Die rooi fiets is hare, en die blou motor is syne.

Die is the Afrikaans definite article, so here it means the.

A useful thing for English speakers to know is that Afrikaans uses die for:

• singular nouns
• plural nouns
• all grammatical genders

So:

• die fiets = the bicycle
• die motor = the car

Unlike German or Dutch, you do not have to learn different forms of the for different noun genders.

That is the normal position for adjectives in Afrikaans, just like in English:

• die rooi fiets = the red bicycle
• die blou motor = the blue car

So the pattern is:

article + adjective + noun

This part of the sentence is very English-like.

In this sentence, rooi and blou stay the same in front of the noun. Afrikaans adjectives do not behave like adjectives in languages with heavy agreement systems, and these common color adjectives are normally used exactly as you see them here.

So you simply learn:

• die rooi fiets
• die blou motor

The important point is that the form here is normal and natural Afrikaans.

Because hare and syne are independent possessive pronouns. They are used when the noun is not repeated.

Compare:

• haar fiets = her bicycle
• die fiets is hare = the bicycle is hers

and

• sy motor = his car
• die motor is syne = the car is his

So in your sentence, the nouns fiets and motor come first, and then hare and syne stand alone, just like hers and his in English.

The difference is similar to the English difference between her and hers.

• haar is used before a noun: haar fiets = her bicycle
• hare stands alone: Die fiets is hare = The bicycle is hers

So hare does not mean her in front of a noun. It specifically means hers.

Here the difference is:

• sy = his before a noun
  
  • sy motor = his car
• syne = his standing alone
  
  • Die motor is syne = The car is his

This can feel strange to English speakers because English uses his in both jobs:

• his car
• the car is his

Afrikaans splits those into sy and syne.

Yes, and that is a very common point of confusion.

• sy before a noun can mean his
  • sy motor = his car
• sy as a subject pronoun can mean she
  • Sy ry vinnig = She drives fast

Context tells you which meaning is intended.

That is one reason why syne is helpful here: syne can only mean his in this kind of sentence.

No, not in the way learners may expect from Dutch or German.

Afrikaans does not use noun gender in the same everyday way for articles and adjective agreement. So:

• fiets is not grammatically masculine or feminine in a way that changes the
• motor is not either

The choice between hare and syne depends on the owner being female or male, not on the noun itself.

So:

• fiets is not feminine just because the owner is female
• motor is not masculine just because the owner is male

Yes. This sentence is very close to English word order.

Pattern:

• Die rooi fiets = subject
• is = verb
• hare = complement

Then the second clause works the same way:

• die blou motor = subject
• is = verb
• syne = complement

So the whole sentence follows a simple pattern:

subject + verb + complement, and subject + verb + complement

That makes it quite beginner-friendly.

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

In English you get:

• I am
• you are
• he is

In Afrikaans, the present tense is much simpler, and here you just use is.

So:

• Die fiets is hare
• Die motor is syne

This is part of a bigger pattern: Afrikaans generally has much less verb conjugation than English.

Yes. A few natural alternatives are:

• Dit is haar rooi fiets, en dit is sy blou motor.
  = It is her red bicycle, and it is his blue car.

• Die rooi fiets behoort aan haar, en die blou motor behoort aan hom.
  = The red bicycle belongs to her, and the blue car belongs to him.

But your original sentence is especially useful because it teaches the neat possessive forms:

• hare = hers
• syne = his