Hierdie meubels is breekbaar.

Hierdie means this or these. Afrikaans uses the same word for both singular and plural, so the noun tells you which meaning is intended.

• hierdie meubel = this piece of furniture
• hierdie meubels = these pieces of furniture / this furniture

In your sentence, meubels is plural, so hierdie is understood as these.

That is a very common question. In English, furniture is usually an uncountable noun. In Afrikaans, meubel means piece of furniture, and meubels is the plural.

So Afrikaans often talks about furniture as meubels, where English might simply say furniture.

• ’n meubel = a piece of furniture
• meubels = pieces of furniture / furniture

So Hierdie meubels is breekbaar can feel more literally like These pieces of furniture are fragile.

The singular is meubel.

• Hierdie meubel is breekbaar = This piece of furniture is fragile.
• Hierdie meubels is breekbaar = These pieces of furniture are fragile.

In Afrikaans, the verb is is used with both singular and plural subjects in the present tense.

So:

• Die tafel is groot = The table is big.
• Die tafels is groot = The tables are big.

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not change the verb here from is to are.

Breekbaar comes from:

• breek = break
• -baar = a suffix meaning something like -able

So breekbaar literally means breakable. Depending on context, that often corresponds to English fragile.

You can think of it as:

• breekbaar = breakable / fragile

Yes. -baar is a useful ending and often works a bit like English -able.

Examples:

• eetbaar = edible
• sigbaar = visible
• draagbaar = portable / wearable depending on context
• breekbaar = breakable

So once you learn -baar, you can often guess the meaning of new words.

Here breekbaar comes after is, so it is being used predicatively, and in that position it does not change.

• Die meubels is breekbaar.

If you put the adjective before the noun, Afrikaans often adds -e:

• breekbare meubels = fragile furniture

So compare:

• Die meubels is breekbaar.
• Dit is breekbare meubels.

That difference is very normal in Afrikaans.

Yes, in this simple main clause the word order is very similar to English:

• Hierdie meubels = subject
• is = verb
• breekbaar = complement/adjective

So the structure is:

Subject + verb + adjective

That makes this sentence quite straightforward for English speakers.

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• Hierdie meubels = these pieces of furniture / this furniture here
• Die meubels = the furniture

Hierdie points to specific furniture, often something near the speaker or already being shown.

No. Hierdie already works as a determiner, so you do not add another article.

Correct:

• Hierdie meubels

Not:

• die hierdie meubels

This is similar to English, where you say these chairs, not the these chairs.

A simple English-friendly guide would be:

HEER-dee MUR-buls is BRAYK-bahr

A few helpful notes:

• hierdie starts with a clear h
• eu in meubels does not sound like English oo; it is a rounded vowel that English speakers usually need practice with
• breek sounds roughly like brake
• baar sounds roughly like bar, but with an Afrikaans r

A natural pronunciation takes practice, especially meubels.

Yes. Hierdie works for both singular and plural.

• hierdie boek = this book
• hierdie boeke = these books

So you always need to look at the noun to know whether English should be this or these.

You would usually say:

breekbare meubels

Notice the adjective changes from breekbaar to breekbare before the noun.

So:

• Die meubels is breekbaar = The furniture is fragile.
• breekbare meubels = fragile furniture

That -e on the adjective is a very common feature in Afrikaans.