Ředitel čeká teprve hodinu.

Ředitel is a masculine noun meaning director, manager, principal, or headmaster, depending on context.

So the exact English word depends on who this person is:

• in a school: principal/headmaster
• in a company: director/manager
• in an institution: director

It is in the nominative singular here because it is the subject of the sentence.

Czech often uses the present tense for an action that:

• started in the past
• is still continuing now

So Ředitel čeká teprve hodinu literally looks like The director waits only an hour, but natural English is:

• The director has only been waiting for an hour.
• The director has been waiting for just an hour so far.

This is a very common difference between Czech and English. English often uses the present perfect continuous, while Czech simply uses the present tense.

Here teprve means only, just, or so far only.

It adds the idea that the amount of time is not very long yet. So:

• čeká hodinu = he has been waiting for an hour
• čeká teprve hodinu = he has only been waiting for an hour

So teprve often expresses “only up to now” or “as little as this so far.”

Because Czech uses the accusative to express duration of time.

So:

• hodina = nominative, the basic dictionary form
• hodinu = accusative singular

In this sentence, hodinu means for an hour.

This is very common in Czech:

• Čekám minutu. = I’m waiting for a minute.
• Spal celou noc. = He slept all night.
• Studovala tři roky. = She studied for three years.

English often uses for, but Czech usually does not need a preposition here.

Because Czech normally expresses duration without a preposition.

English:

• for an hour

Czech:

• hodinu

That accusative form already tells you it is a time span or duration.

So čeká hodinu naturally means has been waiting for an hour, not just waits an hour in some abstract sense.

Čekat is imperfective.

That matters because the sentence describes an ongoing action:

• the waiting started earlier
• it is still happening now

Imperfective verbs are used for:

• ongoing actions
• repeated actions
• general processes

A perfective verb would not fit as naturally here, because perfective verbs usually focus on a completed event, and this waiting is not complete yet.

Yes, but the meaning is a little different.

• Ředitel čeká teprve hodinu. = The director has only been waiting for an hour.
• Ředitel už čeká hodinu. = The director has already been waiting for an hour.

So:

• teprve emphasizes that it is only an hour so far
• už emphasizes that it is already an hour

Sometimes Czech even uses both in longer contexts for contrast:

• Už čeká hodinu, ale to je teprve začátek. = He’s already been waiting an hour, but that’s only the beginning.

Sometimes, but teprve is the most natural choice here.

Compare:

• jen hodinu = only an hour
• teprve hodinu = only for an hour so far / just an hour so far

Jen/Jenom simply means only. Teprve adds the idea of “so far, no more than this yet.”

So in a sentence about elapsed time, teprve is usually better.

The basic sentence is:

• Ředitel čeká teprve hodinu.

But Czech word order is relatively flexible, and changing it changes the emphasis.

For example:

• Teprve hodinu čeká ředitel.
  This sounds more marked and emphasizes teprve hodinu.
• Ředitel teprve čeká hodinu.
  This is less natural for this meaning.

The most neutral version is the original:

• Ředitel čeká teprve hodinu.

In Czech, word order often reflects information structure and emphasis, not just grammar.

Approximate pronunciation: rzheditel.

The difficult sound is ř, which is a special Czech sound. It is somewhat like a mix of:

• an r
• and the zh sound in measure

For learners, a rough approximation is better than nothing:

• ř ≈ rzh

So ředitel is roughly:

• RZHE-di-tel

The stress in Czech is almost always on the first syllable:

• ŘEditel

Yes. Czech often omits subjects when they are clear from context.

So you could say:

• Čeká teprve hodinu.

That means:

• He/She has only been waiting for an hour.

But in your sentence, ředitel is included because the speaker wants to say explicitly who is waiting.

Yes, it is a completely normal and complete sentence.

It gives:

• the subject: Ředitel
• the verb: čeká
• the duration: teprve hodinu

Depending on context, it may imply something like:

• So don’t worry yet.
• He hasn’t been waiting that long.
• It’s only been an hour so far.

So even though it is short, it is perfectly natural and complete in Czech.