Ek vee my hande af met 'n handdoek.

Because afvee is a separable verb in Afrikaans.

• The full verb is afvee = to wipe off / wipe dry

• In a main clause, the finite verb goes to the second position, and the separable part moves to the end:

• Ek vee my hande af. = I wipe my hands off / dry my hands.

But in forms like the infinitive, the parts stay together:

• om my hande af te vee = to wipe my hands
• Ek wil my hande afvee. = I want to wipe my hands.

This is very similar to separable verbs in Dutch and a bit like English phrasal verbs such as wipe off.

By itself, vee usually means sweep or wipe.

Examples:

• Ek vee die vloer. = I sweep the floor.
• Ek vee die tafel. = I wipe the table.

With af, it becomes more specific:

• vee af / afvee = wipe off, wipe away, or in this context wipe dry

So in this sentence, vee ... af means something like:

• wipe my hands with a towel
• dry my hands by wiping them

Afrikaans possessive adjectives are very simple. My stays my no matter what noun follows.

So:

• my hand = my hand
• my hande = my hands
• my boek = my book
• my boeke = my books

Afrikaans does not change my for number or gender.

Also, the plural of hand is hande, not handes. Afrikaans plurals are not formed with English-style -s in every case.

Because hand takes the plural ending -e in Afrikaans:

• hand → hande

Many Afrikaans nouns form their plural with -e, while others take -s. You often just have to learn which pattern a noun uses.

Some examples:

• kat → katte
• boek → boeke
• hand → hande
• tafel → tafels

So hande is simply the correct plural form.

'n is the Afrikaans indefinite article, equivalent to English a / an.

So:

• 'n handdoek = a towel

A few important points:

• It is written with an apostrophe: 'n
• It is usually not stressed
• It is pronounced like a very weak uh sound, similar to the a in about

Also, in normal spelling it stays lowercase even if the sentence begins with it:

• 'n Handdoek lê op die tafel.

If you write the sentence in all caps, then it becomes:

• 'N HANDDOEK

Met means with, and here it introduces the instrument used to do the action.

So:

• met 'n handdoek = with a towel

This tells you what you are using to wipe or dry your hands.

Compare:

• Ek sny die brood met 'n mes. = I cut the bread with a knife.
• Ek skryf met 'n pen. = I write with a pen.
• Ek vee my hande af met 'n handdoek. = I wipe/dry my hands with a towel.

Afrikaans main clauses normally follow a verb-second pattern:

1. Ek = subject
2. vee = finite verb
3. my hande = object
4. af = separable verb particle
5. met 'n handdoek = prepositional phrase

So the structure is very natural for Afrikaans.

A useful thing to remember is:

• the main verb comes early
• the separable part often comes later, near the end

That is why you get:

• Ek vee my hande af not
• Ek afvee my hande

You will usually want af here.

• Ek vee my hande af met 'n handdoek sounds natural for I wipe/dry my hands with a towel.

Without af, the sentence may sound less complete or slightly different in meaning. Vee alone can just mean wipe or sweep, but afvee clearly gives the idea of wiping off or drying by wiping.

So for this exact meaning, af is important.

Yes, absolutely. That is also a very natural sentence.

• Ek droog my hande af met 'n handdoek. = I dry my hands with a towel.

The difference is mainly one of verb choice:

• afvee emphasizes the wiping action
• afdroog / droog ... af emphasizes the drying result

In everyday speech, both can work depending on what nuance you want.

Yes. Handdoek is a single compound noun:

• hand = hand
• doek = cloth

Together:

• handdoek = towel

Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, very often writes compound nouns as one word.

Examples:

• toebroodjie = sandwich
• badkamer = bathroom
• skoendoos = shoebox
• handdoek = towel

So do not split it into two words.

Because it is a separable verb, the form changes depending on the structure.

Infinitive

• om my hande af te vee = to wipe my hands

With another verb

• Ek wil my hande afvee. = I want to wipe my hands.

Perfect / past meaning Afrikaans often uses het + ge-:

• Ek het my hande afgev ee met 'n handdoek.

More standard spelling:

• Ek het my hande afgevee met 'n handdoek. = I wiped my hands with a towel.

Notice that in the participle the parts come back together:

• afgevee

That is a very common pattern with separable verbs in Afrikaans.