Dit gebeur vandag.

• Dit = it
• gebeur = happens / is happening
• vandag = today

So the sentence is literally It happens today.

Dit is the Afrikaans word for it. In this sentence, it works as the subject, just like in English It happens today.

Afrikaans often uses dit in very similar ways to English it. It can refer to a specific thing, or it can be a more general subject when the context already makes clear what is happening.

In Afrikaans, verbs usually do not change according to the subject the way they do in English.

In English, you say:

• I happen
• it happens

But in Afrikaans, the verb normally stays the same:

• ek gebeur would not normally be used semantically, but grammatically the verb form itself does not change
• dit gebeur

This lack of verb conjugation is one reason Afrikaans grammar is often simpler than English grammar in this area.

Yes. Gebeur here is present tense.

Depending on context, Afrikaans present tense can often match several English ideas:

• it happens today
• it is happening today

Afrikaans often relies on context rather than using different verb forms for these distinctions.

Vandag is an adverb of time, meaning today. In a simple main clause, Afrikaans often places time words later in the sentence, especially after the verb:

• Dit gebeur vandag.

That said, Afrikaans can also move time expressions for emphasis:

• Vandag gebeur dit.

This version puts more focus on today.

Yes. Vandag gebeur dit is correct.

The difference is mainly emphasis:

• Dit gebeur vandag = neutral statement
• Vandag gebeur dit = emphasis on today

Afrikaans has a verb-second pattern in main clauses, so if vandag comes first, the verb usually still comes second:

• Vandag gebeur dit not
• Vandag dit gebeur

A rough English-friendly guide is:

• Dit ≈ dit
• gebeur ≈ khuh-BEER or guh-BEER
• vandag ≈ fun-DAKH or van-DAKH

A few notes:

• g in Afrikaans is usually a throaty sound, not a soft English g
• the second syllable of gebeur is stressed
• the second syllable of vandag is also stressed

Pronunciation varies somewhat by speaker and region, but those stress patterns are helpful.

They are related, but not identical in form.

In Dutch, you often get:

• Het gebeurt vandaag is not the usual standard form for this meaning
• Het gebeurt vandaag would sound unusual in standard Dutch; Dutch would more naturally use a different structure depending on meaning

The important Afrikaans point is that gebeur is the normal verb form here, and Afrikaans verbs generally do not take the extra ending that Dutch often has.

So if you know some Dutch, do not expect the same verb endings in Afrikaans.

Usually dit means it, but in some contexts English may translate it more naturally as this, depending on what is being referred to.

For example, if people are discussing an event, Dit gebeur vandag could be understood in English as:

• It happens today
• This is happening today

So the exact English wording can depend on context, even though the Afrikaans sentence stays the same.

You can change the time in a few common ways:

• Dit het vandag gebeur. = It happened today.
• Dit sal vandag gebeur. = It will happen today.

So:

• het ... gebeur often gives a past meaning
• sal ... gebeur gives a future meaning

This is a very useful pattern in Afrikaans.

Yes, but it depends on context. It sounds natural when everyone already knows what it refers to.

For example:

• talking about an event
• discussing a plan
• confirming when something takes place

On its own, it is a complete sentence, but in real conversation it usually connects to earlier context, such as:

• Die vergadering? Dit gebeur vandag.
• Die verandering? Dit gebeur vandag.