Hulle loop oor die veld.

In this sentence, hulle means they.

Afrikaans hulle is commonly used for the third-person plural subject, so it works like English they in sentences such as:

• Hulle loop. = They walk / They are walking.

It can also appear in other contexts, depending on the sentence, but here the important point is that it is the plural subject.

Afrikaans verbs usually do not change according to the subject the way English verbs do.

In English, you compare:

• I walk
• he walks
• they walk

In Afrikaans, the verb normally stays the same:

• Ek loop
• Hy loop
• Hulle loop

So loop is correct with hulle without any extra ending.

Yes, loop usually means walk, but it can also have a wider range of meanings depending on context.

Common uses include:

• to walk
• to go on foot
• sometimes to run in certain expressions or contexts
• sometimes to function / operate with things like machines, depending on the sentence

In Hulle loop oor die veld, the most natural meaning is simply that they are moving on foot across the field.

Afrikaans often uses the simple present form where English may use either:

• they walk
• they are walking

So Hulle loop can mean either one, depending on context.

Afrikaans does have ways to emphasize ongoing action, but in ordinary sentences the simple verb form is very common. That means one Afrikaans sentence can cover both the habitual and the current action sense that English separates.

Here oor means across or over, depending on natural English phrasing.

In this sentence, oor die veld means they are moving across the field.

Be careful: oor can also mean about in other contexts, for example:

• Ons praat oor die boek. = We are talking about the book.

So the meaning of oor depends on context. Here it clearly refers to movement across a place.

Die is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• die veld = the field

Afrikaans uses die for the with singular and plural nouns. Unlike English, there is just one basic form of the definite article.

You could sometimes leave off the article in a more general sense in certain expressions, but in this sentence die veld is the normal way to say the field.

Veld is an important Afrikaans word. It often refers to open land, grassland, countryside, or a field-like natural area.

It does not always mean a small cultivated field in the narrow English sense. Depending on context, it can suggest:

• open country
• grassland
• the bush/veld
• a field or open area

So in this sentence, die veld may feel broader than just a neatly bounded farm field.

Yes, this is standard Afrikaans main-clause word order:

• Hulle = subject
• loop = verb
• oor die veld = prepositional phrase

So the pattern is basically:

Subject + Verb + Rest

This is the normal order for a straightforward statement.

Yes. Afrikaans often uses verb-second word order in main clauses. That means the finite verb usually comes in the second position.

For example:

• Hulle loop oor die veld.
• Vandag loop hulle oor die veld.

In the second sentence, Vandag comes first, so loop still stays second, and the subject hulle comes after it.

This is something English speakers often need to get used to.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

• hulle ≈ HUL-uh or HUL-leh
• loop ≈ lope
• oor ≈ ohr
• die ≈ dee
• veld ≈ felt or fellt with a clear v/f-like beginning depending on accent and speaker

A few pronunciation notes:

• oo in loop is a long vowel, somewhat like in boot, but not exactly the same in every accent.
• die in Afrikaans is usually pronounced dee, not like English die.
• veld is related to the Dutch/Afrikaans word behind English veld/veldt.

Exact pronunciation can vary by region and accent, but this will get you close.

Yes, grammatically oor can be matched with English over, but in natural English, across the field is usually the better translation here.

English over the field can sometimes sound like they are above it, depending on context. Afrikaans oor die veld in this sentence normally means movement from one side to another across the surface or expanse of the field.

So for natural understanding, think across the field.

Afrikaans normally uses a double negative pattern:

• Hulle loop nie oor die veld nie.

This is one of the most important grammar patterns in Afrikaans.

Structure:

• nie after the verb or later in the clause
• another nie at the end

So English speakers should notice that Afrikaans often uses two instances of nie where English uses just one not.