Die komitee bespreek die oorlog.

Because die means the in Afrikaans, and both komitee and oorlog are definite here:

• Die komitee = the committee
• die oorlog = the war

Afrikaans uses die for all genders and also for both singular and plural definite nouns, so it is much simpler than languages that change the article.

No. It is the same word: die = the.

The first one is capitalized only because it begins the sentence:

• Die komitee ...
• later in the sentence: ... die oorlog

Afrikaans verbs usually do not change according to the subject in the present tense.

So you get:

• Ek bespreek = I discuss
• Jy bespreek = you discuss
• Die komitee bespreek = the committee discusses

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not add an -s for he/she/it or singular nouns in the present tense.

The sentence follows the normal main-clause word order:

Subject + Verb + Object

So:

• Die komitee = subject
• bespreek = verb
• die oorlog = object

This is very similar to standard English word order in a simple statement.

It is singular here: the committee.

Even though a committee is made up of several people, the noun itself is grammatically singular. If you wanted the plural, it would be komitees.

So:

• die komitee = the committee
• die komitees = the committees

No. Afrikaans does not have grammatical gender in the way that languages like German or French do.

That means nouns do not normally require different words for masculine, feminine, or neuter. The article die works the same way regardless of noun gender.

It is the present tense.

So the sentence means that the committee discusses or is discussing the war, depending on context.

Afrikaans often uses the simple present where English might choose either:

• The committee discusses the war
• The committee is discussing the war

Context tells you which is meant.

A common past-tense form would be:

Die komitee het die oorlog bespreek.

Afrikaans very often forms the past with:

• het
  • past participle

With many verbs, the past participle gets ge-, but verbs like bespreek usually do not add ge- because of their structure/prefix.

So:

• present: Die komitee bespreek die oorlog.
• past: Die komitee het die oorlog bespreek.

Afrikaans usually uses double negation:

Die komitee bespreek nie die oorlog nie.

Pattern:

• put the first nie after the verb
• put the second nie at the end of the clause

So:

• positive: Die komitee bespreek die oorlog.
• negative: Die komitee bespreek nie die oorlog nie.

You would use 'n for a/an:

'n Komitee bespreek die oorlog.

So:

• die komitee = the committee
• 'n komitee = a committee

Notice that 'n is written with a lowercase n, even at the beginning of a sentence in normal spelling conventions.

A rough guide for an English speaker:

• komitee: ko-mi-TEE
• bespreek: be-SPRAYK or buh-SPRAYK
• oorlog: roughly OHR-loch or OHR-logh, with the final g being the guttural Afrikaans sound, not a hard English g

A few useful pronunciation points:

• ee usually represents a long vowel sound
• oo is a long o sound
• g in Afrikaans is often a throaty sound that English does not normally have

Yes, sometimes bespreek can also mean reserve or book in the sense of arranging something in advance, depending on context.

For example, in another sentence it might mean:

• to reserve a table
• to book accommodation

But in Die komitee bespreek die oorlog, the meaning is clearly discusses.