Sy koop moderne meubels.

Here, sy means she.

In Afrikaans, sy can mean:

• she as a subject: Sy koop moderne meubels.
• her as a possessive in some contexts: sy boek = her book

So you have to tell from the sentence structure which meaning it has. In this sentence, sy comes before the verb koop, so it is the subject: she.

No. In Afrikaans, verbs usually do not change according to the subject.

So:

• Ek koop = I buy
• Jy koop = you buy
• Sy koop = she buys
• Ons koop = we buy

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not add -s for he/she/it in the present tense. The verb stays koop.

Because Afrikaans verbs are much simpler than English or Dutch in this way. In the present tense, the basic verb form is generally used for all persons.

So koop is the normal present-tense form:

• Ek koop
• Hy koop
• Sy koop

There is no extra ending here.

This is the normal word order for a simple main clause in Afrikaans:

Subject + Verb + Object

So:

• Sy = subject
• koop = verb
• moderne meubels = object

That is very similar to English:

• She buys modern furniture.

Because Afrikaans does not always use an article where English might.

Here, moderne meubels means modern furniture in a general sense. No article is needed.

Compare:

• Sy koop moderne meubels. = She buys modern furniture.
• Sy koop die moderne meubels. = She buys the modern furniture.
• Sy koop 'n moderne meubel. = She buys a modern piece of furniture / a modern item of furniture.

Also, with plural or general mass-style meanings, leaving out the article is very common.

Because many Afrikaans adjectives take -e when they come before a noun.

So:

• modern can be the basic form
• moderne meubels = modern furniture

This -e ending is very common in attributive adjectives, meaning adjectives placed directly before a noun.

Examples:

• 'n groot huis = a big house
• 'n interessante boek = an interesting book
• moderne meubels = modern furniture

Afrikaans adjective endings are simpler than Dutch, but learners still need to get used to when -e appears.

Yes, meubels means furniture.

A useful thing to notice is that English furniture is grammatically uncountable, but Afrikaans often uses meubels, which is a plural form.

So:

• meubel = a piece of furniture / an item of furniture
• meubels = furniture / pieces of furniture

In this sentence, moderne meubels is best understood as modern furniture.

Grammatically, meubels is plural.

You can see the plural ending -s:

• meubel = singular
• meubels = plural

Even though English usually says furniture as an uncountable noun, Afrikaans often uses the plural form meubels for this idea.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

• Sy ≈ like say, but with a different vowel closer to Afrikaans ay
• koop ≈ like cope with a pure long vowel
• moderne ≈ mo-DER-nuh
• meubels ≈ something like MOY-buls or MUR-buls, depending on accent and how precise you want to be

A few pronunciation notes:

• sy is not pronounced like English sigh
• oo in koop is a long vowel
• eu in meubels is a sound English does not really have, so learners usually need practice with it

No. Sy means she in this sentence.

Afrikaans distinguishes:

• hy = he
• sy = she

So:

• Hy koop moderne meubels. = He buys modern furniture.
• Sy koop moderne meubels. = She buys modern furniture.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Sy koop moderne meubels can mean:

• She is buying modern furniture in a simple present-style statement, depending on context
• She buys modern furniture
• She does buy modern furniture
• She tends to buy modern furniture

Afrikaans often uses the simple present where English might choose either simple present or present progressive, depending on the situation.

If you want to make ongoing action especially clear, Afrikaans can also use other structures, but this plain sentence is very normal.

Normally, no. In standard Afrikaans, moderne meubels is the correct form here.

When an adjective comes directly before a noun, it often takes -e:

• moderne meubels
• groot huise
• nuwe boeke

So for learners, it is safest to use moderne before meubels.

Yes, it is perfectly natural.

It is a simple, standard sentence with:

• a subject: Sy
• a verb: koop
• an adjective + noun object: moderne meubels

It sounds like ordinary everyday Afrikaans.