Non-finite verbs are clustered together in the verb-final position, after the nominal arguments, phrasal complementives and some adverbials. If the clause is a subordinate clause, then the finite verb will also be part of the final cluster. If the clause contains a single finite verb, which will be the main verb, then the verb-final position is occupied by that verb. The various types of final clusters are illustrated in (1), with the finite verb emphasised.

The final position is not an absolutely final position, because certain heavier constituents, especially if they are subordinate clauses themselves, or phrasal adverbials and arguments, can still follow the final verb cluster, and then occupy the post-verbal field (PV). Single-word adverbs and nominal arguments do not follow the verbs, though. Possible post-verbal constituents are illustrated in (2).

In formal traditions of linguistic inquiry, especially the generative tradition, the main verb is usually understood to originate in the final position, and only moves to an initial position through movement triggered by some feature in the higher functional phrases, either the TP or the CP. The analysis of Dutch on Taalportaal also applies to Afrikaans if that particular theoretical orientation is adopted.

The finite verb of declarative main clauses and wh-interrogative clauses occupies the second position of a clause. One constituent precedes it, which may be the subject, an adverbial or some other constituent that is topicalised in the case of declaratives, whereas the wh-phrase, irrespective of its syntactic role in the clause, occupies the first position of a wh-interrogative. The initial constituent is the thematic anchor of the clause. It usually encodes information that is known and has already been introduced into the discourse, whereas the verb immediately following it carries the tense or modality properties that anchor the clause relative to the time of utterance. In the generative tradition, the analysis assumes that these elements are raised into the relevant functional phrases from more deeply embedded positions in the tree, whereas non-derivational, functional traditions assume that these two early slots are selected because of their potential for thematic prominence and their ability to maintain topic continuity from the immediately preceding text.

When there is more than one verb in the main clause, only a single finite auxiliary occupies the second position, while all other (non-finite) verbs, including the main verb itself, are clustered together in the verb-final position. The examples in (3) illustrate the verbs of a declarative main clause, and the examples in (4) illustrate the verbs of a wh-interrogative clause.

In certain short, typically intransitive, clauses, the finite verb may be the final word of the sentence, but it also occupies the second position after the subject. Such cases appear at face value to be verb-second and verb-final at the same time. In addition, in similarly short, intransitive clauses, the finite (auxiliary) and (non-finite) main verb may be immediately adjacent, which raises the question whether they form a cluster, and if so, whether that cluster should be regarded as verb-second or verb-final. The simplest way of deciding between these possibilities is to consider the effect that negation has on such sentences. Afrikaans usually has double negation, with the first negator nie not in the middle field, and the second nie at the very end of the sentence, after the verb-final and post-verbal fields.

If there is a single nie in the clause, it means that there is no material after the verb-second to require the second nie, and hence we deal with a single verb-second position. By contrast, if there are an auxiliary and main verb adjacent to each other, then a second nie is used, with the first one following the auxiliary and the second one following the main verb. By negating a clause, it can therefore be established, as shown in example (5a) that a single finite verb occupies the verb-second position, while adjacent auxiliary and main verbs should be analysed as belonging to two fields, verb-second and verb-final respectively, as shown in example (5b).

There are a small number of cases in Afrikaans where the main verb and the linking verb occupy the verb-second position together. They form a verb cluster, and both members of the cluster can occupy the verb-second position together. It remains posible for the clause to adopt the more typical word order with the linking verb in the verb-second position and the main verb in the verb-final position. The contrast is illustrated by example (6).

Two main clause types typically have the finite verb in the first position, the polar (yes/no)interrogative and the imperative. Imperatives usually do not have an overt subject, and thus the verb occupies the first position in the clause. The imperative tends to take only a single main verb, with no non-main verbs, except for the few cases where a linking verb and main verb are both used, in which case they can either form a verb cluster in the verb-first position. Otherwise, the linking verb can occupy the first position and the main verb is found in the verb-final position, as illustrated by the contrasting pair in (7b). It is possible to make the subject overt in the imperative, in which case the subject, jy you.SG or julle you.PL, occupies the position immediately after the verb at the beginning of the middle field of the clause, as illustrated in (7c).

In polar (yes/no) interrogatives, the finite verb precedes the subject, leaving the subject at the beginning of the middle field. Traditionally, this is analysed as subject-finite inversion, but a generative analysis may regard this as a case of verb-raising not accompanied by subject raising. The descriptive facts are not changed by the manner in which the word order is construed, though. The verb that goes into the first position is the finite verb, irrespective of whether it is the main verb or a non-main verb, as illustrated by the examples in (8).

The verb-first position is analysed in the generative tradition as a consequence of verb-raising into the CP, without associated raising of the subject into the specifier of the CP. In functional traditions, the basic idea is that in these two cases, imperatives and polar (yes/no) interrogatives, the verb itself is thematically the most prominent, and therefore precedes the subject, which if present, usually follows the initial verb immediately at the beginning of the middle field.