Tydens die kragonderbreking gebruik ons die herlaaibare flitslig.

Because tydens die kragonderbreking means during the power outage, and Afrikaans often puts a time phrase at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis or natural flow.

So:

• Tydens die kragonderbreking = during the power outage
• gebruik ons die herlaaibare flitslig = we use the rechargeable flashlight

This is very similar to English sentences like:

• During the storm, we stay inside.
• In the evening, we read.

In Afrikaans, when a time phrase comes first, the verb usually comes next. That is why you get:

• Tydens die kragonderbreking gebruik ons ...
• not Tydens die kragonderbreking ons gebruik ...

This is because Afrikaans follows a verb-second pattern in main clauses.

The finite verb usually comes in the second position. If something other than the subject comes first, the verb still stays second, and the subject moves after it.

Compare:

• Ons gebruik die herlaaibare flitslig. = We use the rechargeable flashlight.
• Tydens die kragonderbreking gebruik ons die herlaaibare flitslig. = During the power outage, we use the rechargeable flashlight.

So:

1. First position: Tydens die kragonderbreking
2. Second position: gebruik
3. Then the subject: ons

This is one of the most important sentence patterns in Afrikaans.

Tydens means during.

It is used before a noun phrase to show that something happens within a certain period or event.

Examples:

• tydens die les = during the lesson
• tydens die vakansie = during the holiday
• tydens die kragonderbreking = during the power outage

It is a very common formal and neutral word. In everyday speech, Afrikaans speakers might also sometimes express similar ideas in other ways, but tydens is completely natural here.

Kragonderbreking is a compound noun, which is very common in Afrikaans.

It is made up of:

• krag = power, electricity
• onderbreking = interruption

So literally it is something like power interruption, which in natural English is power outage or power cut.

Afrikaans often joins words together into one long noun, just like Dutch and German do.

Other examples of compounds:

• sonlig = sunlight
• handskoen = glove
• huiswerk = homework

So kragonderbreking is not unusual at all in Afrikaans.

Because die kragonderbreking means the power outage.

In Afrikaans, die is the definite article for all nouns:

• singular: die boek = the book
• plural: die boeke = the books

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not have separate forms like the vs something gendered. It is just die.

In this sentence, the speaker is referring to a specific situation, so die kragonderbreking is natural.

Again, die means the.

So:

• die herlaaibare flitslig = the rechargeable flashlight

The sentence is talking about a particular flashlight, not just any flashlight.

A few useful comparisons:

• Ons gebruik 'n flitslig. = We use a flashlight.
• Ons gebruik die flitslig. = We use the flashlight.

So the difference is:

• 'n = a/an
• die = the

Herlaaibare means rechargeable.

It comes from the idea of recharging something:

• herlaai = recharge
• -baar = able to / capable of
• herlaaibaar = rechargeable
• herlaaibare = rechargeable (used before the noun here)

So the word basically means able to be recharged.

This -baar ending is similar to English endings like -able:

• eetbaar = edible
• drinkbaar = drinkable
• sigbaar = visible
• herlaaibaar = rechargeable

Because Afrikaans adjectives usually take an -e ending when they come before a noun.

So:

• die flitslig is herlaaibaar = the flashlight is rechargeable
  
  • here the adjective stands after is, so it stays herlaaibaar
• die herlaaibare flitslig = the rechargeable flashlight
  
  • here the adjective comes before the noun, so it becomes herlaaibare

This is a very common pattern in Afrikaans.

More examples:

• Die boek is interessant.

• die interessante boek

• Die kos is warm.
• die warm kos

With herlaaibaar, adding the adjectival -e gives herlaaibare.

Flitslig means flashlight. In British English, you would often say torch.

It is another compound noun:

• flits = flash
• lig = light

So literally it is flash light.

Depending on the variety of English you speak:

• American English: flashlight
• British English: torch

Both are good translations of flitslig.

Yes. Gebruik is the verb use.

In the sentence:

• gebruik ons = we use

Afrikaans verbs are often simpler than English verbs because they do not change much according to the subject.

Compare:

• Ek gebruik = I use
• Jy gebruik = you use
• Ons gebruik = we use
• Hulle gebruik = they use

So unlike English, you do not get forms like uses for he/she/it. The verb usually stays the same.

Usually, yes. Ons means we or us, depending on the role in the sentence.

Here it is the subject, so it means we:

• Ons gebruik die flitslig. = We use the flashlight.

As an object, Afrikaans also uses ons:

• Hy help ons. = He helps us.

So ons can correspond to both we and us, depending on context.

Yes, absolutely.

That version is also grammatical and natural:

• Ons gebruik die herlaaibare flitslig tydens die kragonderbreking.

The main difference is emphasis and sentence flow:

• Tydens die kragonderbreking gebruik ons ...
  puts emphasis on when
• Ons gebruik ... tydens die kragonderbreking.
  starts more neutrally with we

Both are correct. The first one is a nice example of Afrikaans verb-second word order after a fronted phrase.

A very literal breakdown would be:

• Tydens = during
• die = the
• kragonderbreking = power interruption / power outage
• gebruik = use
• ons = we
• die = the
• herlaaibare = rechargeable
• flitslig = flashlight

So the word-for-word order is roughly:

During the power outage use we the rechargeable flashlight.

That sounds unnatural in English, but it helps show the Afrikaans structure. The natural English translation rearranges it as:

During the power outage, we use the rechargeable flashlight.