Die getuie bely.

Die means the.

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not have different definite articles for masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns. It just uses die for all of them. So:

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

So in Die getuie bely, die is simply the definite article the.

Here getuie is singular: witness.

The plural is getuies: witnesses.

That gives you:

• die getuie = the witness
• die getuies = the witnesses

This is useful because die can be used with both singular and plural nouns, so the noun form itself tells you the number.

Getuie is not grammatically masculine or feminine. Afrikaans nouns do not work like nouns in languages such as German or French.

So getuie can refer to:

• a male witness
• a female witness
• a witness when gender is not being specified

If needed, gender would usually become clear from context or later pronouns.

In Afrikaans, verbs usually do not change form according to the subject the way they do in English.

So you get:

• Ek bely = I confess
• Jy bely = you confess
• Die getuie bely = the witness confesses
• Hulle bely = they confess

The verb stays bely. This is one of the simpler parts of Afrikaans grammar for English speakers.

Yes. This is a normal simple main-clause word order:

Subject + verb

• Die getuie = subject
• bely = verb

So Die getuie bely is a perfectly normal basic sentence.

Afrikaans often looks very similar to English in simple statements like this.

Yes. Bely can stand on its own if the thing being confessed is obvious from context or not important.

So Die getuie bely is a complete sentence meaning that the witness confesses or admits.

If you want to add what is being confessed, you can do that too. For example:

• Die getuie bely die waarheid.
• Die getuie bely sy skuld.

So the short version without an object is completely natural.

No. Bely has a broader meaning than just confessing a crime.

Depending on context, it can mean:

• confess
• admit openly
• profess, especially in a religious sense

So it may be used for confessing guilt, confessing sins, or openly declaring a belief. Context tells you which meaning fits best.

You can say:

Die getuie bely nie.

That means The witness does not confess.

Afrikaans negation often uses nie, and in a short sentence like this, that is the form you need to learn first.

The usual past tense is:

Die getuie het bely.

That means The witness confessed or has confessed, depending on context.

This is a very common Afrikaans past-tense pattern:

het + past participle

With many verbs, the participle may have a ge- prefix, but with bely, the form is simply bely in this construction:

• Die getuie het bely.

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

Bely die getuie?

That means Does the witness confess?

So compare:

• Die getuie bely. = statement
• Bely die getuie? = yes/no question

That verb-first pattern is very common in Afrikaans questions.