Ons wag al sedert gister.

Ons is the Afrikaans subject pronoun meaning we.

So:

• ons = we
• wag = wait / are waiting
• al sedert gister = since yesterday / for some time since yesterday

One useful thing to notice is that ons can also mean us in other contexts, so the same word can be either subject or object depending on the sentence.

Wag means wait.

In this sentence it is the main verb in the present tense:

• Ek wag = I wait / I am waiting
• Ons wag = we wait / we are waiting

Afrikaans verbs do not change form for different persons the way English verbs sometimes do. So you get:

• ek wag
• jy wag
• ons wag
• hulle wag

The verb stays wag.

This is a very common question.

Afrikaans often uses the present tense where English uses the present perfect continuous:

• Ons wag al sedert gister. = We have been waiting since yesterday.

So even though the English meaning is something ongoing from the past up to now, Afrikaans can still use the plain present form wag.

This is normal and natural in Afrikaans. You do not need to force a structure matching English have been waiting.

Here al does not simply mean already in the usual English sense.

In a sentence like this, al helps express the idea of by now, for quite some time, or all this time already.

So:

• Ons wag sedert gister. = We have been waiting since yesterday.
• Ons wag al sedert gister. = We have been waiting since yesterday already / all this time since yesterday.

It adds emphasis that the waiting has been going on for some time.

This use of al is very common in Afrikaans.

Sedert means since.

It introduces the starting point of an action or situation:

• sedert gister = since yesterday
• sedert verlede week = since last week
• sedert 2020 = since 2020

In this sentence, sedert gister tells you when the waiting began.

Usually sedert is the best choice for the meaning since in time expressions like this.

• sedert gister = since yesterday

Vanaf usually means from in a more neutral starting-point sense, and it is not always as natural as sedert for an action continuing up to the present.

So for this sentence, sedert is the most idiomatic option.

You may also encounter sinds, which can also mean since, but sedert is very common and clear here.

The sentence follows normal Afrikaans main-clause word order:

• Ons = subject
• wag = finite verb
• al sedert gister = time expression / adverbial part

So the pattern is basically:

Subject + verb + rest

That makes this a very straightforward sentence.

If you move the time expression to the front, the verb must still stay in second position:

• Sedert gister wag ons al.

That is also grammatical, though it may sound more marked or emphatic.

Yes, you can say that, and it would be understood, but Ons wag al sedert gister is very natural Afrikaans for an ongoing action up to now.

Compare:

• Ons wag al sedert gister. = We are still waiting; the situation continues now.

• Ons het al sedert gister gewag. This sounds more like you are describing the waiting as a completed past situation, depending on context.

So if the waiting is still continuing, the present tense version is often the best choice.

Yes.

• gister = yesterday

So:

• sedert gister = since yesterday

It is a very common everyday word.

A rough English-friendly pronunciation would be:

ons vakh al seh-DERT GHIS-ter

A few notes:

• w in Afrikaans sounds more like English v, so wag begins with a v-like sound.
• g in words like wag and gister is a guttural sound, not the English g in go.
• sedert has stress near the second syllable: se-DERT.

The exact sounds vary a bit by speaker and accent, but that rough guide can help you get started.

Yes. That is one reason learners often pause at this sentence.

For example:

• Ek het al geëet. = I have already eaten.

But in Ons wag al sedert gister, al is not just a simple already. It helps show that something has been going on for some time.

So the meaning of al depends a lot on context. Here it is closer to:

• by now
• all this time
• already for some time

rather than just plain already.