Hy is 'n dissipel.

Hy means he.

It is pronounced roughly like hay, not like English high.
So Hy is sounds approximately like hay is.

A more careful pronunciation can vary a bit by accent, but hay is a good beginner approximation.

Yes. In this sentence, is is the verb to be, just like English is.

So:

• Hy is = He is

Afrikaans often uses forms that look very familiar to English speakers, and is is one of them.

'n means a or an.

So:

• 'n dissipel = a disciple

It is the Afrikaans indefinite article, like English a/an.

That is just the standard spelling of the Afrikaans indefinite article.
It is always written as 'n, with a lowercase n and an apostrophe in front.

This is a special feature of Afrikaans spelling, so it is best to learn it as a fixed form.

'n is usually pronounced as a very weak neutral vowel, like the a in English about.

So it sounds roughly like:

• uh

In normal speech, it is unstressed.
So Hy is 'n dissipel sounds roughly like:

• hay is uh dissipel

In normal writing, 'n stays lowercase, even when English speakers might expect a capital letter.

If a sentence begins with 'n, the n still stays lowercase. Instead, the next word is capitalized.

For example:

• 'n Dissipel...

not

• 'N dissipel...

This often surprises learners.

Yes. Dissipel is the Afrikaans word for disciple, and it is clearly related to the English word.

The spelling is different:

• English: disciple
• Afrikaans: dissipel

So it is a useful cognate for English speakers.

A good beginner pronunciation is roughly:

• DIH-si-pel

The stress is usually on the first syllable: DISsipel.

It is not pronounced exactly like English disciple, so it helps to notice the Afrikaans spelling and say each part more clearly.

Yes. This sentence has the same basic word order as English:

• Hy = subject
• is = verb
• 'n dissipel = complement

So:

• Hy is 'n dissipel
• He is a disciple

This is a simple example of normal Afrikaans statement word order.

Normally, no. In standard Afrikaans, you would usually need 'n before a singular countable noun like dissipel.

So the natural sentence is:

• Hy is 'n dissipel

Leaving out 'n would sound incomplete or ungrammatical in ordinary standard usage.

No. Afrikaans nouns do not change for grammatical gender the way nouns do in some other languages.

Here, hy tells you the person is he, but dissipel itself stays the same.
There is no special masculine or feminine form of the noun in this sentence.

It is capitalized because it is the first word of the sentence.

If it appeared in the middle of a sentence, it would normally be written as hy, not Hy.