Die huis is modern.

Die is the Afrikaans definite article, usually meaning the. So die huis means the house.

Unlike languages such as German or Dutch, Afrikaans does not make you learn different definite articles for grammatical gender in everyday use. Die is the normal word you use for the.

Yes. Die can mean the with both singular and plural nouns.

For example:

• die huis = the house
• die huise = the houses

So the article stays the same, and the noun shows whether it is singular or plural.

Afrikaans is is the present-tense form of to be, and it is used with all persons:

• ek is = I am
• jy is = you are
• hy/sy is = he/she is
• ons is = we are
• hulle is = they are

So in Afrikaans, you do not have forms like am / is / are. It stays is.

Because here modern comes after the verb is. In Afrikaans, adjectives used after a linking verb are usually in their basic form:

• Die huis is modern.

But when the adjective comes before the noun, it usually takes -e:

• die moderne huis = the modern house

So:

• Die huis is modern. = predicate adjective
• die moderne huis = attributive adjective

Yes, in this simple sentence it is very similar to English:

• Die huis = subject
• is = verb
• modern = complement/adjective

So the pattern is:

subject + verb + adjective

That said, Afrikaans word order can change in other sentence types, especially in subordinate clauses:

• Ek dink dat die huis modern is.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

• die ≈ dee
• huis ≈ somewhat like house, but not exactly the same vowel
• is ≈ iss
• modern ≈ mo-DERN

So the whole sentence is roughly:

dee house iss mo-DERN

The trickiest word for English speakers is usually huis.

You usually use two nie words in Afrikaans:

• Die huis is nie modern nie.

This is the normal Afrikaans negative pattern. The first nie goes before what is being negated, and the second nie goes near the end of the clause.

Afrikaans uses 'n for a/an:

• 'n huis = a house
• 'n moderne huis = a modern house

So if you want the indefinite version, you use 'n instead of die. Notice that before the noun, the adjective is again moderne, not modern.