Die huurtermyn is kort.

Die is the definite article, so it means the.

A few useful things to know about die in Afrikaans:

• It does not change for gender, because Afrikaans nouns do not have grammatical gender the way some other languages do.
• It can be used with both singular and plural nouns.
• It is usually pronounced roughly like dee, not like the English verb die.

So die huurtermyn means the rental term / the lease term.

Because Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, very often forms compound nouns by writing them as one word.

Here:

• huur = rent / rental / lease
• termyn = term / period

So huurtermyn is a compound noun meaning something like rental term or lease term.

This is very normal in Afrikaans. English often writes similar ideas as two words, but Afrikaans frequently joins them.

Is is the present-tense form of wees, which means to be.

In modern Afrikaans, is is used very widely and does not change the way English am / is / are does.

Examples:

• Ek is = I am
• Hy is = he is
• Ons is = we are
• Hulle is = they are

So even if the subject were plural, you would still use is.

This is the normal Afrikaans pattern for a simple statement:

• subject
  • verb
    • description

So here:

• Die huurtermyn = subject
• is = linking verb
• kort = adjective describing the subject

It works just like English The rental term is short.

Because in this sentence kort is being used predicatively, meaning it comes after a linking verb such as is and describes the subject.

So:

• Die huurtermyn is kort = The rental term is short

If you wanted to put the adjective directly before the noun, you would say:

• die kort huurtermyn = the short rental term

Both are possible, but they do slightly different jobs in the sentence.

Because it comes after is as a predicate adjective.

In Afrikaans, adjectives used this way usually stay in their basic form:

• Die huis is groot
• Die boek is duur
• Die huurtermyn is kort

So kort stays kort here.

Yes. Depending on context, huurtermyn can be understood as:

• rental term
• lease term
• rental period
• lease period

Afrikaans huur covers the general idea of renting or leasing, so the best English translation depends on the situation.

Because Afrikaans does not capitalize ordinary nouns.

Unlike German, where all nouns are capitalized, Afrikaans only capitalizes:

• the first word of a sentence
• proper names
• certain special cases such as titles

So huurtermyn stays lowercase unless it begins the sentence.

For a short rental term, you would say:

• 'n kort huurtermyn

For the plural, you would say:

• Die huurtermyne is kort = The rental terms are short

Useful points:

• 'n is the indefinite article meaning a / an
• the plural of huurtermyn is huurtermyne
• the verb still stays is, even with a plural subject

A rough English-friendly guide is:

• huur: a sound somewhat like hure, but with a vowel that does not exist exactly in English
• termyn: roughly ter-mine

So the whole word is approximately:

• huur-ter-mine

A few notes:

• The uu sound in huur is one of the trickier Afrikaans vowels for English speakers.
• y in myn sounds like the vowel in English mine.

If you want to sound natural, kort is roughly like kort with a clear r and a short vowel.