Druhý tým odpověděl podobně.

Because tým is a masculine inanimate noun in Czech, and the adjective/ordinal has to agree with it in gender, number, and case.

So in the nominative singular:

• masculine inanimate: druhý
• feminine: druhá
• neuter: druhé

Since tým is masculine singular, druhý tým is the correct form.

In this sentence, druhý most naturally means second.

So druhý tým = the second team.

However, in some contexts, Czech druhý can feel closer to the other or another one of two, depending on the situation. But if you are just reading this sentence by itself, the second team is the safest interpretation.

Odpověděl is the past tense, masculine singular form of the verb odpovědět.

Czech past tense agrees with the subject in gender and number:

• odpověděl = masculine singular
• odpověděla = feminine singular
• odpovědělo = neuter singular
• odpověděli / odpověděly = plural

Because the subject is tým, which is a singular masculine noun, the verb is odpověděl.

The verb in the sentence is from odpovědět, which is the perfective verb.

A useful pair is:

• odpovídat = imperfective, focusing on process/repetition/habit
• odpovědět = perfective, focusing on a completed answer

So:

• odpovídal podobně = was answering / used to answer similarly
• odpověděl podobně = answered similarly as a completed action

In this sentence, the completed action is what matters, so odpověděl is used.

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

So druhý tým can mean:

• the second team
• sometimes just second team, depending on context

English needs an article, but Czech usually does not.

Podobně is an adverb.

It describes how the team answered:

• odpověděl podobně = answered similarly

It comes from the adjective podobný = similar.

Compare:

• podobný = similar
• podobně = similarly

So the adjective describes a noun, while the adverb describes a verb or action.

Because the word is modifying the verb odpověděl, not a noun.

If you want to describe a noun, you use the adjective:

• podobný tým = a similar team

If you want to describe the way an action happens, you use the adverb:

• odpověděl podobně = he/it answered similarly

English also often works this way:

• similar = adjective
• similarly = adverb

Yes, that is grammatically possible.

Czech word order is more flexible than English because case endings and verb forms carry a lot of grammatical information. So these are both possible:

• Druhý tým odpověděl podobně.
• Druhý tým podobně odpověděl.

The first version is probably the most neutral and natural here.

Changing word order can slightly change emphasis:

• odpověděl podobně puts the adverb after the verb in a neutral way
• podobně odpověděl can give a little more emphasis to similarly

Grammatically, tým is treated as masculine inanimate.

In Czech, grammatical animacy does not always match real-life meaning. Even though a team consists of people, the noun tým itself behaves as an inanimate noun in grammar.

That affects adjective and case endings.

A learner-friendly approximation is:

ot-po-vye-dyel

A few helpful points:

• od- often sounds closer to ot- in normal pronunciation because of consonant assimilation
• ě often makes the preceding consonant softer and is roughly like ye here
• the stress in Czech is almost always on the first syllable, so: OD-pověděl

You do not need to pronounce it exactly like English sounds, but it helps to hear:

• odpověděl ≈ OD-po-vye-dyel

Czech often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb form already gives a lot of information.

In this sentence, the explicit subject is already present:

• Druhý tým

So there is no need for any extra pronoun like it or he.

Also, Czech generally does not need a dummy subject like English sometimes does.

Yes. By itself, odpověděl is simply the masculine singular past form, so it could mean:

• he answered
• it answered for a masculine noun
• the team answered, since tým is masculine singular

The exact meaning depends on the subject in the sentence or the wider context.

The verb and adjective would change to agree with the feminine noun.

For example, with skupina (group, feminine):

• Druhá skupina odpověděla podobně.

Changes:

• druhý → druhá
• odpověděl → odpověděla

The adverb podobně stays the same, because adverbs do not agree with nouns.

Very often, odpovědět takes na + accusative when you say what someone answered to:

• odpovědět na otázku = to answer a question
• odpověděl na dopis = he answered the letter

But in your sentence, no object is stated. The sentence only says how the team answered:

• odpověděl podobně = answered similarly

So the sentence is complete without adding what they answered to.

It works in both written and spoken Czech and sounds quite neutral.

Nothing in Druhý tým odpověděl podobně. is especially literary, formal, or slangy. It is a normal standard Czech sentence.