Ons ontmoet die nuwe buurman, en hy glimlag.

In this sentence, ons is the subject and means we.

A useful thing to know is that Afrikaans uses ons for both we and us, depending on the job it is doing in the sentence.

• Ons ontmoet die buurman. = We meet the neighbor.
• Hy sien ons. = He sees us.

So unlike English, Afrikaans does not switch between we and us in the form of the word.

Because Afrikaans verbs usually do not change form for different subjects in the present tense.

So you get:

• ek ontmoet
• jy ontmoet
• hy ontmoet
• ons ontmoet
• hulle ontmoet

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

Die is the definite article, meaning the.

One very learner-friendly feature of Afrikaans is that die does not change for:

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

So all of these use die:

• die buurman = the neighbor
• die buurvrou = the female neighbor
• die bure = the neighbors

If the sentence meant a new neighbor instead of the new neighbor, Afrikaans would use 'n:

• 'n nuwe buurman

Because nuwe is the form used before a noun.

The basic adjective is nuut = new.
But when it comes directly before a noun, Afrikaans usually uses an attributive form, often ending in -e.

So:

• 'n nuwe buurman = a new neighbor
• die nuwe buurman = the new neighbor

Compare that with the adjective used after a linking verb:

• Die buurman is nuut. = The neighbor is new.

So:

• nuut = usually after the verb
• nuwe = usually before the noun

Yes. Buurman literally means male neighbor.

Related words are:

• buurvrou = female neighbor
• bure = neighbors

In real life, context often makes the gender obvious, and speakers choose the word that fits the person they are talking about. In this sentence, buurman tells you the new neighbor is male.

Yes, the word order is important, and this is the normal main-clause pattern in Afrikaans.

Both parts of the sentence are main clauses:

• Ons ontmoet die nuwe buurman
• hy glimlag

After en, the second clause keeps normal main-clause word order, so the subject comes before the verb here:

• hy glimlag

Afrikaans often puts the finite verb early in the clause. If you move another element to the front, the word order changes accordingly. For example:

• Vandag glimlag hy. = Today he smiles / is smiling.

So en hy glimlag is the straightforward, normal order.

It can mean either, depending on context.

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

• smiles
• is smiling

So hy glimlag can mean:

• he smiles
• he is smiling

If you really want to stress an ongoing action, Afrikaans can use a more explicit form such as is besig om te glimlag, but in everyday language the simple present is very common and natural.

Yes. Glimlag can be used on its own, just like smile in English.

So:

• Hy glimlag. = He smiles / He is smiling.

If you want to say who the smile is directed at, Afrikaans often uses vir:

• Hy glimlag vir ons. = He smiles at us.

In your sentence, the object of the smile is not stated, so hy glimlag is complete by itself.

Here are some simple learner-friendly approximations:

• die sounds like dee
• hy sounds roughly like hay
• glimlag sounds roughly like ghlim-lakh

A few helpful notes:

• The g in Afrikaans is usually a guttural sound, not the English g in go.
• The ui sound does not appear here, so these words are a bit easier than some other Afrikaans words.
• ontmoet is roughly ont-MOOT
• buurman is roughly BEWR-man or byur-man, depending on how simplified you want the approximation

If you want, I can also give the whole sentence in a slow pronunciation guide.

It is in the present tense, but like many present-tense sentences, the exact nuance depends on context.

It can describe:

• something happening right now
• a simple narrative event
• a habitual or general action, depending on the situation

In this sentence, most learners will naturally understand it as a present event in a story or conversation:

• We meet the new neighbor, and he smiles.
• or We are meeting the new neighbor, and he is smiling.

So the tense is grammatically present, but the final interpretation comes from context.