Die naaimasjien was eens nuut.

Die is the Afrikaans definite article, so here it means the.

A useful thing for English speakers is that Afrikaans does not have grammatical gender the way languages like German or Dutch do. So die is used for the regardless of whether the noun refers to something masculine, feminine, or neuter.

So:

• die naaimasjien = the sewing machine

There is no separate Afrikaans equivalent of English the that changes by gender.

Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, very often writes compound nouns as a single word.

So naaimasjien is made up of:

• naai = sew
• masjien = machine

Together, naaimasjien literally means sewing machine.

English often writes similar combinations as two words, but Afrikaans usually joins them into one compound noun.

Was is the past tense of wees (to be).

So:

• is = is
• was = was

In this sentence, was links the subject to the description nuut, just like English was in The sewing machine was new.

Here eens means something like once, at one time, or formerly.

So the sentence suggests that the sewing machine is not new now, but it used to be.

In this kind of sentence, eens has a slightly literary or formal feel compared with plain everyday English once. It is not the number one here.

Not exactly.

• eens in this sentence means formerly / once upon a time / at one time
• een keer usually means one time / once in the sense of on one occasion

Examples:

• Die naaimasjien was eens nuut. = The sewing machine was once new.
• Ek was een keer daar. = I was there once.

So for this sentence, eens is the natural word.

Because nuut comes after the verb was, it is being used predicatively. In Afrikaans, adjectives in that position usually do not change form.

So:

• Die naaimasjien was nuut. = The sewing machine was new.

Compare that with adjectives before a noun, where Afrikaans often adds -e:

• ’n nuwe naaimasjien = a new sewing machine

That contrast is very common in Afrikaans:

• after the verb: nuut
• before the noun: nuwe

The word order is very normal for a simple Afrikaans main clause:

• Die naaimasjien = subject
• was = verb
• eens = adverb
• nuut = complement/adjective

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

So this sentence follows a standard pattern: subject + verb + extra information + description

Yes, sometimes it can, but the version given is natural and clear.

For example, you may also see:

• Die naaimasjien was nuut eens — this sounds unnatural in normal modern Afrikaans.
• Eens was die naaimasjien nuut. — possible, but more literary or stylistically marked.

The original sentence, Die naaimasjien was eens nuut, is the most straightforward way to express the idea.

A rough English-friendly guide would be:

• naai ≈ nahy or na-eye
• masjien ≈ ma-SHEEN

So naaimasjien is roughly:

NA-eye-ma-sheen

The sj in masjien sounds like English sh.

A rough pronunciation is something like:

ayns or eens with a long vowel

The exact sound depends on accent, but it is much closer to a single compact word than to English ee-ns spoken very slowly.

What matters most for a learner is recognizing it as one adverb meaning once / formerly in this context.

Yes, the sentence is grammatical and natural, but eens can sound a little formal, literary, or reflective depending on context.

In everyday speech, people might also express the idea in other ways, depending on nuance. But Die naaimasjien was eens nuut is perfectly good Afrikaans and has a slightly polished feel.

Because the sentence is talking about a specific sewing machine, not just any sewing machine.

• Die naaimasjien = the sewing machine
• ’n naaimasjien = a sewing machine

So the speaker is referring to a known or specific machine, which is why die is used instead of ’n.