In teenstelling met die handvormtegniek gebruik ons die keramiekwiel.

Yes. In teenstelling met is a common fixed expression meaning in contrast to, as opposed to, or unlike.

You can think of it as introducing a contrast between two things:

• die handvormtegniek = the hand-forming / hand-building technique
• die keramiekwiel = the pottery wheel

So the sentence is setting up a contrast before giving the main action.

This is one of the most important grammar points in the sentence.

Afrikaans usually follows a verb-second pattern in main clauses. That means the finite verb normally comes in the second position.

If the sentence begins with the subject, you get:

• Ons gebruik die keramiekwiel.
  = We use the pottery wheel.

But here the sentence begins with a prepositional phrase:

• In teenstelling met die handvormtegniek ...

Because that phrase takes the first position, the verb must come next:

• In teenstelling met die handvormtegniek gebruik ons die keramiekwiel.

So gebruik ons is not unusual word order in Afrikaans; it is the normal result of putting the contrast phrase first.

Here it means we.

Afrikaans uses ons for both:

• we
• us

So you have to tell from the sentence structure which one it is.

In this sentence, ons is the subject of gebruik, even though it comes after the verb because of the verb-second rule.

Because both nouns are definite:

• die handvormtegniek
• die keramiekwiel

Afrikaans uses die as the definite article for:

• singular nouns
• plural nouns
• all genders

So unlike languages that have different words for masculine, feminine, or plural the, Afrikaans just uses die.

Each noun phrase needs its own article, so you cannot use one die for both.

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

So:

• handvormtegniek = handvorm
  • tegniek
• keramiekwiel = keramiek
  • wiel

The last part is usually the main noun:

• a handvormtegniek is a kind of tegniek
• a keramiekwiel is a kind of wiel

English often writes similar ideas as separate words, but Afrikaans usually joins them.

It is a compound noun referring to a hand-forming or hand-building technique, especially in ceramics.

You can break it down like this:

• hand = hand
• vorm = form / shape
• tegniek = technique

In context, it refers to shaping clay by hand rather than using a wheel.

So even if the exact English translation shown to the learner is something like hand-building technique, the Afrikaans word is built from the idea of hand-forming.

It is understandable and correct in context: literally ceramics wheel.

Depending on context, Afrikaans speakers may also use other expressions, such as terms closer to potter’s wheel, but keramiekwiel clearly communicates the idea of a wheel used in ceramics.

For a learner, the main thing to notice is how Afrikaans builds the noun:

• keramiek describes the type
• wiel is the main thing

Yes, if you change the sentence structure.

For example:

• Ons gebruik die keramiekwiel in teenstelling met die handvormtegniek.

That is grammatically possible, but it sounds a bit different in emphasis. The original sentence puts the contrast first, which makes the contrast more prominent.

So:

• In teenstelling met ... gebruik ons ... = emphasizes the contrast first
• Ons gebruik ... = starts more neutrally with the subject

Here met is part of the fixed expression in teenstelling met.

It works like with in form, but you should learn the whole phrase together rather than translating each word separately every time.

So it is best understood as one unit:

• in teenstelling met = in contrast to

That is why you should not try to build it word-for-word in the same way as English.

The structure is:

• In teenstelling met die handvormtegniek = fronted contrast phrase
• gebruik = finite verb
• ons = subject
• die keramiekwiel = direct object

So the overall pattern is:

fronted phrase + verb + subject + object

That is a very common Afrikaans pattern when something other than the subject comes first.