Místo abychom zapařili troubu, nechali jsme troubu bez vody.

Místo abychom ... means instead of us doing ..., or more naturally in English, just instead of doing ....

So:

• Místo abychom zapařili troubu = Instead of steaming the oven

This pattern is very common in Czech:

• místo abych + past form = instead of me doing
• místo abys + past form = instead of you doing
• místo abychom + past form = instead of us doing
• etc.

It is slightly more clause-like than English instead of + -ing, but the meaning is very similar.

Abychom includes the subject we.

It is made from:

• aby = a particle used in subordinate clauses, often with meanings like so that, in order to, or in some patterns like instead of
• bychom = the conditional auxiliary for we

Together, abychom means something like that we would or for us to, depending on context.

In this sentence, it does not sound strongly conditional in English. It is simply the normal Czech structure after místo in this kind of clause:

• Místo abychom odešli, zůstali jsme. = Instead of leaving, we stayed.

So abychom is required because the clause has an understood subject: we.

Good question. In Czech, after abychom, the verb often uses the l-participle form, which looks like the past tense form:

• zapařili

But here it is not an ordinary past tense by itself. It is part of the abychom + verb construction.

Compare:

• zapařili jsme troubu = we steamed the oven (ordinary past)
• abychom zapařili troubu = for us to steam the oven / instead of steaming the oven

So even though zapařili looks past, in this structure it is just the normal form used after abychom.

Here zapařit means something like:

• to steam
• to fill with steam
• to add steam to
• to humidify with steam

In context, it probably refers to an oven used for baking, where water or steam is added.

The prefix za- often gives a sense of producing a result or starting/completing an action, so zapařit troubu suggests to steam up the oven or to make the oven steamy.

Be aware that zapařit can have other meanings in other contexts, including colloquial ones, so the object matters a lot. With trouba, the baking/steam meaning is the natural one.

Because troubu is the accusative singular form of trouba.

Trouba is a feminine noun, and in both parts of the sentence it is the direct object:

• zapařili troubu = steamed the oven
• nechali jsme troubu bez vody = left the oven without water

So the nominative trouba changes to accusative troubu.

This is very normal for feminine nouns ending in -a:

• žena → ženu
• kniha → knihu
• trouba → troubu

After bez (without), Czech uses the genitive.

So:

• bez vody = without water

Here:

• voda = water
• vody = genitive singular

This is a very common pattern:

• bez cukru = without sugar
• bez soli = without salt
• bez problémů = without problems
• bez vody = without water

So if you learn bez + genitive, this sentence becomes much easier to understand.

This uses a common Czech pattern:

• nechat + object + state/result

Here that means:

• nechali jsme troubu bez vody = we left the oven without water = we left the oven in a waterless/dry state

So:

• nechali jsme = we left
• troubu = the oven
• bez vody = without water

You can compare it to other examples:

• Nechali jsme dveře otevřené. = We left the door open.
• Nechal sklenici prázdnou. = He left the glass empty.

So bez vody describes the condition the oven was left in.

Czech often repeats a noun where English might prefer a pronoun.

So both of these are possible in principle:

• Místo abychom zapařili troubu, nechali jsme troubu bez vody.
• Místo abychom zapařili troubu, nechali jsme ji bez vody.

The repeated noun can sound clearer, especially if the speaker wants to avoid any ambiguity or keep the sentence easy to follow.

Using ji would also be natural in many situations, but repeating troubu is not strange.

Because the sentence refers to a single complete action: steaming the oven as one intended step.

Zapařit is a perfective verb, so it presents the action as a whole, with a result:

• zapařit troubu = steam up the oven / add steam to the oven

That fits well with this context: the speakers are contrasting one complete action with another outcome.

If you used an imperfective verb, it would sound more like an ongoing process or repeated activity, which is probably not what is meant here.

So the perfective verb is natural because the idea is:

• we were supposed to do one complete thing,
• but instead we did something else.

Yes. In modern everyday Czech, trouba is the normal word for a household oven.

Examples:

• elektrická trouba = electric oven
• horkovzdušná trouba = fan oven / convection oven

You may also see pec, but that usually has a different feel depending on context, such as:

• stove
• furnace
• kiln
• baking oven of a more traditional type

So in an ordinary kitchen context, trouba is exactly the expected word.

Also, colloquially trouba can mean idiot or dummy, but that has nothing to do with this sentence.

Yes, Czech word order is fairly flexible, but the original order is natural and clear.

Original:

• Místo abychom zapařili troubu, nechali jsme troubu bez vody.

You could also say:

• Nechali jsme troubu bez vody místo abychom ji zapařili.

That is still understandable, but it changes the flow and emphasis.

The original version is good because it first presents the expected action:

• instead of steaming the oven...

and then gives the actual result:

• ...we left the oven without water

That makes the contrast very clear.

Possibly, depending on style and context. Czech often allows several versions, for example with a pronoun instead of repeating troubu:

• Místo abychom troubu zapařili, nechali jsme ji bez vody.

This version may sound a bit smoother to some speakers because:

• troubu appears earlier
• ji avoids repetition

But the original sentence is still grammatical and understandable. It is not wrong; it is just one of several possible phrasings.