Hulle dra die matras in.

Here hulle is the subject pronoun they.

A useful extra point: in Afrikaans, hulle can also be used for them, so the form often stays the same where English changes they to them.

That is a very common question. Afrikaans dra can mean both:

• to carry
• to wear

The context tells you which meaning is intended.

So:

• Sy dra ’n rok. = She is wearing a dress.
• Hulle dra die matras in. = They are carrying the mattress in.

This is normal in Afrikaans.

Here die is the definite article the.

It is not pronounced like the English verb die. In this sentence it is usually pronounced roughly like dee.

So:

• die matras = the mattress

Also, Afrikaans does not have different words for the based on grammatical gender, so die is used very widely.

Because in is functioning as a separable particle with the verb.

You can think of dra ... in as meaning carry in. In a main clause, Afrikaans often puts the finite verb earlier in the sentence and leaves the particle at the end.

So the pattern is:

• Hulle = subject
• dra = finite verb
• die matras = object
• in = particle

This is similar to how English can split phrasal verbs:

• They carried the mattress in.

In this sentence, it is best understood as part of the verbal idea: dra ... in = carry in.

It is not introducing a following noun phrase here, so it is not acting like a normal preposition in something like:

• in die kamer = in the room

Instead, it completes the action.

The basic structure is:

Subject + verb + object + particle

So:

• Hulle = subject
• dra = verb
• die matras = direct object
• in = particle

That makes Hulle dra die matras in a very normal main-clause word order in Afrikaans.

No, not in standard Afrikaans for this meaning.

If in belongs with the verb, it normally stays at the end in a main clause:

• Hulle dra die matras in.

Putting in before die matras would sound wrong here, because it breaks up the normal verb-particle pattern.

A rough English-style guide is:

HULL-uh drah dee muh-TRAHS in

A few notes:

• hulle: roughly HULL-uh
• dra: one syllable, roughly drah
• die: dee
• matras: stress on the second syllable, roughly muh-TRAHS
• in: similar to English in, but usually a bit tenser and shorter

This is only an approximation, but it is a good starting point.

Afrikaans usually uses a double nie for negation.

So:

Hulle dra nie die matras in nie.

A simple way to understand it:

• the first nie comes after the finite verb
• the second nie comes near the end of the clause

This double-negation pattern is a very important feature of Afrikaans.

For a yes/no question, Afrikaans usually puts the verb first:

Dra hulle die matras in?

That is the direct equivalent of Are they carrying the mattress in? or Do they carry the mattress in?, depending on context.

A very common past form in Afrikaans is:

Hulle het die matras ingedra.

What changed?

• het is the auxiliary
• the particle and verb come together in the past participle: ingedra

So compared with the present:

• Present: Hulle dra die matras in.
• Past: Hulle het die matras ingedra.

This joining together is very common with separable verb-particle combinations in Afrikaans.