Ons werk vir die gemeenskap.

Yes. In this sentence, ons is the subject and means we.

A useful thing to know is that Afrikaans often uses ons in more than one way:

• ons = we
• ons = us
• ons = our

So Afrikaans does not separate these forms the way English does.

Examples:

• Ons werk. = We work.
• Hulle help ons. = They help us.
• Ons dorp = Our town

In Ons werk vir die gemeenskap, ons specifically means we.

Normally, no. Afrikaans verbs are much simpler than English verbs in this way. The verb usually stays the same regardless of the subject.

For werk:

• ek werk = I work
• jy werk = you work
• hy werk = he works
• ons werk = we work
• julle werk = you all work
• hulle werk = they work

So unlike English, Afrikaans does not add an -s for he/she/it in the present tense.

Here, werk is a verb and means work.

Afrikaans werk can also be a noun, just like English:

• Ek werk elke dag. = I work every day. → verb
• My werk is moeilik. = My work is difficult. → noun

In Ons werk vir die gemeenskap, it is clearly a verb because it comes after the subject ons and forms the action of the sentence.

Here, vir means for.

It shows who benefits from the action or who the work is done for. So vir die gemeenskap means for the community or on behalf of the community.

This is a very common use of vir in Afrikaans.

Examples:

• Ek koop 'n geskenk vir my vriend. = I buy a gift for my friend.
• Sy sorg vir die kinders. = She cares for the children.
• Ons werk vir die gemeenskap. = We work for the community.

Be aware that vir does not match every single English use of for, but in this sentence it is a very direct match.

Die is the definite article in Afrikaans, so here it means the.

Afrikaans uses die for:

• singular nouns
• plural nouns
• all grammatical genders

That means Afrikaans is simpler than languages that have different forms like the masculine, the feminine, or the neuter. It is also simpler than Dutch in this respect.

Examples:

• die man = the man
• die vrou = the woman
• die kind = the child
• die mense = the people

So die gemeenskap simply means the community.

Yes, in this sentence the word order is very close to English:

• Ons = subject
• werk = verb
• vir die gemeenskap = prepositional phrase

So the pattern is:

Subject + Verb + Other information

That said, Afrikaans follows an important rule: in a main clause, the finite verb is normally in the second position.

This sentence fits that rule:

• Ons werk vir die gemeenskap.

If you move something else to the front, the verb still stays second:

• Vandag werk ons vir die gemeenskap. = Today we work for the community.

So the basic sentence looks English-like, but the broader word-order rule is very important in Afrikaans.

Normally, no. Ons werk vir gemeenskap would sound incomplete or unnatural in standard Afrikaans.

If you mean the community in a normal, definite sense, you need die:

• Ons werk vir die gemeenskap.

Without an article, the noun would usually need a different structure or a more abstract meaning, and that is not what is happening here.

So for this sentence, keep die.

Gemeenskap means community.

It is not a direct lookalike with modern English community, but it comes from the idea of what is shared or held in common. So there is a historical and conceptual link to the idea of common.

You may also see related Afrikaans words such as:

• gemeen = common / shared
• gemeenskaplik = communal / shared / common

So gemeenskap is a good word to learn as part of a family of related words.

You would usually use the Afrikaans double negative:

Ons werk nie vir die gemeenskap nie.

This is a very important Afrikaans pattern:

• first nie goes after the verb or later in the clause
• second nie goes at the end of the clause

So:

• Ons werk vir die gemeenskap. = We work for the community.
• Ons werk nie vir die gemeenskap nie. = We do not work for the community.

The double nie ... nie structure is one of the most noticeable features of Afrikaans grammar.