Ons ontwikkel 'n nuwe reël.

Word by word:

• Ons = we
• ontwikkel = develop
• 'n = a
• nuwe = new
• reël = rule

So the sentence literally matches English very closely: We develop a new rule.

Depending on context, it can also mean We are developing a new rule, because Afrikaans often uses the simple present where English might use either simple present or present continuous.

Yes. Ons is the normal Afrikaans subject pronoun for we.

Examples:

• Ons werk. = We work.
• Ons leer Afrikaans. = We learn Afrikaans.

A useful thing to know is that Afrikaans verbs do not change depending on the subject the way English verbs sometimes do. So you get:

• Ek ontwikkel = I develop
• Jy ontwikkel = you develop
• Ons ontwikkel = we develop
• Hulle ontwikkel = they develop

The verb form stays the same.

Usually, yes. Ontwikkel is very close to English develop and is often used in similar contexts:

• Ons ontwikkel 'n plan. = We are developing a plan.
• Die kind ontwikkel vinnig. = The child is developing quickly.
• Hulle ontwikkel sagteware. = They develop software.

It is a helpful cognate for English speakers.

'n is the Afrikaans indefinite article, meaning a or an.

It is always written with an apostrophe: 'n.

Examples:

• 'n boek = a book
• 'n huis = a house
• 'n nuwe reël = a new rule

A famous spelling detail: if 'n starts a sentence, the apostrophe stays and the following word is capitalized instead:

• 'n Man loop daar. = A man walks there.

Not 'N.

It is usually pronounced as a very weak schwa sound, like the unstressed a in English about.

So 'n nuwe reël sounds roughly like:

• uh NU-vuh REE-uhl

The article 'n is normally not stressed.

Because Afrikaans adjectives often change form when they come before a noun.

The basic form is:

• nuut = new

But before a noun, it usually becomes:

• nuwe = new

So:

• 'n nuwe reël = a new rule

Compare:

• Die reël is nuut. = The rule is new.
• 'n nuwe reël = a new rule

This is a very common pattern in Afrikaans: the adjective often gets an -e ending when it is used attributively (before the noun).

The dots are called a diaeresis. In Afrikaans, they show that the vowels are pronounced in separate syllables rather than blended together.

So reël is pronounced roughly like:

• REE-uhl or REE-el

The dots help show that this is not one long merged vowel sound.

You see the same thing in other Afrikaans words too, such as:

• geëet
• koöperasie

A rough English-friendly pronunciation is:

Ons ontwikkel 'n nuwe reël
ons on-TVIK-kel uh NU-vuh REE-uhl

A few notes:

• ons sounds somewhat like ons in English, but with a short o
• ontwikkel has the stress on -vik-
• 'n is very weak: uh
• nuwe is roughly NU-vuh
• reël is roughly REE-uhl

Grammatically, it is present tense, but in English it could be translated in more than one way depending on context:

• We develop a new rule.
• We are developing a new rule.

Afrikaans often uses the simple present where English would choose either simple present or present continuous.

If you really want to stress an ongoing action in Afrikaans, you can use a construction like:

• Ons is besig om 'n nuwe reël te ontwikkel.
  = We are busy developing a new rule.

But the shorter sentence Ons ontwikkel 'n nuwe reël is completely normal.

Because this is a simple main clause, and Afrikaans often uses a familiar subject + verb + object order in basic statements:

• Ons = subject
• ontwikkel = verb
• 'n nuwe reël = object phrase

So:

• Ons ontwikkel 'n nuwe reël.

This feels very natural to an English speaker.

Just be aware that Afrikaans word order changes in some other structures, especially after certain adverbs or in subordinate clauses.

Not always. Reël can have a few related meanings depending on context, such as:

• rule
• regulation
• line
• sometimes even a sense related to arrangement in other contexts

But in Ons ontwikkel 'n nuwe reël, rule is the natural meaning.

Also, don’t confuse the noun reël with the verb reël:

• 'n reël = a rule
• Ek reël dit. = I arrange it.

Same spelling, different function.

No. In standard Afrikaans, that would be incorrect.

Before the noun, you need the adjective form nuwe:

• 'n nuwe reël ✅

After a linking verb like is, you use nuut:

• Die reël is nuut. ✅

So the difference is:

• attributive adjective: nuwe
• predicative adjective: nuut

The plural is reëls.

Examples:

• 'n reël = a rule
• reëls = rules
• Ons ontwikkel nuwe reëls. = We are developing new rules.

Notice that in the plural example, there is no 'n, because 'n only means a/an, which is singular.