Hulle fluister terwyl die speellys speel.

Here Hulle means they.

Afrikaans hulle can refer to they or them depending on the sentence, but in this sentence it is the subject, so it means they:

• Hulle fluister = They whisper

Afrikaans often uses the simple present tense where English uses either simple present or present continuous.

So Hulle fluister can mean:

• They whisper
• They are whispering

The context tells you which meaning is intended. In this sentence, because it describes something happening at the same time as the playlist playing, the natural English meaning is They are whispering.

Terwyl means while or whilst.

It connects two actions that happen at the same time:

• Hulle fluister = they whisper / are whispering
• terwyl die speellys speel = while the playlist plays / is playing

So terwyl is the word that shows simultaneity.

It only looks like speel is used twice in the same way.

In speellys, the speel part is just part of the noun speellys = playlist.

Then the final speel is the verb = play / is playing.

So these are different things:

• speellys = a noun
• speel = a verb

It may feel repetitive to an English speaker, but grammatically it is completely normal.

Yes. In Afrikaans, compound nouns are normally written as one word.

So:

• speel
  • lys → speellys

This is very common in Afrikaans. English often writes similar ideas as separate words or with varying spelling, but Afrikaans strongly prefers single-word compounds.

Die means the, while 'n means a / an.

So:

• die speellys = the playlist
• 'n speellys = a playlist

This sentence uses die speellys, so it is referring to a specific playlist, not just any playlist.

Also, Afrikaans die is used much more simply than English articles in some ways:

• it does not change for gender
• it can be used for both singular and plural definite nouns

Because Afrikaans verbs usually do not change according to the subject in the present tense.

Compare:

• Ek fluister = I whisper
• Jy fluister = you whisper
• Hy fluister = he whispers
• Hulle fluister = they whisper

And similarly:

• Ek speel
• Jy speel
• Hy speel
• Hulle speel

So unlike English, Afrikaans usually does not add a special ending like -s for he/she/it.

Yes. Terwyl introduces a subordinate clause.

In this short sentence, the clause die speellys speel looks fairly straightforward, so the word order may not seem very different. But in longer clauses, Afrikaans subordinate-clause word order becomes more noticeable.

For example:

• Hulle fluister terwyl die speellys in die agtergrond speel.

Here the verb speel comes after the extra information in die agtergrond.

So terwyl is one of the words that can lead you into subordinate-clause structure.

Yes. In Afrikaans, speel is commonly used for music, audio, or something being played.

So die speellys speel means the playlist is playing. In natural English, you might translate it more smoothly as:

• the playlist is playing
• the playlist is on
• the playlist is playing music

Afrikaans often uses speel in places where English might choose a slightly different phrasing.

It could technically be either, because the Afrikaans present tense can cover both meanings.

So Hulle fluister terwyl die speellys speel could mean:

• they whisper while the playlist plays
• they are whispering while the playlist is playing

But in ordinary use, most learners will understand it as an action happening right now, unless the wider context shows it is a habit or repeated situation.

A rough English-friendly guide is FLUY-ster, but the ui sound does not match English exactly.

A few helpful points:

• flui- has the Afrikaans ui vowel, which is one of the trickier sounds for English speakers
• -ster is fairly straightforward, with a clear st sound

So the rough approximation helps, but it is best to listen to native pronunciation if possible, because ui has no perfect English equivalent.