Die ondersoek begin nou.

Yes. die is the Afrikaans definite article, so here it means the.

A useful difference from English is that Afrikaans uses die for:

• singular nouns: die ondersoek = the investigation
• plural nouns: die ondersoeke = the investigations

Afrikaans does not change the article for gender, so there is no separate equivalent of the for masculine, feminine, or neuter nouns.

Here, ondersoek is a noun, meaning investigation or inquiry.

In other contexts, ondersoek can also be a verb meaning investigate or examine, but in Die ondersoek begin nou, it is clearly a noun because it comes after the article die.

So:

• die ondersoek = the investigation
  but
• Ons ondersoek dit = We investigate it

Afrikaans verbs are often much simpler than English verbs. Begin is the infinitive/base form, and in the present tense it usually stays the same for all subjects.

So you get:

• Ek begin = I begin / am beginning
• Jy begin = you begin
• Die ondersoek begin = the investigation begins

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not usually add -s for he/she/it. That is why it is begin, not something like begins.

Because Afrikaans often uses the simple present where English might use either the simple present or the present progressive.

So begin nou can naturally cover:

• begins now
• is beginning now
• is starting now

Afrikaans does have ways to emphasize an ongoing action, but in many ordinary sentences the simple verb form is enough.

This is normal main-clause word order in Afrikaans:

subject + verb + time expression

So:

• Die ondersoek = subject
• begin = verb
• nou = time word

Afrikaans is a verb-second language in main clauses, which means the finite verb usually comes early in the sentence, typically in second position.

That is why begin comes before nou here.

Yes, absolutely.

Nou begin die ondersoek is also correct. It puts more emphasis on now by moving it to the front.

When an element like nou comes first in an Afrikaans main clause, the verb still stays in second position:

• Nou begin die ondersoek

So both are correct:

• Die ondersoek begin nou
• Nou begin die ondersoek

The difference is mainly one of emphasis and style.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

dee UN-der-sook buh-GIN now

A few notes:

• die sounds like dee, not like English die
• ondersoek has a long oo sound in the last part, roughly like book but longer and tenser
• begin is pronounced with stress on the second syllable: be-GIN
• nou sounds a lot like English now

Pronunciation varies a little by speaker and region, but this will get you close.

Nou usually means now.

In this sentence it marks the time of the action:

• Die ondersoek begin nou = The investigation begins now

Depending on context, nou can sometimes also have a discourse meaning like well, so, or now then, but here it is clearly a time word.

It sounds fairly neutral and can fit a formal context well, especially because ondersoek is a somewhat formal word.

For example, it would sound natural in:

• a police context
• an official announcement
• a legal or administrative setting
• a documentary or news report

The grammar itself is not especially formal; it is just standard Afrikaans.

The plural is usually ondersoeke.

So:

• Die ondersoek begin nou = The investigation begins now
• Die ondersoeke begin nou = The investigations begin now

Notice that die stays the same and begin also stays the same. Afrikaans makes this kind of sentence much simpler than English because the article and verb usually do not change much.

Yes. Depending on context, ondersoek can mean:

• investigation
• inquiry
• examination
• inspection

So the exact English wording depends on the situation.

For example:

• in police or legal language, investigation
• in academic or official settings, sometimes inquiry
• in medical contexts, it may be closer to examination

In this sentence, the most likely broad meaning is still investigation or inquiry.