Nege bekers is op die tafel.

Because Afrikaans normally puts numbers before the noun they describe, just like English.

• nege = nine
• bekers = cups

So Nege bekers literally means nine cups.

Bekers is the plural form of beker.

A very common way to make plurals in Afrikaans is to add -s:

• beker = cup
• bekers = cups

So nege bekers means there is more than one cup—in this case, nine.

In Afrikaans, is is used for both is and are in the present tense.

Examples:

• Die beker is op die tafel. = The cup is on the table.
• Die bekers is op die tafel. = The cups are on the table.

So even with a plural subject, Afrikaans still uses is.

Afrikaans often does not need a separate word like English there in simple location statements.

English might say:

• Nine cups are on the table or
• There are nine cups on the table

Afrikaans commonly says:

• Nege bekers is op die tafel.

It directly states what is where, without needing an extra there.

Op means on.

So:

• op die tafel = on the table

It is a very common preposition in Afrikaans.

Die is the definite article, meaning the.

• die tafel = the table
• 'n tafel = a table

The sentence uses die tafel because it refers to a specific table: the table.

No. One helpful feature of Afrikaans is that die is used for:

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

So die can mean both the and the for many different nouns, without changing form.

Examples:

• die beker = the cup
• die bekers = the cups
• die tafel = the table

Very close, yes.

The structure is:

• Nege bekers = subject
• is = verb
• op die tafel = prepositional phrase showing location

So the pattern is basically:

Subject + verb + location

That is very similar to English: Nine cups are on the table.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

NAY-guh BEK-kers is op dee TAH-fəl

A few notes:

• g in Afrikaans is usually a harsher throat sound than in English.
• die is pronounced roughly like dee, not like English die.
• tafel sounds somewhat like tah-fəl.

Exact pronunciation can vary by accent, but this is a useful starting point.

Yes. That is also a very natural Afrikaans sentence.

• Daar is nege bekers op die tafel. = There are nine cups on the table.

The difference is mainly in style and focus:

• Nege bekers is op die tafel. focuses first on nine cups
• Daar is nege bekers op die tafel. is closer to English There are nine cups on the table

Both are correct in many contexts.

The singular version would be:

Een beker is op die tafel.
or more naturally:
'n Beker is op die tafel.

That means:

• A cup is on the table

If you want The cup is on the table, that would be:

• Die beker is op die tafel.

Not in this sentence.

• The verb stays is
• There is no adjective here changing form

This is one reason Afrikaans grammar can feel simpler than English or Dutch in some areas. The plural is shown mainly by the noun bekers, not by changing the verb.