Sy maak die kos self.

Here sy means she.

It is the subject pronoun, so it is the person doing the action:

• Sy maak ... = She makes ...

Do not confuse it with haar, which means her.

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

So you get:

• Ek maak = I make
• Jy maak = you make
• Sy maak = she makes
• Ons maak = we make

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not add an -s for he/she/it in the present tense.

Die is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• die kos = the food / the meal

A useful thing to remember is that Afrikaans die is used for:

• singular nouns
• plural nouns
• all genders

So Afrikaans does not have separate words like the for masculine/feminine/neuter nouns.

It can mean food or meal, depending on context.

In this sentence, die kos could mean:

• the food
• the meal
• sometimes even the cooking

With maak, it often has the natural sense of preparing/cooking food.

So even if the literal meaning is make the food, the natural English translation might sometimes be cook the meal.

Here self means herself in the sense of personally or without someone else doing it for her.

So the idea is:

• She makes the food herself
• She personally makes the food

It adds emphasis to who does the action.

It does not mean that she is the object of the verb. In other words, this is not the same as She makes herself food.

Because self here is an emphasizing word, not a reflexive object pronoun.

Compare these:

• Sy maak die kos self. = She makes the food herself.

  • emphasis on she doing it personally

• Sy maak vir haarself kos. = She makes food for herself.

  • haarself is part of the meaning for herself

So:

• self = emphatic herself / personally
• haarself = reflexive herself

That is an important difference.

That is a very normal Afrikaans word order.

In a simple main clause, Afrikaans usually puts the finite verb in the second position:

• Sy maak ...

Then the object comes:

• die kos

And self often comes later in the clause as emphasis:

• Sy maak die kos self.

This sounds natural and neutral.

You may also see other patterns for different emphasis, for example:

• Sy self maak die kos. = She herself makes the food.
• Sy maak self die kos. = also possible, with a slightly different rhythm/emphasis

But Sy maak die kos self is a very standard way to say it.

Not necessarily.

self means that she personally does it. It does not automatically mean she is alone.

If you want to say by herself or alone, Afrikaans often uses:

• alleen
• op haar eie

For example:

• Sy maak die kos alleen. = She makes the food alone.
• Sy maak die kos op haar eie. = She makes the food on her own.

So self is more about who does it, not whether other people are present.

Afrikaans normally uses double nie for negation.

So:

• Sy maak nie die kos self nie. = She does not make the food herself.

This is the usual pattern:

• first nie goes after the verb phrase begins to be negated
• second nie goes near the end of the clause

That double negative structure is very typical of Afrikaans.

No.

They are different words:

• self = self / personally / himself / herself
• selfs = even

Compare:

• Sy maak die kos self. = She makes the food herself.
• Selfs sy maak die kos. = Even she makes the food.

So do not mix up self and selfs.

It is in the present tense.

Depending on context, it can mean things like:

• She makes the food herself
• She is making the food herself
• She cooks the food herself

Afrikaans present tense can sometimes cover both a habitual meaning and a current meaning, depending on context.

If you want to be more explicitly progressive, Afrikaans often uses:

• Sy is besig om die kos self te maak.
  = She is busy making the food herself.

But the simple present sentence is completely normal.

A rough guide is:

• Sy ≈ like say, but not exactly the same vowel
• maak ≈ mahk
• die ≈ dee
• kos ≈ kawss or kohs, depending on accent
• self ≈ self, but with a clear short vowel

A rough full pronunciation guide could be:

• Sy maak die kos self ≈ say mahk dee kawss self

That is only an approximation, but it can help as a starting point.

Yes, very often.

Although maak literally means make, Afrikaans often uses it in situations where English might naturally say:

• make
• prepare
• cook

So depending on the context, Sy maak die kos self could be understood naturally as:

• She makes the food herself
• She prepares the food herself
• She cooks the food herself

All of those can fit, depending on what exactly is meant.