Veřejný úřad je jeden metr od finančního úřadu.

Because the two noun phrases are in different grammatical cases.

• veřejný úřad is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative case.
• finančního úřadu comes after od (from / away from), and od requires the genitive case.

So:

• veřejný úřad = nominative singular
• od finančního úřadu = genitive singular after od

Both the adjective and the noun change to match the case:

• veřejný úřad
• finanční úřad → finančního úřadu

In Czech, od is commonly used to express distance from a point or place.

So:

• jeden metr od finančního úřadu = one meter from the financial office
• more naturally in English: one meter away from the financial office

This is a normal Czech structure for location and distance.

Other examples:

• Dům je daleko od školy. = The house is far from the school.
• Stojí kousek od stanice. = It stands a short distance from the station.

Because after jeden (one), the noun usually stays in the singular nominative/accusative form.

So:

• jeden metr = one meter
• dva metry = two meters
• pět metrů = five meters

Czech number patterns change depending on the number:

• 1 → singular: jeden metr
• 2, 3, 4 → a different plural form: dva/tři/čtyři metry
• 5 and above → genitive plural: pět metrů

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

So veřejný úřad can mean:

• a public office
• the public office

and finanční úřad can mean:

• a financial office
• the financial office

The exact meaning depends on context.

In this sentence, English usually uses the because the places are understood as specific:

• The public office is one meter from the financial office.

Yes, it is grammatically normal.

• úřad = office, bureau, authority, administrative office
• veřejný = public
• finanční = financial

So:

• veřejný úřad = public office / public authority
• finanční úřad = tax office / financial office

In real-life Czech, finanční úřad is a very common set phrase for the tax authority or tax office.
Veřejný úřad is understandable, but depending on context, a Czech speaker might more often say something more specific, such as a named office or authority.

Je is the 3rd person singular form of být (to be).

So:

• úřad je... = the office is...

The subject veřejný úřad is singular, so je is the correct form.

A few forms of být in the present tense:

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

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

The neutral order here is:

• Veřejný úřad je jeden metr od finančního úřadu.

But other orders are possible, depending on emphasis. For example:

• Jeden metr od finančního úřadu je veřejný úřad.

This might sound more like: One meter from the financial office there is a public office or give special focus to the location.

Even though Czech allows flexibility, not every order sounds equally natural in every context. The original sentence is a straightforward, neutral version.

In this sentence, it is singular because the phrase means from the financial office, referring to one office.

The forms help show that:

• finančního = genitive singular masculine adjective
• úřadu = genitive singular of úřad

A plural phrase would look different, for example:

• od finančních úřadů = from financial offices

So the endings -ho and -u here point to singular genitive.

Úřad is a masculine inanimate noun.

That matters because adjectives and some numeral patterns must agree with the noun’s gender, number, and case.

So in nominative singular:

• veřejný úřad

The adjective veřejný has the masculine inanimate nominative singular ending -ý to match úřad.

In genitive singular:

• finančního úřadu

The adjective changes to finančního and the noun changes to úřadu because of case.

Because adjective endings depend on case.

In the nominative singular masculine inanimate, the adjective is:

• veřejný

In the genitive singular masculine, the adjective becomes:

• veřejného or finančního

Here you see two different adjective types:

• veřejný is a hard adjective
• finanční is a soft adjective

Their nominative forms look different, but in the genitive singular masculine they both end in -ho:

• veřejného úřadu
• finančního úřadu

In your sentence, veřejný stays nominative because it describes the subject, while finančního is genitive because it follows od.

Úřad is pronounced approximately like OO-rzhut or OO-rzhad, though no English spelling matches it perfectly.

The difficult sound is ř, which is a special Czech sound. It is somewhat like a rolled or fricative r mixed with a zh sound.

A rough breakdown:

• ú = long oo
• ř = the special Czech ř
• a = short a
• d = d

Also remember that Czech stress is usually on the first syllable:

• Ú-řad
• VE-řej-ný
• FI-nanč-ní

In writing, yes, especially in practical contexts such as signs, maps, measurements, or technical writing:

• 1 metr od finančního úřadu

In full prose or when speaking, jeden metr is completely normal and often preferable for learners.

Both mean the same thing.

Yes. Czech often uses a distance expression plus od to show where something is in relation to something else.

Examples:

• Dům je sto metrů od řeky. = The house is one hundred meters from the river.
• Škola je dva kilometry od centra. = The school is two kilometers from the center.

So je jeden metr od... is perfectly normal grammatically, even if the specific distance sounds unusually precise in everyday conversation.