Ons herwin beslis glas.

• Ons = we
• herwin = recycle / reclaim
• beslis = definitely
• glas = glass

Grammatically:

• Ons is the subject.
• herwin is the finite verb.
• beslis is an adverb modifying the verb.
• glas is the direct object.

In a normal Afrikaans main clause, the finite verb usually comes in the second position. That is why you get:

• Ons herwin beslis glas.

Here:

1. Ons takes the first position.
2. herwin must come next.
3. beslis comes after the verb.

This is one of the most important word-order patterns in Afrikaans.

Normally, no. That sounds wrong in standard word order because the finite verb should stay in second position.

The natural sentence is:

• Ons herwin beslis glas.

If you want to emphasize beslis, Afrikaans would usually do that in other ways, not by simply putting it between the subject and verb.

Because glas is being used as a material or mass noun here, in a general sense.

So:

• Ons herwin glas = We recycle glass

This is like English, where you also often say We recycle glass, not We recycle a glass.

If you were talking about a specific object, the wording would change:

• Ons herwin die glas = We recycle the glass

Because the sentence is talking about glass as a material, not individual glass items.

• glas = glass, as a substance/material
• glase = glasses, usually individual drinking glasses

So:

• Ons herwin glas = We recycle glass
• Ons herwin glase = We recycle glasses

Both are possible, but they mean slightly different things.

Yes, herwin is a standard Afrikaans verb for recycle, especially in the sense of recovering or reprocessing materials.

It is built from:

• her- = again / re-
• win = gain / recover / win

So it has the idea of recovering something for use again.

Depending on context, Afrikaans may also use other recycling-related terms, but herwin is a very normal word here.

Yes. Herwin here is present tense.

Afrikaans verbs do not change much the way English verbs do. The same form is used with different subjects:

• Ek herwin
• Ons herwin
• Hulle herwin

In a sentence like this, the present tense can mean:

• something happening now, or
• a habitual action

So Ons herwin beslis glas most naturally means We definitely recycle glass as a general habit or policy.

Afrikaans usually uses double negation:

• Ons herwin nie glas nie. = We do not recycle glass.
• Ons herwin beslis nie glas nie. = We definitely do not recycle glass.

Notice the two nie words:

1. one after the verb or adverbial part
2. one at the end of the clause

This is a very important Afrikaans pattern.

In this sentence, beslis means definitely / certainly.

It is often used to add confidence or emphasis:

• Ja, beslis. = Yes, definitely.
• Dit is beslis waar. = That is definitely true.

So in Ons herwin beslis glas, it strengthens the statement.

In this sentence, ons means we.

Afrikaans learners often notice that ons is a very useful word because it can also appear in other related meanings depending on context. But here it is simply the subject pronoun:

• Ons herwin beslis glas. = We definitely recycle glass.

So the easiest way to understand it here is just we.

The neutral sentence is:

• Ons herwin beslis glas.

If you want to emphasize glas, Afrikaans can sometimes use stress in speech rather than changing the word order much.

Word order in Afrikaans is less flexible than in English in ordinary main clauses because the finite verb still wants to stay in second position. So for a learner, the safest natural pattern is still:

• Ons herwin beslis glas.

That is the best default sentence to use.

A rough English-friendly guide:

• herwin: something like hair-vin or hehr-vin
• beslis: roughly buh-slees

A few notes:

• The r in Afrikaans is usually trilled or tapped more than in English.
• The w in herwin sounds more like English v.
• The g in glas is a guttural sound, not a hard English g.

So glas does not sound exactly like English glass. The first sound is made farther back in the throat.