Die besluit is amptelik.

Die means the.

A useful thing to remember is that Afrikaans does not have different forms of the for different genders, the way some European languages do. So die works for:

• masculine nouns
• feminine nouns
• neuter nouns
• plural nouns

Here it is capitalized only because it is the first word of the sentence.

Here, besluit is a noun, meaning decision.

Afrikaans besluit can also be a verb meaning decide, so learners often notice the ambiguity. In this sentence, you can tell it is a noun because:

• it follows die
• it functions as the subject of the sentence
• it is followed by is amptelik

So Die besluit = The decision.

Is is the present-tense form of to be.

So the sentence follows a very familiar pattern:

• Die besluit = the decision
• is = is
• amptelik = official

Afrikaans is convenient here because is is used with all persons in the present tense:

• ek is = I am
• jy is = you are
• hy/sy is = he/she is
• ons is = we are
• hulle is = they are

In this sentence, amptelik means official.

Afrikaans often uses the same word form where English might distinguish between an adjective and an adverb. So amptelik can sometimes correspond to either official or officially, depending on the sentence.

Here, because it comes after is and describes die besluit, it is an adjective:

• Die besluit is amptelik = The decision is official

In another sentence, it could act more like officially.

Because after is, Afrikaans normally uses the basic form of the adjective.

So you say:

• Die besluit is amptelik = The decision is official

But when the adjective comes before the noun, it usually takes -e:

• die amptelike besluit = the official decision

This is a very common pattern in Afrikaans:

• after is: basic form
• before a noun: often -e form

Yes, in this sentence it is very close to English word order:

• Die besluit = subject
• is = verb
• amptelik = predicate adjective

So it matches The decision is official quite neatly.

That said, Afrikaans often follows a verb-second pattern in main clauses. For example, if you move another element to the front, the verb still stays in the second position:

• Vandag is die besluit amptelik = Today the decision is official

So this simple sentence looks very English-like, but wider Afrikaans word order has its own rules.

You would usually say:

• Die besluit is nie amptelik nie.

Afrikaans commonly uses a double nie in negative sentences:

• first nie usually comes after the verb or later in the clause
• second nie usually comes at the end

That double negative structure is one of the most noticeable differences from English.

You would say:

• 'n amptelike besluit

This shows the adjective in front of the noun, so it takes the -e ending:

• amptelik after is
• amptelike before besluit

Compare:

• Die besluit is amptelik. = The decision is official.
• Dit is 'n amptelike besluit. = It is an official decision.

A rough guide is:

• Die ≈ dee
• besluit ≈ buh-SLUYT
• is ≈ is
• amptelik ≈ AHMP-tuh-lik

So the whole sentence is roughly:

• dee buh-SLUYT is AHMP-tuh-lik

A couple of notes:

• die is not pronounced like English die
• the ui sound in besluit does not have a perfect English equivalent, so any English-style approximation is only rough