Ons leef in die stad.

Ons is the Afrikaans subject pronoun meaning we.

A few useful pronouns for comparison:

• ek = I
• jy / u = you
• hy = he
• sy = she
• ons = we
• hulle = they

For an English speaker, ons may look unusual at first because English uses we, but in Afrikaans ons is the normal form.

Leef means live, but more in the sense of to live / to be alive / to live one’s life.

In everyday Afrikaans, when talking about where someone lives, people very often use woon:

• Ons woon in die stad. = We live in the city.

So:

• leef can sound a bit broader or more general
• woon is the most common verb for reside

Your sentence is grammatical, but many learners will also hear Ons woon in die stad very often.

Yes.

leef

Usually refers to living in a broader sense:

• being alive
• living a certain kind of life
• existing in a place or situation

Examples:

• Hulle leef eenvoudig. = They live simply.
• Baie diere leef in Afrika. = Many animals live in Africa.

woon

Usually means live/reside somewhere:

• Ek woon in Kaapstad. = I live in Cape Town.
• Ons woon in die stad. = We live in the city.

So if the sentence is specifically about where you live, woon is usually the most natural choice.

Die here means the.

So:

• in = in
• die = the
• stad = city

Together:

• in die stad = in the city

A very important point for English speakers: Afrikaans uses die for the with all nouns. It does not change for gender.

Examples:

• die man = the man
• die vrou = the woman
• die kind = the child
• die stad = the city

Standard Afrikaans has largely lost the grammatical gender system that languages like Dutch and German still have.

That means you generally do not have to memorize different forms of the for masculine, feminine, or neuter nouns. The usual definite article is simply:

• die = the

This makes Afrikaans easier than many other European languages in this area.

In a simple main clause, yes, the word order is very similar to English:

• Ons = subject
• leef = verb
• in die stad = prepositional phrase

So the structure is:

Subject + Verb + Place

That gives:

• Ons leef in die stad.

This is normal Afrikaans main-clause word order.

Yes. Afrikaans often shows verb-second word order in main clauses.

For example, if you move the place expression to the front, the verb stays in second position:

• In die stad leef ons.

That is grammatical, but it sounds more marked or emphatic, something like:

• In the city, we live.

With the more common verb woon:

• In die stad woon ons.

So learners should remember:

• normal neutral order: Ons leef in die stad
• fronted element: In die stad leef ons

A simple learner-friendly guide:

• ons ≈ ons with a short o
• leef ≈ layf or leaf depending on accent, but with a long vowel
• in ≈ like English in
• die ≈ usually like dee
• stad ≈ similar to English staht with a clear t

A rough English-style approximation:

• ons leaf in dee stat

A few notes:

• Afrikaans r is not in this sentence, so that helps
• die is very often pronounced dee
• stad is related to English stead and German Stadt, but do not pronounce it exactly like English stad

Stad usually means city or town, depending on context.

In many cases, English distinguishes strongly between city and town, but Afrikaans stad can be a bit broader. The exact translation depends on context.

Examples:

• Ek gaan stad toe. = I’m going to town.
• Hulle woon in die stad. = They live in the city / town.

So if the meaning is already given as city, that is fine, but in other contexts town may also work.

Yes, but it means something different.

• Ons leef in die stad. = We live in the city.
• Ons is in die stad. = We are in the city.

So:

• leef / woon tells you about where you live
• is tells you where you are right now

That is an important distinction.

Yes. Ons can be both:

• we (subject)
• us (object)

Examples:

• Ons leef in die stad. = We live in the city.
• Hy sien ons. = He sees us.

This is normal in Afrikaans, even though English uses different forms.

Afrikaans usually does not use a helping verb like English do/does in ordinary present-tense statements.

English:

• We live in the city.

Afrikaans:

• Ons leef in die stad.

You simply use the main verb. This is one reason Afrikaans verb forms are often simpler for learners.

No, not in the same way.

Afrikaans verbs generally do not change form much according to the subject in the present tense.

Examples:

• Ek leef = I live
• Jy leef = you live
• Hy leef = he lives
• Ons leef = we live

Notice that leef stays the same. English changes live to lives, but Afrikaans does not do that here.

Yes, it could, depending on context.

Because leef is broader than woon, Ons leef in die stad can suggest not just residence but also a way of life:

• we live in the city
• our life happens in the city
• we are city dwellers

If the speaker simply wants to state their address or residence, Ons woon in die stad is usually more straightforward.