Die meterlesing is nuut.

Afrikaans commonly forms compound nouns by joining smaller words into a single word. So meterlesing is a compound made from meter + lesing.

This is very normal in Afrikaans. English often uses two words where Afrikaans uses one, so meter reading in English becomes meterlesing in Afrikaans.

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

A useful thing for English speakers is that Afrikaans does not have grammatical gender for nouns in the article system the way some other European languages do. So die is used for the regardless of whether the noun is singular or plural, and regardless of natural gender.

No. In Afrikaans, the verb wees (to be) is much simpler in the present tense than in English. The form is is used with all persons:

• ek is = I am
• jy is = you are
• hy/sy is = he/she is
• ons is = we are
• julle is = you are
• hulle is = they are

So in Die meterlesing is nuut, is works exactly as expected and does not need to agree differently with the subject.

Because nuut is a predicate adjective here. It describes the subject after the linking verb is.

This works much like English:

• The meter reading is new.
• Die meterlesing is nuut.

So the structure is:

• Die meterlesing = subject
• is = linking verb
• nuut = adjective describing the subject

In Afrikaans, adjectives often stay in their basic form when they come after a verb like is. That is exactly what happens here.

Compare:

• Die meterlesing is nuut. = The meter reading is new.
• ’n Nuwe meterlesing = a new meter reading

So when the adjective is used before a noun, it may change form, as in nuwe. But after is, the basic form nuut is used.

It can often cover both ideas, depending on context.

So Die meterlesing is nuut could suggest:

• the meter reading is new
• the meter reading is recent
• the meter reading is the latest one

Context tells you which shade of meaning is intended.

Yes. This is a basic main-clause word order:

Subject + verb + complement

So:

• Die meterlesing = subject
• is = verb
• nuut = complement

This is very similar to English in a simple statement.

A rough English-friendly guide would be:

• meterlesing ≈ MEE-tur-lay-sing
• nuut has a long vowel somewhat like Dutch uu; English does not have an exact match, but you can think of something like nüt with rounded lips

A few helpful notes:

• ee in meter is usually a long vowel
• lesing sounds roughly like LAY-sing
• uu in nuut is not the same as the English vowel in new

Yes, but the meaning would change slightly.

• Die meterlesing is nuut. = The meter reading is new.
• ’n Meterlesing is nuut. = A meter reading is new.
• Meterlesing is nuut. sounds less natural in isolation unless you are speaking very generally or using a headline-style phrase.

So die is the normal choice when referring to a specific meter reading.

The plural is normally meterlesings.

So you could say:

• Die meterlesings is nuut.

Notice two useful things:

1. The noun takes -s in the plural here.
2. The article die stays the same.

Also, Afrikaans still uses is in the present tense with plural subjects, unlike English are.

It is neutral and straightforward. It would sound natural in everyday speech, technical communication, utility contexts, or written notes.

Because meterlesing is a practical, compound noun, the sentence may sound a bit technical depending on context, but grammatically it is completely ordinary Afrikaans.