Hulle kook nou kos op 'n warm stoof en voeg lekker geure by.

Here, Hulle means they.

A useful thing to notice is that Afrikaans verbs do not change form the way English verbs sometimes do. So you get:

• ek kook = I cook / am cooking
• jy kook = you cook / are cooking
• hulle kook = they cook / are cooking

The verb kook stays the same.

Afrikaans usually uses the simple present tense where English often uses either cook or are cooking.

So Hulle kook nou kos can naturally mean:

• They cook food now
• They are cooking food now

Because the sentence has nou (now), the ongoing meaning is clear.

If you really want to emphasize that the action is in progress, Afrikaans can also say:

• Hulle is besig om kos te kook = They are busy cooking food / They are cooking food

That is a very normal Afrikaans word order.

In a simple main clause, you often get:

• Subject + verb + time word/adverb + object

So:

• Hulle kook nou kos

is a natural pattern.

English can also do something similar:

• They are cooking food now

Afrikaans is fairly flexible with adverbs like nou, but this position is one of the most common and neutral ones.

'n is the Afrikaans indefinite article, meaning a or an.

So:

• 'n warm stoof = a hot stove

It is written with an apostrophe because that is simply the standard Afrikaans spelling.

A few useful points:

• It is pronounced very weakly, like uh / a schwa
• It is almost never stressed
• Even at the beginning of a sentence, it stays 'n, not 'N

For example:

• 'n Warm stoof is gevaarlik.

Because warm is the correct form here.

Afrikaans adjectives do not always add an ending before a noun. In this phrase, the natural form is:

• 'n warm stoof

not:

• 'n warme stoof

So you can just learn this as the normal expression. You also see the same adjective unchanged in:

• Die stoof is warm = The stove is hot

Stoof usually means stove or cooker.

So:

• op 'n warm stoof = on a hot stove

In kitchen contexts, it refers to the cooking appliance. The exact English word may vary a little by region, but stove is the best basic match here.

Because by is part of the verb idea.

In this sentence, voeg and by go together to mean add:

• voeg ... by = add

Afrikaans often does this with so-called separable verbs or verb-particle combinations: the main verb appears earlier in the clause, and the particle comes later.

So:

• Hulle voeg lekker geure by

literally looks like They add nice flavours/aromas on/at the end, but the whole meaning is simply:

• They add nice flavours/aromas

When learning Afrikaans, it is good to recognize voeg by as one unit of meaning.

Lekker is a very common Afrikaans word with a broad meaning. Depending on context, it can mean:

• nice
• pleasant
• tasty
• enjoyable

In lekker geure, it suggests pleasant or appealing flavours/aromas.

So it does not mean only delicious in a strict food sense. Afrikaans uses lekker very widely, much more widely than English uses a single word like nice or tasty.

It can suggest both, depending on context.

The singular is:

• geur = aroma, scent, flavour note

The plural is:

• geure = aromas, scents, flavours

In a cooking sentence like this, geure can refer to the appealing aromas and flavour qualities being added to the food. So an English translation might choose:

• aromas
• flavours
• seasonings (depending on context, though less literal)

Because the same subject, Hulle, applies to both actions:

• Hulle kook nou kos
• (Hulle) voeg lekker geure by

Afrikaans, like English, often leaves out the repeated subject when it is already clear:

• They cook food now and add nice flavours

You could repeat hulle, but it is usually unnecessary in a sentence like this.