Sy wag buite die hof.

In this sentence, sy means she because it is the subject of the sentence — the person doing the action.

• Sy wag = She waits / She is waiting

Afrikaans does not change the form the way English does with she/her in the same way here. You work it out from the sentence structure.

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

So:

• Sy wag can mean She waits
• but in normal context it often means She is waiting

Afrikaans usually does not need a separate verb like is to form is waiting in this kind of sentence.

Buite means outside.

In Sy wag buite die hof, it tells you where she is waiting. Afrikaans commonly puts this kind of place information after the verb:

• Sy wag buite die hof = She is waiting outside the court

So the basic order is:

• Sy = subject
• wag = verb
• buite die hof = place phrase

Die is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• hof = court
• die hof = the court

Afrikaans uses die for the with all nouns, unlike English, which still only has the, but unlike languages that change the article for gender or case. Afrikaans keeps it simple: die is always the.

Hof usually means court, especially in a legal sense, as in a courthouse or court of law.

In other contexts, hof can also have older or more specialized meanings, but in a sentence like this, a learner should understand it as court.

So:

• die hof = the court

Yes. This is a very normal main clause word order in Afrikaans:

• Sy (subject)
• wag (verb)
• buite die hof (place phrase)

Afrikaans main clauses usually put the finite verb in second position. Since the subject comes first here, the verb comes right after it.

Normally, no. You would usually need die here:

• Sy wag buite die hof

Without die, it sounds incomplete in standard Afrikaans unless there is some very specific idiomatic or special context. For an ordinary sentence, use die hof.

Because buite already carries the idea of location: outside.

So:

• buite die hof = outside the court

You do not need an extra preposition like at in English. Afrikaans often expresses this idea directly with buite + noun phrase.

Yes. Like the English simple present and present continuous distinction, Afrikaans is often less explicit here.

Depending on context, it could mean:

• She waits outside the court (habitually or generally)
• She is waiting outside the court (right now)

Usually the surrounding context tells you which meaning is intended.

Yes, but not in this sentence.

Afrikaans sy can also mean his in possessive use, which can confuse learners:

• sy boek = his book

But in Sy wag buite die hof, Sy is clearly the subject pronoun meaning she.

So learners should pay attention to position and function in the sentence, not just the word by itself.

A simple yes/no question would usually invert the subject and verb:

• Wag sy buite die hof? = Is she waiting outside the court?

That is a very common Afrikaans pattern:

• statement: Sy wag buite die hof.
• question: Wag sy buite die hof?

You would usually say:

• Sy wag nie buite die hof nie.

Afrikaans normally uses double nie for standard negation:

• one nie after the verb or main part of the clause
• one nie at the end

So:

• Sy wag nie buite die hof nie.