerk nie. = Mobile data didn’t work.
• Mobiele data sal nie werk nie. = Mobile data will not work.

Just add my at the front:

• My mobiele data werk nie.

That is probably the most common real-life version if you are talking about your own phone.

Other useful versions:

• Die mobiele data werk nie. = The mobile data doesn’t work.
• My data werk nie. = My data doesn’t work.
• My mobiele data werk nie op hierdie foon nie. = My mobile data doesn’t work on this phone.

A rough English-style pronunciation is:

moh-BEE-luh DAA-tah verk nee

A few tips:

• mobiele: stress the BEE
• data: usually with a broad aa sound
• werk: the w is like English v
• nie sounds like nee

So werk nie is roughly verk nee.

Yes. Depending on the situation, Afrikaans speakers may also say:

• data = data
• sellulêre data = cellular data
• internet = internet

For example:

• My data werk nie.
• Die internet werk nie.
• Sellulêre data werk nie.

But mobiele data is perfectly correct and easy to understand.