Ons bestuur die groep.

Here, ons means we because it is the subject of the sentence.

A useful thing to know is that Afrikaans uses ons for both we and us. Unlike English, the form does not change. The sentence position tells you the role:

• Ons bestuur die groep. = We manage the group.
• Hulle sien ons. = They see us.

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

So you get:

• Ek bestuur
• Jy bestuur
• Hy bestuur
• Ons bestuur
• Hulle bestuur

This is much simpler than English, where you have I manage but he manages.

In this sentence, bestuur most naturally means manage, run, or be in charge of.

Be aware that bestuur can also mean drive in other contexts:

• Hy bestuur die motor. = He drives the car.

It can even be a noun in other sentences, meaning something like management or governing body. But here, in Ons bestuur die groep, it is clearly a verb.

Die is the definite article, meaning the.

Afrikaans uses die for:

• singular nouns
• plural nouns
• all grammatical genders

So it is much simpler than languages that have different forms for the.

In this sentence:

• die groep = the group

No. In Afrikaans, die is pronounced dee.

That is a very common beginner mistake, because English speakers naturally want to read it like English die. But in Afrikaans:

• die = dee

Because this is a normal main clause, and Afrikaans often uses the same basic subject–verb–object order as English:

• Ons = subject
• bestuur = verb
• die groep = object

So:

• Ons bestuur die groep.

However, Afrikaans also follows a strong verb-second pattern in main clauses. That means if another element comes first, the verb still stays in second position:

• Vandag bestuur ons die groep. = Today we manage the group.

So the word order is simple here, but there is a rule behind it.

It is singular here: the group.

The plural would normally be groepe:

• die groep = the group
• die groepe = the groups

Since the sentence has groep, not groepe, it is singular.

Yes, depending on context.

Afrikaans often uses the simple present where English might use either:

• we manage the group
• we are managing the group

If a speaker wants to emphasize an ongoing action, Afrikaans can use other expressions, but the plain present tense is very common and flexible.

So Ons bestuur die groep can describe:

• a general fact
• a regular responsibility
• a present situation

A rough pronunciation guide is:

ons buh-STÜÜR dee khroop

A few details:

• ons: roughly like ons
• bestuur: stress on the second syllable; the uu sound is not exactly English oo. It is closer to German ü or French u
• die: dee
• groep: the oe sounds like oo in food, and the g is a guttural Afrikaans sound, not a normal English g

You do not need perfect pronunciation right away, but die = dee is especially important to remember.