Vele mense is hier.

Both can mean many people, but vele is a bit more formal, written, or emphatic. In everyday spoken Afrikaans, baie mense is usually more common.

So:

• Vele mense is hier. = Many people are here.
• Baie mense is hier. = also Many/A lot of people are here.

A learner will hear baie much more often in normal conversation.

Vele means many or numerous. It is used before a plural noun.

Examples:

• vele mense = many people
• vele boeke = many books
• vele jare = many years

It is not usually used on its own in beginner speech as often as baie.

Because mense is the plural form of mens.

• mens = person / human
• mense = people

So:

• Die mens is hier. = The person is here.
• Die mense is hier. = The people are here.

This is like English, where person becomes people, not just persons in ordinary use.

In Afrikaans, the verb is does not change for singular and plural in the present tense.

So you get:

• Ek is = I am
• Jy is = you are
• Hy is = he is
• Ons is = we are
• Hulle is = they are
• Die mense is = the people are

This is much simpler than English, where am / is / are all vary.

This is the normal Afrikaans main-clause word order:

subject + verb + rest

So:

• Vele mense = subject
• is = verb
• hier = place word

That gives:

Vele mense is hier.

This is very similar to English: Many people are here.

Yes, you can. Afrikaans often allows another element, such as a place word, to come first. If that happens, the verb usually stays in second position.

So both are possible:

• Vele mense is hier.
• Hier is vele mense.

The second version puts a little more focus on here.

This is part of the common verb-second pattern in Afrikaans main clauses.

Afrikaans does not always need a dummy subject like English there.

English often says:

• There are many people here.

Afrikaans can simply say:

• Vele mense is hier.

Or, if you want a structure closer to English:

• Daar is baie mense hier.

Here daar is works like there is/there are.

So Afrikaans has both options, but the sentence you were given is a very direct and natural one.

Hier usually means here.

Examples:

• Ek is hier. = I am here.
• Kom hier! = Come here!
• Die boek is hier. = The book is here.

Do not confuse it with:

• hierdie = this
• daar = there
• daardie = that

So in Vele mense is hier, hier simply tells you location.

A simple learner-friendly approximation is:

• vele ≈ FEH-luh
• mense ≈ MEN-suh
• is ≈ is
• hier ≈ heer or hee-uhr, depending on accent

A rough full pronunciation guide:

FEH-luh MEN-suh is heer

A few notes:

• v in Afrikaans often sounds close to English f
• the final -e in vele and mense is usually a soft unstressed vowel, like uh
• hier is not pronounced like English higher

In everyday speech, yes, Baie mense is hier often sounds more natural and common.

Compare:

• Vele mense is hier. = more formal, literary, or emphatic
• Baie mense is hier. = very common everyday Afrikaans

So if you are speaking casually, baie mense is usually the safer choice.

No. Vele already works directly with the noun, so you do not need die.

• vele mense = many people

Using die would change the meaning:

• die mense = the people
• vele mense = many people

So Vele mense is hier is correct as it is.

Normally, vele is used with plural countable nouns.

Correct examples:

• vele mense = many people
• vele huise = many houses

Not normally:

• vele mens
• vele huis

So if you use vele, the noun after it is generally plural.

The sentence itself is grammatically normal, but the choice of vele makes it sound somewhat more formal or literary than everyday casual speech.

So:

• grammar: neutral and standard
• vocabulary choice: slightly formal

If you want a more casual version, use:

• Baie mense is hier.