Die diens kos nie soveel geld nie.

Afrikaans usually uses double negation in full negative sentences.

In Die diens kos nie soveel geld nie:

• the first nie introduces the negation
• the second nie closes the clause

This is one of the most noticeable differences from English. English says doesn't only once, but Afrikaans often needs nie ... nie around the negative part of the sentence.

A useful beginner rule is:

• the first nie usually comes after the finite verb
• the second nie usually comes at the end of the clause

So here:

• Die diens = subject
• kos = finite verb
• nie soveel geld = negated part
• final nie = clause-ending negation

That gives:

Die diens kos nie soveel geld nie.

This placement can vary in more complex sentences, but for simple main clauses, this pattern is very common.

Die means the.

Afrikaans does not change the definite article for gender or case, so die works for:

• the service
• the man
• the woman
• the house

So die diens simply means the service.

Yes. Diens is a normal Afrikaans noun meaning service.

It can refer to things like:

• customer service
• internet or phone service
• a public service
• military service, depending on context

In this sentence, it most naturally means a service that someone pays for.

In Afrikaans, the verb kos means to cost.

In the present tense, Afrikaans verbs usually do not change much across subjects:

• Ek kos would not normally be used semantically, but grammatically the verb form stays simple
• Dit kos
• Die diens kos

So kos here is just the normal present-tense form meaning costs.

Afrikaans is much simpler than English in this respect: there is no special -s ending added only for he/she/it as in English.

Soveel means so much or that much, depending on context.

In this sentence, it means something like:

• so much money
• that much money

It suggests the amount is not very high, or not as high as someone might think.

Also note that soveel is written as one word.

Yes, English often leaves out money because it is understood.

Afrikaans can do something similar in some contexts, but soveel geld is very natural and explicit. It literally says so much money.

Including geld makes the sentence very clear:

• kos nie soveel nie = doesn't cost that much
• kos nie soveel geld nie = doesn't cost that much money

Both ideas are possible, but the version with geld is completely normal.

The basic structure is:

Subject + verb + negation + object/complement + final nie

So here:

• Die diens = subject
• kos = verb
• nie = first negative marker
• soveel geld = object / amount expression
• nie = second negative marker

Afrikaans main clauses usually keep the verb in the second position, which is also something English speakers should get used to.

Yes. That would mean The service is not so expensive.

It is a different structure, but it expresses a very similar idea.

Compare:

• Die diens kos nie soveel geld nie = The service doesn't cost that much money
• Die diens is nie so duur nie = The service isn't so expensive

The first focuses on the amount of money it costs.
The second focuses on the quality of being expensive.

Both are natural.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

• die ≈ dee
• diens ≈ something like deens
• kos ≈ koss
• nie ≈ nee
• soveel ≈ suh-FOO-el or suh-VOO-el depending on accent
• geld ≈ similar to ghelt with a harder guttural g

A very rough full pronunciation guide would be:

dee deens koss nee suh-FOO-el ghelt nee

The biggest pronunciation challenge for English speakers is usually the Afrikaans g, which is much harsher than English g.

It is neutral, standard Afrikaans.

Nothing in the sentence is especially formal or especially casual. You could use it in everyday conversation, writing, or general explanation.

So it is a very useful model sentence for learning common Afrikaans grammar.