Hulle bespreek die moord.

Here, hulle means they.

Afrikaans uses hulle for both they and them, depending on its role in the sentence:

• Hulle bespreek die moord. = They discuss the murder.
• Ek sien hulle. = I see them.

It can also mean their before a noun:

• hulle huis = their house

So in this sentence, its position before the verb shows that it is the subject: they.

Because Afrikaans verbs usually do not change according to the subject in the present tense.

So you get:

• Ek bespreek
• Jy bespreek
• Hy bespreek
• Ons bespreek
• Hulle bespreek

This is much simpler than English, where you have I discuss but he discusses. In Afrikaans, the verb stays the same.

In this sentence, bespreek means discuss.

But yes, bespreek can also mean book, reserve, or arrange, depending on context. For example:

• Ek bespreek 'n tafel. = I book a table.
• Ons bespreek die plan. = We discuss the plan.

So the object often tells you which meaning is intended. With die moord, the meaning is clearly discuss.

Because in Afrikaans, bespreek normally takes a direct object. You discuss something directly:

• Hulle bespreek die moord.

You do not need oor after bespreek.

This is similar to correct English, where we say discuss the murder, not discuss about the murder.

If you use praat instead, then oor is normal:

• Hulle praat oor die moord. = They talk about the murder.

It can mean either one, depending on context.

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

• They discuss the murder
• They are discussing the murder

So Hulle bespreek die moord can describe a general action or something happening now. Context tells you which meaning is intended.

Die is the Afrikaans definite article, meaning the.

So:

• die moord = the murder

A useful thing to know is that die does not change for gender or number. Afrikaans does not have separate words like the for masculine, feminine, or neuter nouns.

For example:

• die man = the man
• die vrou = the woman
• die kind = the child
• die kinders = the children

It is always die.

Because die makes the noun definite: a specific murder is being referred to.

• die moord = the murder
• 'n moord = a murder

So if the sentence were Hulle bespreek 'n moord, it would mean they are discussing a murder, not a particular one already known in the context.

In this simple sentence, yes. The order is:

subject + verb + object

• Hulle = subject
• bespreek = verb
• die moord = object

So it works very much like English here.

However, Afrikaans word order becomes different in some other structures. For example:

• Vandag bespreek hulle die moord. = Today they are discussing the murder.

Here the verb still comes second. That is a very important Afrikaans pattern.

A rough guide for an English speaker would be:

• Hulle ≈ HUL-uh
• bespreek ≈ buh-SPRAYK
• die ≈ dee
• moord ≈ moort

A few notes:

• hulle has a vowel sound that does not match English perfectly.
• bespreek has the stress on the second part: be-SPREEK.
• moord has a long oo sound.

These are only approximations, but they are good enough to get started.