Afrikaans often builds long compound words by joining smaller parts together.
werktuigkundige can be broken down roughly like this:
So the whole word refers to a technically skilled person working with machinery or mechanical equipment. In everyday English, mechanic is often the best translation.
Depending on context, it can sometimes feel a bit broader or more formal than simple everyday mechanic.
A rough English-friendly guide is:
VAIRK-tate-khun-duh-khuh
That is only approximate, but it helps.
A few pronunciation notes:
If you are learning pronunciation, it is best to listen to native audio for this word, because the ui and g sounds are difficult to guess from spelling alone.
Yes, very much so.
In this sentence, is is the present-tense form of to be:
Afrikaans verbs are simpler than English verbs in many cases because they do not change much for person:
So is stays the same across different subjects.
This is the normal word order for a simple statement in Afrikaans:
subject + verb + rest
So:
That makes it very close to English:
Afrikaans word order becomes more different from English in subordinate clauses or when another element is moved to the front, but this sentence is straightforward.
Yes, sometimes.
Depending on context, werktuigkundige can refer to someone connected with mechanics, machinery, or mechanical engineering. In some situations it may be closer to:
But if the meaning shown to the learner is the mechanic is here, then mechanic is the right practical translation for this sentence.
Yes, depending on context.
Die werktuigkundige is hier is perfectly correct and natural. But in conversation, speakers might also say things like:
Still, the full sentence is a completely normal standard Afrikaans sentence and a good model for learners.