1st Position: The subject, which could be one word (You) or a long thing (Every one of my friends from college and their families).

2nd Position: The verb. The verb could be the verb itself (sing, talk, type, etc.) or it could be a helping verb (e.g. het, sal, kan, etc.)

3rd Position: The Object or ...
the spot reserved for object pronouns, negation, and time words. Now, explore the three elements of the third position at the 3rd Position sub-pages.

TIP

English: It is normal and deeply intuitive to say: "He always ....". In Afrikaans you are forced to say, "He verb always .... e.g.
Hy werk altyd met sy hande.
Hy het altyd met sy hande gewerk.
Hy kan altyd met sy hande werk.
Hy sal altyd met sy hande kan werk.

So, the second position is the verb, which is the main verb "werk" or a helping verb (het, kan, sal, etc.) and the verb at the end.

Jan gaan altyd na die skool.
Jan het altyd na die skool gegaan.
Jan moet altyd na die skool gaan.
Jan sal altyd na die skool moet gaan.
etc.