Hodinová sazba zůstala nízká.

Because hodinový / hodinová / hodinové is an adjective built from hodina (hour).

• hodina = hour
• hodinový = hourly, per hour

In this sentence, hodinová matches the noun sazba, which is feminine singular, so the adjective takes the feminine form:

• hodinový rate — masculine
• hodinová sazba — feminine

So hodinová sazba means hourly rate.

Here, sazba means rate.

It is a feminine noun. In different contexts, sazba can mean things like:

• a rate or fee
• an interest rate
• a tariff
• even typesetting in some specialized contexts

But in hodinová sazba, it specifically means hourly rate.

Because the verb is in the past tense, and in Czech past tense forms often agree with the gender of the subject in the singular.

The subject here is hodinová sazba, which is feminine singular, so the verb is:

• zůstal — masculine singular
• zůstala — feminine singular
• zůstalo — neuter singular
• zůstaly — plural (non-masculine animate)
• zůstali — plural (masculine animate)

So zůstala is used because sazba is feminine.

Because adjectives must agree with the noun they describe.

Here, nízká describes hodinová sazba, and sazba is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative

So the adjective also becomes feminine singular nominative:

• nízký — masculine
• nízká — feminine
• nízké — neuter

That is why you get nízká rather than nízký or nízké.

Yes. Hodinová sazba is the subject.

You can tell because:

1. it is in the nominative case
2. the verb agrees with it in gender and number
3. it is the thing that remained low

So the sentence structure is basically:

• Hodinová sazba = subject
• zůstala = verb
• nízká = subject complement / predicate adjective

Because Czech does not have articles like English a/an/the.

So:

• hodinová sazba can mean an hourly rate, the hourly rate, or just hourly rate
• the exact meaning depends on context

This is very normal in Czech. Learners often want to add an article mentally, but Czech simply does not use them.

Zůstat means to remain, to stay, or to end up staying in a certain state.

So:

• sazba byla nízká = the rate was low
• sazba zůstala nízká = the rate remained low

The second one implies some continuity or lack of change. It suggests the rate was low before and continued to be low.

Yes, nízký / nízká / nízké literally means low, and Czech uses it in many similar ways to English.

For example:

• nízká cena = low price
• nízký plat = low salary
• nízká sazba = low rate
• nízká úroveň = low level

So in this sentence, nízká is a very natural choice.

Yes. Czech word order is more flexible than English because the endings show grammatical relationships.

The neutral word order here is:

• Hodinová sazba zůstala nízká.

But other orders are possible for emphasis, such as:

• Nízká zůstala hodinová sazba.
• Zůstala hodinová sazba nízká. — less neutral, more context-driven

Even though several word orders are grammatically possible, the original sentence sounds the most straightforward and neutral.

It is in the past tense.

The clue is zůstala, which is the past form of zůstat.

Compare:

• Hodinová sazba zůstává nízká. = The hourly rate remains/is remaining low.
• Hodinová sazba zůstala nízká. = The hourly rate remained low.

So the sentence describes something that happened in the past.

The dictionary forms are:

• hodinová → hodinový
• sazba → sazba
• zůstala → zůstat
• nízká → nízký

This is useful because Czech words often appear in changed forms depending on gender, case, number, and tense.

Because it agrees with the noun sazba in gender and number, which means it is an adjective, not an adverb.

Compare:

• nízká sazba = a low rate → adjective
• mluví nízko = he/she speaks low/quietly → adverb-like use

In Hodinová sazba zůstala nízká, nízká describes the subject, so it is a predicate adjective.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

HO-dee-noh-vah SAZ-bah ZOOS-tah-lah NEE-skah

A few notes:

• h in Czech is pronounced, unlike in some English dialects
• zů sounds roughly like zoo
• sazba has a voiced zb cluster
• stress in Czech is usually on the first syllable of each word:
  • HOdinová
  • SAZba
  • ZŮStala
  • NÍZká

Yes, and it is grammatical, but the meaning is slightly different.

• byla nízká = was low
• zůstala nízká = remained low

zůstala emphasizes that the rate stayed low instead of changing. So if the idea is it continued to be low, zůstala is the better choice.

Because both are describing or agreeing with sazba, which is a feminine noun.

In Czech, adjectives must match the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

So:

• hodinová sazba = hourly rate
• nízká sazba = low rate

And in the full sentence, both adjectives stay in forms that fit sazba.