Sy sif die broodmeel.

Here, Sy means she.

Afrikaans capitalizes it because it is at the beginning of the sentence. In lowercase, it would be sy.

So the structure starts with:

• Sy = she

Yes. sy can also mean his in other sentences.

For example:

• sy boek = his book

But in Sy sif die broodmeel, it means she, not his, because it is followed by a verb (sif), not by a noun.

sif is the verb. It means to sift.

In this sentence, it is the present-tense form:

• Sy sif = she sifts / she is sifting

Afrikaans verbs usually do not change form depending on the subject, so:

• Ek sif = I sift
• Jy sif = you sift
• Sy sif = she sifts

Because Afrikaans verbs are much simpler than English verbs in this way. In the present tense, the verb usually stays the same for all persons.

So Afrikaans does not usually add an -s like English does.

Compare:

• English: I sift, she sifts
• Afrikaans: ek sif, sy sif

This is one of the easier parts of Afrikaans grammar for English speakers.

die is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• die broodmeel = the bread flour

A very important point: Afrikaans die is not the same as the English verb die. It is just the normal word for the.

In Afrikaans, die is pronounced roughly like dee, not like English die.

So:

• die = dee

That catches many English speakers at first.

Because Afrikaans often forms compound nouns as a single word.

So:

• brood = bread
• meel = flour
• broodmeel = bread flour

This is very common in Afrikaans. Where English may use two words, Afrikaans often joins them into one.

broodmeel means bread flour.

It refers to flour used for making bread. Depending on context, a translation may simply say flour, but the Afrikaans word is specifically bread flour.

Yes, in this simple main clause the word order is very similar to English:

• Sy = subject
• sif = verb
• die broodmeel = object

So the pattern is:

Subject + Verb + Object

That makes this sentence quite straightforward for English speakers.

It can mean either one, depending on context.

The simple present in Afrikaans can often cover both:

• a general action: she sifts the bread flour
• an action happening now: she is sifting the bread flour

If you want to make the ongoing idea more explicit, Afrikaans can also use a longer structure, but the simple form is very common.

A rough English-friendly pronunciation is:

say sif dee brood-meel

A few notes:

• Sy sounds roughly like say
• sif sounds a lot like English sif
• die sounds like dee
• broodmeel is one compound word, with the second part sounding like meal

This is only an approximation, but it is a useful starting point.

You can, but it changes the feel slightly.

• Sy sif die broodmeel = she is sifting the bread flour / a specific flour
• Sy sif broodmeel = she sifts bread flour / flour in a more general sense

So die is used when you mean a particular, identifiable amount or batch of flour.