Die verhuurder is by die kantoor.

Die is the Afrikaans definite article, meaning the.

It appears twice because there are two nouns that are definite:

• die verhuurder = the landlord
• die kantoor = the office

A useful thing for English speakers: Afrikaans uses die for all genders, so you do not have to learn separate words like the based on masculine, feminine, or neuter nouns.

Not in the way English learners might expect from some other European languages.

Afrikaans does not have grammatical gender like German or Dutch in everyday article use, and die is used very broadly as the. You do not need different forms like de, het, der, and so on.

So in sentences like this, die stays simple and consistent.

That is just one of the similarities between Afrikaans and English.

In this sentence, is is the present-tense form of wees (to be):

• Ek is = I am
• Jy is = you are
• Hy/Sy is = he/she is

One nice feature of Afrikaans is that verbs usually do not change much depending on the subject. So is is used with different persons much more simply than in English.

Here, by means something like at, by, or near, depending on context.

So by die kantoor most naturally means:

• at the office
• by the office
• sometimes near the office

In this sentence, the most natural English translation is usually at the office.

Because by and in do different jobs.

• by die kantoor = at the office / by the office
• in die kantoor = in the office / inside the office

So if the sentence says Die verhuurder is by die kantoor, it does not necessarily mean the landlord is physically inside the office. It means the landlord is at that location.

Verhuurder usually means landlord or lessor — the person who rents something out to someone else.

It comes from the idea of verhuur, which means to rent out or to lease out.

So:

• verhuurder = the person renting out the property
• huurder = the tenant / renter

That distinction is very useful, because English speakers sometimes confuse landlord and tenant when learning housing vocabulary in another language.

It is helpful to see the parts:

• verhuur = rent out / lease out
• -der or -er type ending = a person who does the action

So verhuurder is basically the one who rents out.

This kind of word-building is common in Afrikaans and can help you guess meanings of new words.

Yes. This is a very standard main-clause word order:

• Die verhuurder = subject
• is = verb
• by die kantoor = place expression

So the pattern is:

Subject + verb + place

That is perfectly normal for a simple statement in Afrikaans.

Yes. In a direct question, Afrikaans usually puts the verb before the subject.

Statement:

• Die verhuurder is by die kantoor.

Question:

• Is die verhuurder by die kantoor?

That is very similar to English:

• The landlord is at the office.
• Is the landlord at the office?

A rough English-friendly guide would be:

duh fur-HYOOR-dur is bay duh kun-TOOR

A few pronunciation notes:

• die in Afrikaans is usually pronounced more like duh, not like English die
• ui in verhuurder is a difficult Afrikaans vowel for English speakers
• r is usually trilled or tapped more than in most English accents
• kantoor has stress on the second syllable: kan-TOOR

The exact pronunciation varies by accent, but those points will help you avoid the most common mistakes.

Yes. Kantoor can refer to:

• an office
• a workplace office
• a business office
• an administrative office

So by die kantoor could mean at the office in a general sense, not only standing next to one specific room.

Context tells you whether it means a company office, an estate office, a rental office, and so on.