Odstřeďování trvá deset minut.

It is a verbal noun: a noun made from a verb that names an activity or process.

Here, odstřeďování means the process of spinning / centrifuging. In the sentence, it is the subject, so the sentence is literally structured as:

Spinning lasts ten minutes.

It is also neuter singular.

It is formed from the verb odstřeďovat, meaning to spin / to centrifuge.

A very common Czech pattern is:

• verb stem + -ání / -ení / -tí → a noun naming the action or process

So:

• odstřeďovat → odstřeďování

This often corresponds to English forms like spinning, washing, drying, or sometimes a more noun-like expression such as the spin cycle.

Because the basic verb is trvat, meaning to last.

Here it is in the 3rd person singular present tense:

• trvám = I last
• trváš = you last
• trvá = it/he/she lasts

The subject odstřeďování is singular, so the verb must also be singular:

• Odstřeďování trvá...

English often uses a dummy subject:

• It takes ten minutes.
• It lasts ten minutes.

Czech usually does not need that kind of filler subject. It simply uses the real subject directly:

• Odstřeďování trvá deset minut.

So Czech says, more literally:

• Spinning lasts ten minutes.

Because after numerals 5 and higher, Czech normally uses the noun in the genitive plural.

So you get:

• jedna minuta = one minute
• dvě / tři / čtyři minuty = two / three / four minutes
• pět minut = five minutes
• deset minut = ten minutes

That is why deset minut is correct.

Minut is genitive plural.

That happens because of the numeral deset. After deset, the counted noun appears in genitive plural:

• deset minut
• dvacet korun
• pět hodin

So even though the whole phrase means ten minutes, the noun itself is in the genitive plural form.

Because Czech often expresses duration without a preposition.

With trvat, you simply say how long something lasts:

• trvá deset minut = lasts ten minutes

Not:

• trvá pro deset minut ✘

So this is a normal Czech way to express duration directly.

Yes. Czech word order is more flexible than English word order.

The most neutral version here is:

• Odstřeďování trvá deset minut.

You can also move parts around for emphasis or style, for example:

• Deset minut trvá odstřeďování.

That is possible, but it sounds more marked. For a basic, neutral statement, the original sentence is the best choice.

Because Czech has no articles like English a / an / the.

So depending on context, odstřeďování can mean:

• spinning
• the spinning
• the spin cycle

Czech leaves that kind of definiteness to context.

A helpful breakdown is:

• od-stře-ďo-vá-ní

A few important points:

• Czech stress is usually on the first syllable, so stress OD-
• ď is a soft d, roughly like dy
• ř is a famous Czech sound with no exact English equivalent
• á and í are long vowels

A rough learner-friendly approximation might be:

• OD-stzheh-dyo-vaa-nee

That is only approximate, especially for ř, but it is a useful starting point.

It can be either, depending on context.

As a pure grammar point, odstřeďování literally names the process of spinning / centrifuging.

But in everyday appliance-related context, especially with washing machines, it often naturally corresponds to:

• the spin cycle

So this sentence may be understood as either:

• Spinning lasts ten minutes.
• The spin cycle lasts ten minutes.

Both are reasonable, depending on the situation.

Not always.

In this sentence, trvat means to last:

• Odstřeďování trvá deset minut.

But Czech learners also often see another use:

• trvat na + locative = to insist on

For example:

• Trvám na odpovědi. = I insist on an answer.

So the meaning depends on the construction. Here, with a duration expression, it clearly means to last.