Die gemeente help die gemeenskap.

Because die is the Afrikaans definite article, meaning the. Afrikaans uses die for all nouns, regardless of gender, and for both singular and plural in most everyday cases. So:

• die gemeente = the congregation / the municipality
• die gemeenskap = the community

So the sentence literally has the before both the subject and the object, just like English can.

Yes. This is a straightforward main clause with normal subject–verb–object order:

• Die gemeente = subject
• help = verb
• die gemeenskap = object

So it matches English very closely: The congregation helps the community.

In Afrikaans, verbs usually do not change form according to the subject in the present tense. That is much simpler than English.

For example:

• Ek help = I help
• Jy help = you help
• Die gemeente help = the congregation helps

So even though English adds -s in helps, Afrikaans keeps the verb as help.

Yes, help in Afrikaans is very close to English help in both form and meaning. It is one of the many words that look familiar to English speakers.

In this sentence, help die gemeenskap means help the community.

They are related in form, but they mean different things.

• gemeente usually means congregation, especially in a church context. It can also mean municipality in some contexts.
• gemeenskap means community.

So even though both begin with gemeen-, they are different nouns and should not be confused.

Yes. Gemeente can mean:

• congregation
• municipality

The correct meaning depends on context. If the meaning has already been given to you, follow that meaning in this sentence. But it is good to know that Afrikaans speakers may use gemeente in either sense.

It can often mean either, depending on context. Afrikaans commonly uses the simple present tense in places where English might use either:

• helps
• is helping

So Die gemeente help die gemeenskap could mean:

• The congregation helps the community
  or
• The congregation is helping the community

Context tells you which one is intended.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

• gemeente ≈ khuh-MEEN-tuh
• gemeenskap ≈ khuh-MEEN-skhap

A few helpful notes:

• The Afrikaans g is not like the English g in go. It is a throat sound, similar to the ch sound in some Scottish pronunciations of loch.
• The ee in gemeente is a long vowel, like ee in seen.
• The a in -skap is shorter and broader than English cape.

These are only rough guides, but they can help you get started.

Because help in Afrikaans can take a direct object directly, just as in English:

• help die gemeenskap = help the community

You do not need a preposition here.

The plural forms are:

• gemeente → gemeentes
• gemeenskap → gemeenskappe

So for example:

• Die gemeentes help die gemeenskappe = The congregations help the communities

This is useful because it also shows that die still stays die in the plural.