Je steak syrový? Stačí, když ho ještě opečete.

The word je is exactly the verb is.

• Statement: Steak je syrový. = The steak is raw.
• Question: Je steak syrový? = Is the steak raw?

In Czech, yes/no questions are often formed just by:

• putting the verb first, or
• using question intonation

So there is no extra helper word like English do.

Czech has no articles, so it does not have direct equivalents of a/an/the.

So steak can mean:

• a steak
• the steak

Context tells you which one is meant. In this sentence, the context clearly makes it the steak.

Because syrový is an adjective, and Czech adjectives must agree with the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here steak is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

So the adjective must also be masculine singular nominative: syrový.

Compare:

• syrový steak = raw steak
• syrová ryba = raw fish
• syrové maso = raw meat

Yes, and English speakers often mix them up.

• syrový is the usual word for raw in the food sense: raw meat, raw vegetables, etc.
• surový usually means harsh, rough, crude, brutal, or sometimes raw/unprocessed in a different sense.

So for a steak, syrový is the correct word.

Steak is normally treated as masculine inanimate.

That is why you get:

• syrový steak
• later the pronoun ho referring back to it

It is a loanword, but it behaves like an ordinary masculine noun in Czech.

Stačí is the 3rd person singular form of stačit, which means to be enough / to suffice.

In this sentence, Stačí is used impersonally:

• Stačí, když... = It’s enough if... / You just need to...

So it does not mean that some person is doing the action. It means that will be sufficient.

It often does mean when, but in the pattern Stačí, když..., it is best understood as:

• it’s enough if...
• you just need to...
• all you have to do is...

So in this structure, když can feel closer to English if than to when.

Ho is the short unstressed accusative form of the pronoun meaning him/it.

Here it means it, referring back to steak.

So:

• ho = it (the steak)

Czech pronouns follow grammatical gender, so even an object like a steak can be referred to with ho.

A fuller, more formal variant is jej, but ho is very common in everyday language.

Because ho is a short unstressed pronoun, and Czech short pronouns usually go near the beginning of their clause.

So:

• když ho ještě opečete is natural
• když ještě opečete ho sounds unnatural

This is part of normal Czech word-order behavior for short pronouns, often called clitic placement.

Here ještě means something like:

• a bit more
• some more
• further

So ještě opečete means cook/sear it a little more.

It is not really still in this sentence.

Because this sentence is not using the imperative.

• opečte = cook/sear it! (direct command)
• opečete = you cook / you will cook (normal verb form)

After Stačí, když..., Czech uses a regular finite verb, not an imperative:

• Stačí, když ho ještě opečete.

So the structure is more like:

• It’s enough if you cook it a bit more than
• Cook it a bit more!

In Czech, the 2nd person plural is also used for polite/formal singular address.

So opečete can mean:

• you (plural) cook or
• you (formal singular) cook

In a situation like speaking to restaurant staff, this formal use is very natural.

Formally, it is a present-tense form, but the verb opéct is perfective.

With perfective verbs, present forms usually refer to a future completed action.

So opečete here is understood as:

• you will sear/cook it
• once you cook it a bit more

This is very normal in Czech:

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

Opéct usually means something like:

• to sear
• to roast a bit
• to cook on the surface
• sometimes to grill/fry briefly, depending on context

With a steak, it suggests cooking it a bit more so it is no longer so raw.

It is not necessarily the same as fully baking something in an oven.

Because když ho ještě opečete is a subordinate clause, and Czech normally separates subordinate clauses with a comma.

So:

• Stačí, když ho ještě opečete.

That comma is standard Czech punctuation.