Hulle verkoop die eiendom.

In this sentence, hulle means they.

Afrikaans hulle can also mean them in other contexts, so it covers both subject and object uses that English separates into they and them.

Here it is the subject, because hulle are the people doing the action:

• Hulle verkoop die eiendom. = They sell / are selling the property.

Here verkoop is the main verb in the present tense.

A very important thing for English speakers: Afrikaans verbs usually do not change form depending on the subject.

So you get:

• Ek verkoop = I sell
• Jy verkoop = you sell
• Hy verkoop = he sells
• Hulle verkoop = they sell

Unlike English, there is no special -s form like he sells. The verb stays verkoop.

It can mean both, depending on context.

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

• they sell
• they are selling

So Hulle verkoop die eiendom could mean:

• They sell the property.
• They are selling the property.

The surrounding context usually makes it clear which sense is intended.

Yes, die here means the.

Unlike languages such as German or Dutch, Afrikaans does not have grammatical gender for articles in the same way. So die is used as the definite article for singular and plural nouns.

Examples:

• die huis = the house
• die motor = the car
• die eiendom = the property
• die huise = the houses

So you do not have to learn different forms of the based on gender.

Eiendom is a noun meaning property.

It often refers to:

• real estate
• land
• a building
• property in a legal or ownership sense

In this sentence, it most naturally means a property or piece of real estate.

Yes, in this simple main clause, the word order is very similar to English:

• Hulle = subject
• verkoop = verb
• die eiendom = object

So the pattern is:

Subject + Verb + Object

That makes this sentence quite straightforward for an English speaker.

A rough English-friendly guide would be:

• Hulle ≈ HULL-uh
• verkoop ≈ fur-KOPE
• die ≈ dee
• eiendom ≈ AY-un-dom or EY-un-dom

A few notes:

• Afrikaans g is often a throaty sound, but there is no g in this sentence.
• v in Afrikaans can sound somewhere between English v and f depending on speaker and accent, so verkoop may sound slightly softer than an English learner expects.
• die is usually pronounced dee, not like English die.

Because Afrikaans does not always need a separate auxiliary like English does.

English often uses be + verb-ing:

• They are selling the property.

Afrikaans commonly just uses the present tense:

• Hulle verkoop die eiendom.

So Afrikaans expresses the idea more simply here, without a separate word for are.

Afrikaans normally uses double negation.

So:

• Hulle verkoop die eiendom nie.

In many cases, Afrikaans places nie near the end, and a second negative can appear depending on sentence structure. In a basic sentence like this, learners usually first notice the final nie.

A fuller explanation of Afrikaans negation is worth learning separately, because it is one of the big differences from English.

In a simple yes/no question, Afrikaans usually puts the verb first:

• Verkoop hulle die eiendom?

This is similar to English inversion:

• Are they selling the property?
• Do they sell the property?

So the statement:

• Hulle verkoop die eiendom.

becomes the question:

• Verkoop hulle die eiendom?

A common past-tense form in Afrikaans uses het + ge- participle:

• Hulle het die eiendom verkoop. = They sold / have sold the property.

Notice something useful:

• The verb is verkoop
• The past participle is also often verkoop

Because verkoop already begins with the unstressed prefix ver-, it usually does not add ge- in the past participle.

So not geverkoop, but:

• het verkoop

In this sentence, die eiendom most naturally refers to a specific property.

Because of die, it usually means:

• the property
• that property
• a particular real estate asset already known from context

Without context, it is usually understood as one specific property rather than property in general.