Sowat tien mense kom.

Sowat means about, around, or approximately. It is used to give an estimated number, not an exact one.

So:

• sowat tien = about ten
• sowat tien mense = about ten people

It is a very natural everyday word in Afrikaans.

Because sowat modifies the number. It works like English about in about ten people.

The structure is:

• sowat
  • number
    • noun

So:

• sowat tien mense = about ten people
• sowat twintig minute = about twenty minutes

Mense means people. Its singular form is mens, meaning person or human being.

So:

• 'n mens = a person
• mense = people

This is an irregular plural, so it is not formed by simply adding -e or -s in a predictable way from English.

Afrikaans does not use a separate present-tense verb like English am / is / are before another main verb in sentences like this.

The verb kom by itself carries the meaning come / is coming / are coming, depending on context.

So:

• Sowat tien mense kom. can mean About ten people come or, more naturally in context, About ten people are coming.

Afrikaans often uses the simple present where English prefers the present continuous.

Here kom means come or are coming.

Depending on context, it can suggest:

• movement toward a place: come
• arrival: are coming / are on their way / are arriving

In everyday English, this sentence will often be understood as:

• About ten people are coming.

No. In Afrikaans, verbs usually do not change form for different persons or for singular/plural the way they do in English.

So you get:

• Ek kom = I come / I am coming
• Jy kom = you come / you are coming
• Hy kom = he comes / he is coming
• Ons kom = we come / we are coming
• Hulle kom = they come / they are coming

So mense kom is completely normal.

Because Sowat tien mense is the subject of the sentence, and this is a normal main-clause word order in Afrikaans.

Afrikaans is a verb-second language in main clauses. That means the finite verb normally comes in the second position.

Here the first element is the whole subject phrase:

• Sowat tien mense = first element
• kom = second element

So the sentence follows normal Afrikaans word order.

Yes, in principle it could. The Afrikaans present tense can be used for:

• general statements
• repeated actions
• current situations
• near-future events

So Sowat tien mense kom could mean:

• About ten people come (habitual/general)
• About ten people are coming (right now / soon)

In most real situations, context makes it clear which meaning is intended.

Yes. Ongeveer tien mense kom is also correct and means the same thing: About ten people are coming.

Common alternatives include:

• sowat
• ongeveer
• omtrent

They are all used for approximation, though sowat often feels especially natural and conversational.

A rough guide for an English speaker is:

• sowat ≈ SOH-vut or SOH-vaht
• tien ≈ teen
• mense ≈ MEN-suh
• kom ≈ kom with a short o, not the English come

A very rough full pronunciation guide could be:

• SOH-vut teen MEN-suh kom

The exact sounds depend on accent, but that should get you close enough to be understood.

Yes. Daar kom sowat tien mense is also natural, and it means something like:

• There are about ten people coming
• About ten people are coming

Adding daar can make the sentence sound a bit more like an existential statement, similar to English there are / there come. But Sowat tien mense kom is already perfectly correct on its own.