Místo aby dodavatel čekal na odečet, pošlu samoodečet dnes.

Místo aby is a fixed expression meaning instead of or rather than when followed by a clause.

So Místo aby dodavatel čekal na odečet... means Instead of the supplier waiting for the meter reading...

It sets up a contrast between one possible action and the action that actually happens in the main clause.

After aby, Czech very often uses the l-participle form, such as čekal, čekala, čekali. In this structure, it does not automatically mean past time.

So aby dodavatel čekal does not mean so that the supplier waited in a past-time sense. It is more like for the supplier to wait or that the supplier wait.

Here čekal matches dodavatel, which is grammatically masculine singular.

Yes. Both místo aby and místo toho, aby are possible.

• místo aby = shorter
• místo toho, aby = a bit fuller and often slightly more explicit

They are very close in meaning. In many contexts, either one sounds natural.

Pošlu comes from the perfective verb poslat and means I will send as one completed action.

That fits this sentence well, because sending a self-reading is a single completed act.

By contrast, posílám is imperfective and usually means:

• I am sending
• I send
• I send regularly

So pošlu samoodečet dnes is the natural choice if the meaning is I’ll send the self-reading today.

In Czech, perfective verbs usually use their present-tense forms to express the future.

So although pošlu looks like a present form, it means I will send, not I send right now.

This is a very common feature of Czech aspect:

• imperfective present = present / ongoing / habitual
• perfective present form = future

The verb čekat na takes the accusative.

So in čekal na odečet, odečet is in the accusative singular.

The reason it looks unchanged is that odečet is a masculine inanimate noun, and for many masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular is the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: odečet
• accusative: odečet

Odečet means a meter reading or the taking of a reading.

Samoodečet means a self-reading: the customer reads the meter themselves and sends the result in.

So the contrast in the sentence is:

• the supplier waits for a reading to be taken
• the speaker sends in their own self-reading

Because samoodečet is the direct object of pošlu, it is also in the accusative.

Like odečet, it is a masculine inanimate noun, so the accusative singular has the same form as the nominative singular.

That is why Czech says pošlu samoodečet, not a visibly different accusative form.

Yes, the word order can change. Czech word order is much more flexible than English word order.

Pošlu samoodečet dnes is natural, and putting dnes at the end can give it slight emphasis or make it sound like the timing is the final important piece of information.

Other possible word orders include:

• Dnes pošlu samoodečet.
• Pošlu dnes samoodečet.

The core meaning stays the same, but the focus shifts a little.

Because Místo aby dodavatel čekal na odečet is a subordinate clause, and Czech normally separates subordinate clauses from the main clause with a comma.

Here the subordinate clause comes first, and the main clause pošlu samoodečet dnes comes after it, so a comma is required between them.