Hoekom wys die skeidsregter die geelkaart?

Hoekom means why. Yes, you can also use waarom:

Hoekom wys die skeidsregter die geelkaart?
Waarom wys die skeidsregter die geelkaart?

Both are correct. Hoekom is very common in everyday speech. Waarom can sound a bit more formal or careful.

Afrikaans does not use a dummy auxiliary like English do/does for ordinary questions.

English says:
Why does the referee show the yellow card?

Afrikaans simply uses the main verb:
Hoekom wys die skeidsregter die geelkaart?

So a very literal word-for-word pattern is closer to:
Why shows the referee the yellow card?

That is not good English, but it helps show how Afrikaans is built.

Because Afrikaans normally puts the finite verb in the second position of the clause.

In this sentence:

• Hoekom = position 1
• wys = position 2
• die skeidsregter = comes after the verb

So the pattern is:

Question word + verb + subject + rest

That is why you get:

Hoekom wys die skeidsregter die geelkaart?

and not
Hoekom die skeidsregter wys die geelkaart?

Usually, no. Afrikaans verbs do not change much for person in the present tense.

So you get:

• ek wys = I show
• jy wys = you show
• hy wys = he shows
• ons wys = we show

English adds -s in he shows, but Afrikaans keeps wys the same.

Skeidsregter means referee. It is the standard Afrikaans word for the official who controls a match.

It is a compound noun, which is very common in Afrikaans. Afrikaans often builds longer words by joining parts together.

The plural is skeidsregters.

Because die is the Afrikaans definite article, meaning the.

In this sentence:

• die skeidsregter = the referee
• die geelkaart = the yellow card

A useful point: Afrikaans uses die for:

• singular nouns
• plural nouns
• all grammatical genders

So Afrikaans does not change the the way some other languages do.

Because Afrikaans usually writes compound nouns as a single word.

So:

• geel = yellow
• kaart = card
• geelkaart = yellow card

This is especially natural when it is a fixed term, like a sports term. The same idea applies to many Afrikaans compounds.

Die means the, while 'n means a/an.

So:

• die geelkaart = the yellow card
• 'n geelkaart = a yellow card

Using die makes it definite. Using 'n would make it indefinite.

In context, the sentence is talking about the yellow card as a specific thing being shown, so die is used.

You are right: this sentence only says that the referee shows the yellow card. It does not say to whom.

To add that idea, you can say for example:

Hoekom wys die skeidsregter die geelkaart vir die speler?
= Why is the referee showing the yellow card to the player?

Here vir die speler adds the person receiving it.

You would move the subject before the verb:

Die skeidsregter wys die geelkaart.
= The referee shows the yellow card.

So compare:

• Hoekom wys die skeidsregter die geelkaart? = Why does the referee show the yellow card?
• Die skeidsregter wys die geelkaart. = The referee shows the yellow card.

That contrast is a good way to see Afrikaans word order.

A few helpful pronunciation points:

• oe in hoekom sounds like oo in boot
• w in Afrikaans often sounds closer to English v
• y in wys is a diphthong, roughly somewhat like the vowel in ice, though not exactly the same
• g in words like regter is usually a guttural sound, like the ch in Scottish loch or German Bach

So for an English speaker, rough approximations are:

• hoekom ≈ HOO-kum
• wys ≈ something close to vice, but with an Afrikaans vowel
• skeidsregter has a hard, guttural g
• geelkaart begins with a guttural g as well

These are only rough guides, but they can help you get started.