Instruktor ukazuje krok a partner ho následuje a učí se sestavu.

Czech normally does not use articles. A noun like instruktor, partner, krok, or sestava can mean the instructor / a instructor, the step / a step, and so on, depending on context.

So Instruktor ukazuje krok can be understood as The instructor shows a step or An instructor shows the step, depending on the situation.

Krok is the direct object of ukazuje, so it is in the accusative singular.

The reason it still looks like krok is that it is a masculine inanimate noun. For many masculine inanimate nouns in Czech, the nominative singular and accusative singular are identical.

So:

• nominative: krok
• accusative: krok

Ho is a short unstressed form of the 3rd-person pronoun in the accusative. It can mean him or it, depending on what noun it refers to.

Here it refers to krok, which is grammatically masculine, so Czech uses ho. In English, though, krok is step, so we translate it as it.

This is a good example of Czech following grammatical gender, not natural gender.

In context, it refers to krok.

Purely grammatically, both instruktor and krok are masculine singular nouns, so the form ho by itself does not completely remove ambiguity. Czech often relies on context and meaning. In a dance or training context, it makes sense that the partner follows the step, not the instructor.

Because ho is a clitic: a short, unstressed word that usually goes near the beginning of the clause, often in second position.

So the neutral order is:

partner ho následuje

That is more natural than:

partner následuje ho

The second version is possible only in marked or emphatic contexts, but it is not the normal neutral wording.

Následuje is from následovat, meaning to follow.

In this sentence it takes a direct object in the accusative, which is represented by ho.

So:

• následovat něco / někoho = to follow something / someone

Here the partner follows the step.

Because učit and učit se are different in meaning:

• učit = to teach
• učit se = to learn, to study

So:

• Instruktor učí partnera = The instructor teaches the partner
• Partner se učí sestavu = The partner learns the routine

The se is not optional here; it is part of the verb’s meaning.

Because sestava is the object of učí se, so it must be in the accusative singular.

Sestava is a feminine noun, and its accusative singular form is sestavu.

So:

• nominative: sestava
• accusative: sestavu

This is similar to other feminine nouns ending in -a:

• žena → ženu
• kniha → knihu

Because Czech uses a to join coordinated actions, just like English uses and.

This sentence contains three linked actions:

• the instructor shows a step
• the partner follows it
• the partner learns the routine

So repeating a is completely normal: Instruktor ukazuje krok a partner ho následuje a učí se sestavu.

The verbs ukazuje, následuje, and učí se are present tense, and they are imperfective.

That makes sense here because the sentence describes an ongoing process or a typical sequence of actions, not a single completed event.

So the sentence sounds like a general description of what happens in a lesson or exercise.

Czech often omits subject pronouns, but here the subject changes.

First clause:

• Instruktor ukazuje krok

Second and third clauses:

• partner ho následuje
• a učí se sestavu

If partner were omitted, it could sound as if the instructor were still the subject. So repeating the noun makes the shift in subject clear.

Yes. Ho and jej can both be accusative forms of the same pronoun.

But in everyday neutral Czech, ho is much more common in a sentence like this, especially because it is short and unstressed.

So:

• partner ho následuje = normal, natural
• partner jej následuje = possible, but more formal or stylistically marked