Die kole is warm.

Yes. Here, die is the definite article, so it means the.

Afrikaans uses die for:

• singular nouns: die hond = the dog
• plural nouns: die honde = the dogs

So die kole means the coals. Unlike English, the article does not change for number, and Afrikaans also does not use separate masculine/feminine/neuter articles here.

Afrikaans is simpler than English here. In the present tense, the verb to be is is for both singular and plural.

For example:

• Ek is = I am
• Jy is = you are
• Hy is = he is
• Ons is = we are
• Hulle is = they are

So Die kole is warm is the normal Afrikaans way to say The coals are warm.

The singular form is kool when it means a single coal or ember.

So:

• kool = coal
• kole = coals

In this sentence, kole is the plural noun.

A rough English-friendly pronunciation is dee KOH-luh iss varm.

Helpful notes:

• die sounds like dee
• kole has two syllables, with stress on the first: KO-luh
• is sounds like iss
• warm begins with an Afrikaans w, which sounds more like an English v, so it is closer to varm than to English warm

Because after a linking verb like is, the adjective stays in its basic form. It does not change for singular or plural in this position.

Compare:

• Die kool is warm = The coal is warm
• Die kole is warm = The coals are warm

In both sentences, warm stays the same.

Yes. This sentence has the same basic pattern as English:

• subject: Die kole
• verb: is
• description: warm

So it matches The coals are warm very closely. That is one reason simple Afrikaans sentences often feel familiar to English speakers.

It usually means warm, much like in English. If something is truly hot, Afrikaans often uses heet instead.

So:

• warm = warm
• heet = hot

In this sentence, warm suggests the coals are warm, not necessarily extremely hot.