Hulle praat oor die duiwel.

Hulle means they.

In this sentence, it is the subject pronoun, just like they in English:

• Hulle praat = They speak / They are talking

Afrikaans uses hulle for they / them / their in different contexts, so learners often need to rely on word order and context.

Examples:

• Hulle kom nou. = They are coming now.
• Ek sien hulle. = I see them.
• Hulle huis = their house

In Hulle praat oor die duiwel, hulle clearly means they because it comes first and acts as the subject.

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

In English, we say:

• I speak
• he speaks
• they speak

But in Afrikaans, the verb usually stays the same:

• Ek praat
• Hy praat
• Hulle praat

So praat is used with ek, jy, hy, sy, ons, julle, hulle without adding different endings like English does.

That makes Afrikaans verb conjugation much simpler than English.

It can mean both, depending on context.

So Hulle praat oor die duiwel can naturally be understood as:

• They are talking about the devil
• They speak about the devil

In everyday English, talking about is usually the most natural translation here.

Oor means about in this sentence.

So:

• praat oor = talk about

This is a common Afrikaans combination:

• Ons praat oor werk. = We are talking about work.
• Sy praat oor haar familie. = She talks about her family.

Be careful: oor can also mean over in other contexts. But after praat, it often means about.

Die means the here.

So:

• die duiwel = the devil

Afrikaans uses die as the definite article for all nouns, whether singular or plural. Unlike English, it does not change.

Examples:

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

So in this sentence, die is simply the normal word for the.

Duiwel means devil.

Yes, it is a normal Afrikaans noun, and you may see it in:

• religious language
• stories and folklore
• idioms
• expressions of frustration or emphasis

For this sentence, it is just the object of the preposition:

• oor die duiwel = about the devil

The sentence follows a very straightforward main-clause word order:

Hulle | praat | oor die duiwel
subject | verb | prepositional phrase

So:

• Hulle = subject
• praat = verb
• oor die duiwel = prepositional phrase meaning about the devil

This is similar to basic English structure:

• They talk about the devil

Not naturally in normal usage.

Even though oor can mean over, the combination praat oor is a standard way to say talk about. So the natural reading is definitely:

• They are talking about the devil

Context always matters, but without any unusual situation, about is the correct interpretation.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

HULL-uh praht oor dee DUY-vul

A few notes:

• praat has a long aa sound, roughly like a in father
• oor sounds somewhat like or, but longer
• duiwel begins with a diphthong somewhat like day
  • uh blending into duy
• w in Afrikaans is usually pronounced more like English v

Pronunciation can vary by speaker and region, but that guide will get you close.

Normally, no. You would usually keep die here.

Afrikaans generally uses the article in a phrase like about the devil:

• oor die duiwel

Leaving out die would sound unnatural in standard Afrikaans unless the noun were being used in some special idiomatic or non-count way, which is not the case here.

The negative would be:

Hulle praat nie oor die duiwel nie.

Afrikaans usually uses a double nie:

• one nie after the verb phrase area
• one nie at the end of the clause

So:

• Hulle praat oor die duiwel. = They are talking about the devil.
• Hulle praat nie oor die duiwel nie. = They are not talking about the devil.

This double-negative structure is one of the most important patterns in Afrikaans.

You can make it a question by changing the word order:

Praat hulle oor die duiwel?

This is like English Are they talking about the devil? or Do they talk about the devil?

Afrikaans often forms yes/no questions by putting the verb first:

• Hulle praat oor die duiwel. = They are talking about the devil.
• Praat hulle oor die duiwel? = Are they talking about the devil?

It can mean both, depending on context.

Hulle praat oor die duiwel may mean:

• They talk about the devil (habitual / general)
• They are talking about the devil (right now)

Afrikaans often uses the simple present where English might use either the simple present or the present continuous. Context tells you which meaning is intended.