Die skeidsregter probeer om 'n gevaarlike duikslag te voorkom.

Die here means the.

Afrikaans does not use grammatical gender the way Dutch or German do, so die is the definite article for singular nouns like skeidsregter and also for many plural nouns.

So:

• die skeidsregter = the referee
• no separate masculine, feminine, or neuter form is needed

That makes articles in Afrikaans much simpler than in some related languages.

Skeidsregter means referee.

It is a compound noun:

• skeid = separate / decide between
• regter = judge

So the word has the sense of someone who judges between sides.

Compound nouns are very common in Afrikaans, and like in English, the whole word is usually written as one unit.

Afrikaans verbs usually do not change according to the subject.

So:

• ek probeer = I try
• jy probeer = you try
• hy probeer = he tries
• die skeidsregter probeer = the referee tries

Unlike English, there is no special -s form for the third person singular. This is one of the big simplifications in Afrikaans grammar.

Om ... te + infinitive is a very common Afrikaans pattern meaning to + verb.

Here:

• probeer om ... te voorkom = tries to prevent

So:

• om introduces the infinitive phrase
• te marks the infinitive
• voorkom is the main infinitive verb

This is similar to English to prevent, but Afrikaans often uses both om and te around the infinitive phrase.

That is normal Afrikaans word order for an infinitive clause.

In the infinitive phrase:

• om starts the clause
• the object usually comes before the infinitive verb
• te stands directly before the verb

So the structure is:

• om + object + te + verb

Here:

• om 'n gevaarlike duikslag te voorkom

Literally, it is something like:

• to a dangerous diving tackle to prevent

But in natural English we say:

• to prevent a dangerous diving tackle

So the Afrikaans word order is different from English, especially inside infinitive clauses.

'n is the Afrikaans indefinite article, meaning a or an.

A few important points:

• It is written with an apostrophe: 'n
• It is usually pronounced as a very weak uh sound, like a schwa
• It is normally unstressed

So:

• 'n gevaarlike duikslag = a dangerous diving tackle

Also, if 'n starts a sentence, Afrikaans normally keeps 'n lowercase and capitalizes the next word instead. That is a spelling convention learners often notice.

In Afrikaans, adjectives often take -e when they come before a noun.

So:

• gevaarlik = dangerous
• 'n gevaarlike duikslag = a dangerous diving tackle

This is called the attributive form of the adjective, because it is directly attached to a noun.

Compare:

• Die duikslag is gevaarlik = The tackle is dangerous
  Here the adjective stands after the verb, so it stays gevaarlik
• 'n gevaarlike duikslag = a dangerous tackle
  Here it comes before the noun, so it becomes gevaarlike

Duikslag is a compound noun.

It combines:

• duik = dive
• slag = hit / blow / strike

Together it refers to a kind of diving hit / diving tackle, depending on context.

A useful thing to remember about Afrikaans compounds is that the last part usually tells you the basic category of the word. So duikslag is a kind of slag.

Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, forms many everyday words this way.

Not always. Voorkom can have more than one meaning depending on context.

Common meanings include:

• prevent
• occur
• appear / seem in some contexts

In this sentence, because it follows probeer om ... te, the meaning is clearly prevent.

So:

• probeer ... te voorkom = try to prevent

This is a useful word to learn, but you should always pay attention to context.

The sentence has two parts:

1. the main clause
   Die skeidsregter probeer
2. the infinitive clause
   om 'n gevaarlike duikslag te voorkom

In the main clause, Afrikaans follows the usual verb-second pattern:

• Die skeidsregter = subject
• probeer = finite verb

Then the infinitive phrase comes after it.

So the pattern is:

• Subject + finite verb + infinitive phrase

That gives:

• Die skeidsregter probeer om 'n gevaarlike duikslag te voorkom.

A rough guide for an English speaker would be:

duh SKATES-rugh-ter pruh-BEER om uh khuh-VAAR-luh-khuh DUKE-slahkh tuh FOR-khom

A few helpful notes:

• skeidsregter has a guttural g sound that English does not really have
• gevaarlike has the strong aa vowel
• duik sounds roughly like English dake or duke depending on accent and how broad the approximation is
• voorkom has a long oor-type vowel in the first part
• 'n is just a very weak uh

A perfect pronunciation guide in English spelling is impossible, but this should help you get started.

With probeer, you will very commonly see om ... te before the following infinitive, and it is the safest pattern for learners to use.

So this sentence is very natural as:

• Die skeidsregter probeer om 'n gevaarlike duikslag te voorkom.

In some kinds of Afrikaans, om can sometimes be omitted in certain infinitive constructions, but for learners, using om ... te here is a good and standard choice.

So the simple rule is:

• after probeer, om ... te + infinitive is a reliable pattern to learn first