Sy sê dat sy haar ou vriendin mis, al sien hulle mekaar gereeld aanlyn.

Sy means she when it is the subject of the verb.

In this sentence:

• Sy sê = She says
• dat sy ... mis = that she misses ...

So both sy words mean she.

Haar means her. Here it is part of haar ou vriendin = her old friend.

So the contrast is:

• sy = she
• haar = her

Dat means that.

It introduces a reported clause after sê:

• Sy sê dat ... = She says that ...

In English, that is often optional:

• She says that she misses her friend
• She says she misses her friend

Afrikaans can also sometimes omit dat in everyday speech, but when dat is present, it clearly marks the start of a subordinate clause.

Because dat introduces a subordinate clause, and in Afrikaans the conjugated verb often goes to the end of that clause.

So:

• Sy sê = main clause
• dat sy haar ou vriendin mis = subordinate clause

That is why you get:

• dat sy haar ou vriendin mis not
• dat sy mis haar ou vriendin

This is one of the most important word-order patterns in Afrikaans.

Ou literally means old, but with people it often means:

• a longtime friend
• an old friend in the sense of someone you have known for a long time
• sometimes a former one, depending on context

So haar ou vriendin usually means her old friend rather than her elderly friend.

Context decides the exact nuance.

It can mean either, depending on context.

• vriendin = female friend
• vriendin can also mean girlfriend

In this sentence, it will usually be understood as female friend, especially if the meaning shown to the learner already points that way.

So Afrikaans, like English, sometimes relies on context here.

Here al means although, even though, or despite the fact that.

So:

• al sien hulle mekaar gereeld aanlyn
  = although they see each other regularly online

This part shows a contrast: she misses her friend even though they still see each other online.

After al meaning although/even though, Afrikaans often uses a pattern like:

• al + verb + subject

So:

• al sien hulle mekaar ...

This is a common concessive structure in Afrikaans.

A learner might expect a more regular subordinate-clause pattern, but al often behaves differently from dat.

Compare:

• dat sy haar ou vriendin mis → verb at the end
• al sien hulle mekaar ... → verb comes right after al

A longer alternative would be something like:

• alhoewel hulle mekaar gereeld aanlyn sien

That version does use the more typical subordinate word order.

Mekaar means each other or one another.

So:

• hulle sien mekaar = they see each other

It is used when the action goes both ways between the people involved.

More examples:

• Ons help mekaar = We help each other
• Hulle ken mekaar = They know each other

Because hulle sien hulle would mean something more like they see them, not they see each other.

To express reciprocity, Afrikaans uses mekaar:

• hulle sien mekaar = they see each other

So mekaar is the standard reciprocal word.

Gereeld means regularly.

In this sentence:

• hulle sien mekaar gereeld aanlyn = they see each other regularly online

Its position is natural because Afrikaans often places adverbs like this after the object or reciprocal phrase and before a final adverb like aanlyn.

The exact placement of adverbs can be somewhat flexible, but this order sounds very normal.

Aanlyn means online.

Putting it at the end is very natural in Afrikaans:

• hulle sien mekaar gereeld aanlyn

Afrikaans often puts this kind of adverb of medium/location near the end of the clause.

So the ending gereeld aanlyn feels quite idiomatic:

• gereeld = regularly
• aanlyn = online

Yes, often in everyday Afrikaans it can be omitted after verbs like sê.

So you may also hear:

• Sy sê sy mis haar ou vriendin.

That is very common.

But when dat is included, the clause clearly becomes subordinate, and the verb goes to the end:

• Sy sê dat sy haar ou vriendin mis.

Both are good Afrikaans; the version with dat is especially clear and useful for learners to study.

The accent in sê helps show pronunciation and distinguishes it from other similar-looking forms.

• sê = say/says

For learners, the important thing is simply to recognize sê as the verb to say.

It is different from:

• sy = she
• sien = see

So even though sy, sê, and sien all begin with s, they are completely different words with different meanings and pronunciations.