Die wyn is duur.

Here, die means the.

It is not related to the English verb die. In Afrikaans, die is the normal definite article:

• die wyn = the wine
• die man = the man
• die kinders = the children

A useful thing to remember: Afrikaans uses die for all genders and for both singular and plural nouns.

Because this is a very straightforward Afrikaans main clause:

• Die wyn = subject
• is = verb
• duur = adjective/complement

So Die wyn is duur follows the same basic pattern as The wine is expensive:

subject + verb + adjective

That makes this sentence very easy for English speakers.

No. Afrikaans is much simpler than English here.

In the present tense, you use is with all persons:

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

So unlike English, Afrikaans does not use different forms like am / is / are.

Because it comes after is.

In Die wyn is duur, duur is a predicate adjective. Predicate adjectives in Afrikaans normally stay in their basic form:

• Die wyn is duur = The wine is expensive
• Die kos is warm = The food is warm
• Die huis is groot = The house is big

So there is no special ending here.

Here, duur means expensive.

So the sentence means that the wine costs a lot, or is high-priced.

Be aware that duur can also be a verb in Afrikaans meaning to last or to endure in other contexts. But in this sentence, after is, it is clearly an adjective meaning expensive.

wyn is pronounced roughly like vain or vayn for an English speaker.

Two helpful points:

• Afrikaans w is usually pronounced more like an English v
• yn here gives a sound roughly like the vowel in vain, though the exact Afrikaans sound is a bit different

So wyn is definitely not pronounced like English win.

duur is harder for English speakers because the vowel is not a normal English vowel.

A rough guide:

• d = like English d
• uu = a rounded vowel, similar to German ü or French u
• r = an Afrikaans r

If you need an English-friendly approximation, you can think of it as something a bit like deer, but with more rounded lips. That is only approximate, though.

You would say:

Die wyn is nie duur nie.

Afrikaans usually uses two instances of nie for standard negation:

• first nie comes after the verb phrase
• second nie comes at the end of the clause

So:

• Die wyn is duur. = The wine is expensive.
• Die wyn is nie duur nie. = The wine is not expensive.

Yes, but the meaning changes.

• Die wyn is duur. = The wine is expensive.
  This refers to a specific wine.

• Wyn is duur. = Wine is expensive.
  This means wine in general is expensive.

So die makes the noun specific.

No. It is only capitalized here because it is the first word of the sentence.

For example:

• Die wyn is duur.
• Ek koop die wyn.

In the second sentence, die is not at the beginning, so it stays lowercase.

No.

• die = the
• dit = it or this

So:

• Die wyn is duur. = The wine is expensive.
• Dit is duur. = It is expensive.

This is a very common beginner confusion, so it is good to keep them separate early on.