Die ritssluiter is sedert gister stukkend.

Afrikaans often uses the present tense where English uses has been for a situation that started in the past and is still true now.

So:

• Die ritssluiter is sedert gister stukkend
• literally: The zipper is since yesterday broken
• natural English: The zipper has been broken since yesterday

This is very normal in Afrikaans. With sedert + a time point, the present tense often shows that the state continues up to the present.

Ritssluiter means zipper.

It is a compound noun, which is very common in Afrikaans. Afrikaans often joins parts together into one word.

You can think of it roughly as:

• rits = zip / zipper
• sluiter = closer / fastener

So ritssluiter is literally something like zip-closer.

Compound nouns are extremely common in Afrikaans, so long words like this are very normal.

Die is the definite article in Afrikaans. It usually means the.

So:

• die ritssluiter = the zipper

Unlike some other languages, Afrikaans does not have different forms of the for grammatical gender in the singular. The same form die is used very widely.

So for a learner, die is usually just the Afrikaans equivalent of the.

Sedert means since.

It introduces the starting point of a situation that continues up to now.

In this sentence:

• sedert gister = since yesterday

So the idea is that the zipper became broken yesterday, and it is still broken now.

A useful pattern is:

• sedert + time expression

Examples:

• sedert Maandag = since Monday
• sedert verlede week = since last week
• sedert gister = since yesterday

Because gister by itself just means yesterday, while sedert gister means since yesterday.

Compare:

• Die ritssluiter was gister stukkend = The zipper was broken yesterday
• Die ritssluiter is sedert gister stukkend = The zipper has been broken since yesterday

So sedert adds the idea of continuing from that time until now.

Afrikaans main clauses usually follow the V2 rule, which means the finite verb normally comes in the second position.

Here:

• Die ritssluiter = first element
• is = finite verb in second position
• sedert gister stukkend = the rest of the clause

So the structure is very normal Afrikaans word order.

You can also move another element to the front, but then the verb still stays second:

• Sedert gister is die ritssluiter stukkend

That is also correct.

Stukkend is the descriptive part of the sentence, and here it is used after the linking verb is.

The sentence pattern is:

• subject + is + other information + adjective/complement

So:

• Die ritssluiter = subject
• is = linking verb
• sedert gister = time phrase
• stukkend = adjective/complement

Afrikaans often puts this kind of adjective toward the end of the clause.

Stukkend usually means broken, damaged, or not working.

It is very commonly used for things that are not functioning properly:

• Die motor is stukkend = The car is broken
• My foon is stukkend = My phone is broken
• Die ritssluiter is stukkend = The zipper is broken

It can refer either to physical damage or simply that something no longer works as it should.

Because here it is used predicatively, meaning it comes after is and describes the subject.

In Afrikaans, adjectives used this way usually do not take an ending.

So:

• Die ritssluiter is stukkend = predicative adjective

But if the adjective comes before the noun, it often changes form:

• die stukkende ritssluiter = the broken zipper

So compare:

• Die ritssluiter is stukkend
• Die stukkende ritssluiter

This is a very important Afrikaans pattern.

Sometimes, but stukkend is often the more natural choice for something that is broken / not working.

Broadly speaking:

• stukkend = broken, damaged, out of order, not functioning
• gebreek = broken in the sense of having been broken, often more literally snapped or fractured

For a zipper, stukkend is very natural.

So:

• Die ritssluiter is stukkend sounds very normal.

Using gebreek is not always impossible, but it may sound less idiomatic depending on the exact situation.

Yes. Afrikaans allows some flexibility, but the finite verb still normally stays in second position in a main clause.

For example:

• Die ritssluiter is sedert gister stukkend
• Sedert gister is die ritssluiter stukkend

Both are correct.

The difference is mainly emphasis:

• starting with Die ritssluiter focuses first on the zipper
• starting with Sedert gister emphasizes the time phrase

It is a very good and standard way, especially in this kind of sentence.

Learners may also come across van ... af, which can sometimes express from a point in time, but sedert is especially straightforward for since when something has continued up to now.

So in this sentence, sedert gister is a very natural choice.

The negative would usually be:

• Die ritssluiter is sedert gister nie stukkend nie = The zipper has not been broken since yesterday

Afrikaans normally uses double negation:

• first nie after the verb phrase area
• second nie at the end of the clause

This is one of the most important features of Afrikaans grammar.

A rough learner-friendly pronunciation is:

• rits-sloy-ter

A few helpful points:

• rits sounds a bit like rits in English
• slui is roughly like sloy
• the r is usually rolled or tapped more than in most English accents

You do not need perfect pronunciation immediately; the most important thing is to recognize it as one word and stress it naturally.