Dit voel asof die materiaal swaar is.

Here Dit is a dummy subject, like English it in It feels...

It does not necessarily refer to a specific thing. The sentence is built around the idea It feels as if..., so Dit is just the normal grammatical subject.

You will often see this in Afrikaans:

• Dit lyk of... = It looks as if...
• Dit klink asof... = It sounds as if...
• Dit voel asof... = It feels as if...

Voel can mean both:

• to feel physically / touch
• to feel / seem / give the impression

In this sentence, it means to feel / seem, not literally touching in a narrow sense.

So Dit voel asof die materiaal swaar is means something like:

• It feels as if the material is heavy
• The material seems heavy

Asof means as if.

It introduces a clause that describes an impression, appearance, or feeling:

• Dit lyk asof dit gaan reën. = It looks as if it’s going to rain.
• Dit klink asof hy moeg is. = It sounds as if he is tired.
• Dit voel asof die materiaal swaar is. = It feels as if the material is heavy.

You may also see of in similar expressions, especially after verbs like lyk in everyday speech, but asof is a very clear match for English as if.

Because asof introduces a subordinate clause, and in Afrikaans the finite verb usually goes to the end of a subordinate clause.

So:

• Main clause: Dit voel
• Subordinate clause: asof die materiaal swaar is

Compare:

• Main clause: Die materiaal is swaar.
• After asof: ... asof die materiaal swaar is.

This is one of the most important word-order patterns in Afrikaans.

There are actually two clauses, so there are two verbs:

1. Dit voel = the main clause
2. die materiaal swaar is = the clause after asof

The second clause needs its own verb, because it is a full statement: the material is heavy.

So:

• voel = feels
• is = is

Die is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• materiaal = material
• die materiaal = the material

Afrikaans uses die for the with both singular and plural nouns:

• die boek = the book
• die boeke = the books

Materiaal can mean material in a broad sense. Depending on context, it can refer to:

• fabric / cloth
• a substance or material
• sometimes even material in a more abstract sense

In this sentence, many learners will naturally understand it as fabric or cloth, but the word itself is not limited to that.

Swaar is an adjective, meaning heavy.

Here it comes after the noun because it is used predicatively:

• Die materiaal is swaar. = The material is heavy.

Compare that with the attributive position:

• die swaar materiaal = the heavy material

Afrikaans adjectives often behave differently depending on position, but swaar stays the same here.

Yes. Die materiaal voel swaar is a very natural sentence and means:

• The material feels heavy

The difference is mainly in structure:

• Dit voel asof die materiaal swaar is = It feels as if the material is heavy
  
  • slightly more indirect or impression-based
• Die materiaal voel swaar = The material feels heavy
  
  • more direct

Both are correct.

A rough guide for English speakers:

• asof ≈ uh-SOFF
  
  • stress usually falls on the second part
• swaar has a sound somewhat like svahr or svaahr
  
  • the sw is pronounced more cleanly than in English
  • the vowel is broader than English war

And the whole sentence roughly sounds like:

Dit voel asof die materiaal swaar is
≈ dit fool uh-SOFF dee mah-tuh-ree-AHL svahr is

This is only an approximation, but it can help at first.

Partly, but not completely.

The beginning is similar:

• Dit voel = It feels

But after asof, Afrikaans changes the word order:

• English: as if the material is heavy
• Afrikaans: asof die materiaal swaar is

So English keeps is before heavy, while Afrikaans sends is to the end of that clause.

That verb-final pattern is something English speakers especially need to get used to.

Yes, very often. It is a useful pattern for describing impressions.

Examples:

• Dit voel asof ek siek word. = It feels as if I’m getting sick.
• Dit voel asof die kamer kleiner is. = It feels as if the room is smaller.
• Dit voel asof niemand luister nie. = It feels as if nobody is listening.

So once you know the pattern Dit voel asof + clause, you can use it in many situations.