Yes. Is is the present-tense form of the verb wees (to be) and here it means is.
One helpful difference from English is that Afrikaans verbs usually do not change much according to the subject in the present tense. For example:
So is stays the same in all of those examples.
Here bekend comes after the verb is, so it is being used predicatively. In that position, Afrikaans adjectives usually stay in their basic form.
So:
But when an adjective comes before a noun, it often takes -e:
So the difference is:
That is a very common pattern in Afrikaans.
A simple English-friendly approximation is:
A few notes:
So if you say dee plek is buh-KENT, you will be fairly close.
Yes, but usually in a different construction.
For example:
In Die plek is bekend, though, the meaning is more like:
So the sentence is not saying the place is familiar with something. It is saying the place itself is known.
In standard Afrikaans, negation usually uses double nie:
This means:
Pattern:
So:
That double negative structure is one of the most important things to learn in Afrikaans.
Yes, but there is a difference in nuance.
Beroemd is often a bit stronger and more specifically famous.
Bekend can be broader and sometimes more neutral.
So:
In many contexts both can work, but bekend is often the more general word.
Yes, it is perfectly natural.
It is short, clear, and grammatical. It sounds like a normal simple statement. Depending on context, a speaker might also expand it, for example:
But Die plek is bekend on its own is completely normal Afrikaans.