Hoe droog die fietsketting ook al is, smeer ons dit.

In this sentence, hoe ... ook al creates a concessive meaning: however ... / no matter how ....

So:

• Hoe droog ... ook al is = However dry ... is
• or No matter how dry ... is

It is a very common Afrikaans pattern for saying that something is true despite varying degrees of something.

A few similar patterns are:

• Hoe moeilik dit ook al is, ons probeer.
  However difficult it is, we try.
• Hoe laat dit ook al is, hy werk nog.
  No matter how late it is, he is still working.

Yes, hoe often means how, but here it is not a direct question word. It is part of the fixed pattern hoe + adjective/adverb + ... + ook al.

So in this sentence:

• hoe droog = however dry

It is similar to English however rather than question-word how?

Compare:

• Hoe is die ketting? = How is the chain? / What is the chain like?
• Hoe droog die ketting ook al is ... = However dry the chain is ...

Ook al strengthens the concessive idea. It helps give the meaning even if, however, or no matter depending on the sentence.

In your sentence:

• Hoe droog die fietsketting ook al is = No matter how dry the bicycle chain is

Without understanding ook al, the sentence can feel incomplete. It is an important part of this structure.

You can think of the whole frame as:

• hoe + adjective + subject + ook al + verb

Example:

• Hoe koud dit ook al word, ons gaan stap.
  No matter how cold it gets, we are going for a walk.

Because Hoe droog die fietsketting ook al is is a subordinate clause, and in Afrikaans subordinate clauses, the finite verb often goes to the end.

So the order is:

• Hoe droog = however dry
• die fietsketting = the bicycle chain
• ook al
• is = is

That final is is normal for this kind of clause.

Compare:

• Main clause: Die fietsketting is droog.
• Subordinate clause: ... hoe droog die fietsketting ook al is

Because the sentence starts with another clause: Hoe droog die fietsketting ook al is.

In Afrikaans main clauses, the finite verb normally comes in the second position. When something else comes first, the verb still has to stay second, so the subject comes after it.

That is why you get:

• Hoe droog die fietsketting ook al is, smeer ons dit.

Literally, the structure is:

1. fronted subordinate clause
2. finite verb of the main clause: smeer
3. subject: ons
4. object: dit

If the main clause stood alone, it would be:

• Ons smeer dit.

But after a fronted clause:

• ..., smeer ons dit.

Literally, smeer can mean smear, spread, or apply. But with something like a bicycle chain, it usually means lubricate, oil, or grease.

So in this sentence, a natural English meaning would be:

• we lubricate it
• we oil it
• we grease it

The exact English word depends on context, but the Afrikaans verb smeer is perfectly normal here.

Dit is the object pronoun meaning it. It refers back to die fietsketting.

So:

• die fietsketting = the bicycle chain
• dit = it

In the main clause smeer ons dit, the chain has already been mentioned, so Afrikaans uses the pronoun instead of repeating the full noun.

This is very natural. Repeating die fietsketting would sound heavier:

• Hoe droog die fietsketting ook al is, smeer ons die fietsketting.

That is grammatical, but less natural than dit.

Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, often forms compound nouns by writing them as one word.

So:

• fiets = bicycle
• ketting = chain
• fietsketting = bicycle chain

This is completely normal in Afrikaans.

Other examples:

• huisdeur = house door / front door
• skooltas = school bag
• motorfietshelm = motorcycle helmet

So fietsketting is not unusual at all—it is just standard compounding.

Afrikaans adjectives often have two forms:

• an uninflected form, like droog
• an inflected form, often ending in -e, like droë

But here droog is used predicatively, after is, so the plain form is used:

• Die ketting is droog.
• Hoe droog die fietsketting ook al is ...

If the adjective came before a noun, you would often get the inflected form:

• ’n droë ketting = a dry chain

So:

• is droog → predicative adjective
• droë ketting → attributive adjective

Not exactly. Even if the bicycle chain is dry suggests only one condition: that it is dry.

But Hoe droog die fietsketting ook al is means more like:

• however dry the bicycle chain is
• no matter how dry the bicycle chain is

So the sentence emphasizes the degree of dryness, not just the fact of being dry.

A closer English equivalent is:

• No matter how dry the bicycle chain is, we lubricate it.

Yes. The hoe ... ook al pattern is a normal and useful Afrikaans structure, especially in more careful or written language, but it is also fully natural in speech.

It is used when you want to say that the main action remains true regardless of degree.

Common examples:

• Hoe besig sy ook al is, sy help altyd.
  No matter how busy she is, she always helps.
• Hoe duur dit ook al is, hulle koop dit.
  No matter how expensive it is, they buy it.

So your sentence is a good example of standard Afrikaans grammar.

A very useful pattern is:

• Hoe + adjective/adverb + subject + ook al + verb, main clause

For example:

• Hoe moeilik dit ook al is, ons hou aan.
• Hoe lank die reis ook al duur, hulle kla nie.

And remember that if this clause comes first, the main clause usually shows inversion:

• ..., smeer ons dit
• not ..., ons smeer dit

So the two key lessons are:

1. hoe ... ook al = however / no matter how
2. After a fronted clause, the main clause often becomes verb + subject in Afrikaans