Sy onderteken die huurkontrak.

Here it means she.

A useful thing to know is that sy can have more than one meaning in Afrikaans depending on context:

• sy = she
• sy = his

In Sy onderteken die huurkontrak, sy is the subject of the sentence, so it clearly means she.

Because it is at the start of the sentence, it is capitalized as Sy.

Afrikaans verbs usually do not change according to the subject in the present tense.

So you get:

• Ek onderteken = I sign
• Jy onderteken = you sign
• Sy onderteken = she signs
• Ons onderteken = we sign

This is much simpler than English, where you have to say I sign but she signs.

Onderteken means to sign, especially in a formal sense, such as signing:

• a contract
• a document
• an agreement
• an official form

It is a slightly more formal and precise verb than everyday English sign. In this sentence, it fits well because a huurkontrak is an official document.

Yes, you often can.

• teken can mean sign in many everyday contexts
• onderteken is more formal and explicitly means sign a document

So:

• Sy teken die huurkontrak = natural in everyday speech
• Sy onderteken die huurkontrak = slightly more formal, and very clear

Both are understandable, but onderteken is especially suitable for contracts.

Die here means the.

Afrikaans uses die as the definite article for both singular and plural nouns:

• die boek = the book
• die boeke = the books

So die huurkontrak means the lease agreement / the rental contract.

Yes, it is one word, because Afrikaans often forms compound nouns as single words.

huurkontrak is made up of:

• huur = rent / rental
• kontrak = contract

So huurkontrak means:

• rental contract
• lease agreement
• lease contract

Writing it as one word is completely normal in Afrikaans.

This is the normal word order for a simple main clause in Afrikaans:

subject + verb + object

So:

• Sy = subject
• onderteken = verb
• die huurkontrak = object

This is very similar to English:

• She signs the lease agreement.

Afrikaans word order becomes more noticeably different in other sentence types, but this basic sentence is straightforward.

A rough guide is:

See on-der-TAY-ken dee HUR-kon-trakh

A few notes:

• sy sounds roughly like say, but shorter
• onderteken has stress on -te-
• die is usually pronounced like dee
• huur has a vowel sound that may be unfamiliar to English speakers
• g in kontrak is not present here, so that word is easier than many Afrikaans words

Pronunciation can vary a little by speaker and accent, but that rough version will help.

Afrikaans does not assign grammatical gender to nouns the way some other languages do.

So you do not need to learn nouns as masculine, feminine, or neuter.

That is one reason Afrikaans grammar is often easier for English speakers than languages like German or Dutch.

The most common past tense form would be:

Sy het die huurkontrak onderteken.
= She signed the lease agreement.

Afrikaans usually forms the past tense with:

• het
  • past participle

So here:

• het = auxiliary verb
• onderteken stays at the end

This pattern is very common in Afrikaans.

Afrikaans usually does not have a separate progressive form exactly like English is signing.

Very often, the simple present can cover that idea depending on context:

• Sy onderteken die huurkontrak.

If you want to make the future clear, you can say:

Sy sal die huurkontrak onderteken.
= She will sign the lease agreement.

So:

• simple present often covers present actions
• sal is used for the future

The sentence is perfectly natural, but onderteken makes it sound a little more formal or official.

That is mainly because contracts are legal or administrative documents. In everyday speech, someone might still say it exactly this way, especially in a housing or legal context.

So the sentence sounds:

• correct
• natural
• slightly formal because of the verb and the noun

Yes.

In English, there are several natural ways to translate huurkontrak, including:

• the rental contract
• the lease contract
• the lease agreement
• sometimes simply the lease

Which English version sounds best depends on the context, but they all point to the same basic idea: a contract for renting property.