Ons ondersoek die besoedeling.

Here, ons means we because it is the subject of the sentence: Ons ondersoek ...

Yes, ons can also mean us in other contexts. Afrikaans often uses the same form where English changes form.

• Ons ondersoek die besoedeling. = We investigate the pollution.
• Hulle sien ons. = They see us.

So the position in the sentence tells you which role it has.

In Afrikaans, verbs usually do not conjugate for different persons in the present tense. That means the verb form stays the same with ek, jy, hy/sy, ons, and hulle.

For example:

• Ek ondersoek
• Jy ondersoek
• Ons ondersoek
• Hulle ondersoek

This is much simpler than English, where you get I investigate but he investigates.

Yes, in this sentence ondersoek is a verb: investigate / examine.

But ondersoek can also be a noun, meaning investigation or examination, depending on context.

Here you know it is a verb because of the sentence pattern:

• Ons = subject
• ondersoek = verb
• die besoedeling = object

So the structure tells you how the word is functioning.

This is the normal main-clause word order in Afrikaans:

Subject + Verb + Object

So:

• Ons = subject
• ondersoek = verb
• die besoedeling = object

This is very similar to basic English word order.

A useful extra point: Afrikaans is a verb-second language in main clauses. So if another element comes first, the verb still stays in second position:

• Vandag ondersoek ons die besoedeling. = Today we investigate the pollution.

Die is the normal definite article, meaning the.

One important thing for English speakers: Afrikaans does not have grammatical gender like German, and die is used very broadly.

It is used for:

• singular nouns
• plural nouns

Examples:

• die boek = the book
• die boeke = the books

So in die besoedeling, die simply means the.

Besoedeling is a noun, and it is an abstract noun meaning something like pollution or contamination.

It is built from the verb besoedel (to pollute / contaminate) plus the ending -ing, which often forms nouns.

So:

• besoedel = pollute
• besoedeling = pollution

That -ing ending may look familiar to an English speaker, but it does not always work exactly like English -ing forms. Here it is clearly a noun.

It can often mean either, depending on context.

The simple present in Afrikaans is commonly used for both:

• We investigate
• We are investigating

If you want to make the ongoing action especially clear, Afrikaans often uses a construction like:

• Ons is besig om die besoedeling te ondersoek.

That more clearly means We are busy investigating the pollution / We are investigating the pollution.

A rough guide is:

• Ons = ons
• ondersoek = ON-duhr-SOOK
• die = dee
• besoedeling = buh-SOO-duh-ling

A couple of useful notes:

• die is pronounced dee, not like the English word die
• the oe in besoedeling sounds like oo in food
• ondersoek has the stress on the last part: -soek

These are only approximate English-style guides, but they are helpful for getting started.

Afrikaans usually makes a sentence negative with two instances of nie.

So:

• Ons ondersoek die besoedeling. becomes
• Ons ondersoek nie die besoedeling nie.

This double negative structure is very common in standard Afrikaans.

A simple way to think about it is:

• one nie appears after the verb area
• the second nie comes near the end of the clause

That is one of the most noticeable grammar differences from English.