Materiál je levný.

• Materiál = a noun: material
• je = the 3rd person singular of být: is
• levný = an adjective: cheap / inexpensive

So the structure is very similar to English: noun + is + adjective.

Czech has no articles, so it does not use words like a, an, or the.

That means Materiál je levný could mean:

• The material is cheap
• A material is cheap
• Material is cheap

The exact meaning depends on context.

Je is the he/she/it form of být (to be) in the present tense.

Here, materiál is a singular noun, so Czech uses je = is.

A few useful forms of být:

• jsem = I am
• jsi / jste = you are
• je = he/she/it is
• jsme = we are
• jsou = they are

So:

• Materiál je levný = The material is cheap

Czech adjectives must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

Materiál is:

• masculine inanimate
• singular
• here in the nominative

So the adjective also takes the matching form:

• levný for masculine inanimate singular nominative

Compare:

• ta látka je levná = the fabric is cheap
  (látka is feminine, so levná)
• to zboží je levné = the goods / merchandise is cheap
  (zboží is neuter, so levné)

In Czech, noun gender often has to be learned, but endings can give clues.

Materiál ends in a consonant, which often suggests masculine. In this case it is masculine inanimate.

That matters because adjectives and some other words change to match the noun:

• ten materiál
• levný materiál

If it were feminine or neuter, the adjective would look different.

Usually levný means cheap in the sense of inexpensive.

Depending on context, English cheap can sound either:

• neutral: not expensive
• negative: poor quality

Czech levný usually focuses on price, though context can sometimes suggest lower quality too.

If you want to make it clearly positive, you could sometimes use:

• cenově dostupný = affordable

But for everyday use, levný is the normal word.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation guide:

• Materiál ≈ mah-teh-ree-aal
• je ≈ yeh
• levný ≈ lev-nee

A few details:

• j in Czech is like English y in yes
• á is a long vowel
• ý is also a long vowel

The stress in Czech is usually on the first syllable of each word:

• MAteriál
• JE
• LEVný

They mean related things, but the grammar is different.

• levný materiál = cheap material
  Here the adjective directly describes the noun inside a noun phrase.
• Materiál je levný = The material is cheap
  Here the adjective comes after je and forms the predicate.

So:

• levný materiál = phrase
• Materiál je levný = full sentence

Yes, Czech word order is more flexible than English, though the neutral order here is:

• Materiál je levný.

You may also hear:

• Levný je materiál.
• Levný materiál to je.

These variants usually change the emphasis or sound more marked. For a beginner, the safest and most natural version is:

• Materiál je levný.

You negate je by changing it to není:

• Materiál není levný. = The material is not cheap.

This is the standard way to negate a sentence with to be.

Replace levný with drahý:

• Materiál je drahý. = The material is expensive.

Again, the adjective agrees with materiál, so it takes the masculine singular form drahý.

Not always. It often means material, but depending on context it can also mean:

• fabric
• stuff
• raw material
• materials in a broader sense

So Materiál je levný could refer to:

• building material
• cloth/fabric
• some substance or component

The exact translation depends on the situation.

It is in the nominative, because it is the subject of the sentence.

In Materiál je levný:

• materiál = subject, so nominative
• levný also appears in the nominative form because it agrees with the subject in this kind of sentence

This is a very common pattern in Czech:

• Dům je velký. = The house is big.
• Čaj je horký. = The tea is hot.

Yes, it is a good habit, because vowel length matters in Czech.

Here:

• á in materiál is long
• ý in levný is long

Even if people understand you, using correct vowel length makes your Czech sound much more natural and can sometimes affect meaning in other words.