Die kantoor dien die munisipaliteit.

Because die is the Afrikaans definite article meaning the.

In this sentence:

• die kantoor = the office
• die munisipaliteit = the municipality

Afrikaans uses die for:

• singular nouns
• plural nouns
• all grammatical genders

So unlike languages such as German or Dutch, you do not have to learn different forms of the for masculine, feminine, or neuter nouns.

Dien is the verb to serve.

In this sentence, it means that the office serves, assists, or functions for the municipality. Depending on context, dien can sound:

• practical: provides services to
• administrative: works for / is in service of
• formal: serves

It is a somewhat formal word, and it is common in official or institutional contexts.

Afrikaans verbs usually do not change according to the subject in the present tense.

So you get:

• ek dien = I serve
• jy dien = you serve
• hy dien = he serves
• ons dien = we serve

The verb stays dien in each case.

This is much simpler than English, where you have to say serve but serves with he/she/it.

In a basic Afrikaans main clause, the usual word order is:

subject + verb + object

So in: Die kantoor dien die munisipaliteit

• Die kantoor = subject
• dien = verb
• die munisipaliteit = object

That means the office is doing the serving, and the municipality is receiving the action.

Afrikaans does not use special case endings here, so word order is very important.

Yes, in this simple sentence it is very similar to English.

Afrikaans: Die kantoor dien die munisipaliteit.

English: The office serves the municipality.

Both follow subject–verb–object order.

However, Afrikaans word order changes more noticeably in other sentence types, especially:

• when something other than the subject comes first
• in subordinate clauses

But in this sentence, the structure is straightforward.

Usually, yes. Kantoor generally means office, especially:

• a workplace
• an administrative office
• an office department

So die kantoor here most naturally means the office as an institution or administrative unit.

Depending on context, it could refer to:

• the physical office
• the office staff
• the office as an official body

It can mean either, depending on context, but very often it refers to the municipality as an administrative body or local authority.

So in this sentence, die munisipaliteit probably means:

• the municipal government
• the local municipal authority
• the municipality as an institution

That fits well with dien, since an office would more naturally serve an institution than a geographic area.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

• kantoor ≈ kun-TOOR
• dien ≈ deen
• munisipaliteit ≈ myoo-nih-see-pah-lih-TITE

A few helpful notes:

• oo in kantoor is a long vowel.
• ie in dien sounds like ee in seen.
• The final part -teit is similar to English -tate in words like state, but not exactly the same.

Pronunciation varies somewhat by speaker, but these approximations are good enough for a learner.

Because dien already expresses the action serves.

Afrikaans does not need an extra helping verb here. The sentence is a simple present-tense statement:

• Die kantoor = the office
• dien = serves
• die munisipaliteit = the municipality

So the full meaning is already contained in those three parts.

Possibly, depending on context, but the most neutral translation is The office serves the municipality.

Afrikaans often uses the simple present where English might sometimes use either:

• serves
• is serving

Without more context, serves is the safest translation.

If someone wanted to stress an ongoing action, Afrikaans would usually express that more explicitly in another way.

Yes, it sounds fairly formal or administrative.

That is mainly because of the words:

• dien = serve
• munisipaliteit = municipality

This sounds like something you might see in:

• official writing
• government communication
• a report
• a public-service description

In casual everyday conversation, people might sometimes choose less formal wording depending on what exactly they mean.