Sekretářka mi ráno řekla, že porada bude až ve čtvrt na deset.

It means at 9:15.

This is a very common Czech time expression, and it often confuses English speakers because Czech counts toward the next hour:

• čtvrt na deset = 9:15
• půl desáté = 9:30
• tři čtvrtě na deset = 9:45

So ve čtvrt na deset is at quarter past nine, not at quarter to ten.

Ve is just a pronunciation-friendly variant of v.

Czech often uses ve instead of v when the next word begins with a difficult consonant cluster or sound combination. Here, čtvrt is awkward after plain v, so ve čtvrt na deset sounds more natural.

This is similar to forms like:

• ve škole
• ve středu

Here až means not until or as late as.

So:

• porada bude ve čtvrt na deset = the meeting will be at 9:15
• porada bude až ve čtvrt na deset = the meeting won’t be until 9:15 / the meeting will only be at 9:15

It adds the idea that 9:15 is later than expected, relevant, or a bit surprising.

Mi means to me.

It is the short unstressed dative form of já.

So:

• řekla mi = told me

With the verb říct / říkat, the person who receives the information is usually in the dative:

• řekla mi to = she told me that
• řekla Petrovi to = she told Petr that

Both mi and mně can mean to me, but they are used differently.

• mi = short, unstressed form
• mně = full, stressed form, often used for emphasis

In a normal neutral sentence, Czech strongly prefers mi:

• Sekretářka mi ráno řekla... = neutral and natural

You might use mně for contrast or emphasis:

• Mně to řekla, ale jemu ne. = She told me, but not him.

Because mi is a clitic: a short unstressed word that usually goes in second position in the sentence or clause.

In:

• Sekretářka mi ráno řekla...

the first element is Sekretářka, so mi comes right after it.

If you change the opening element, mi usually stays second:

• Ráno mi sekretářka řekla...
• Včera mi sekretářka řekla...

This is a very important Czech word-order pattern.

Because the subject is sekretářka, which is feminine singular.

In the Czech past tense, the verb agrees with the subject’s gender and number:

• řekl = he said
• řekla = she said
• řeklo = it said
• řekli / řekly = they said

So Sekretářka ... řekla means The secretary said... with a female secretary.

Řekla is from the perfective verb říct, and it presents the action as one completed act: she told me.

That fits this sentence well, because it refers to a specific moment when the secretary gave the information.

• řekla = she said / she told
• říkala = she was saying / she used to say / she said, with a more ongoing or less bounded feel

In everyday speech, říkala can sometimes also mean she said, but řekla is the more straightforward choice here.

Because Czech does not backshift tenses the way English often does in reported speech.

So Czech naturally says:

• řekla, že porada bude...

Literally this is she said that the meeting will be..., but in natural English you would usually translate it as:

• she said that the meeting would be...

So the Czech future bude is completely normal here.

Že means that and introduces a subordinate clause.

It marks the content of what was said:

• řekla, že... = she said that...

So:

• Sekretářka mi ráno řekla, že porada bude... means
• The secretary told me this morning that the meeting would be...

Because ráno can function directly as an adverb meaning in the morning or this morning.

So:

• ráno řekla = said in the morning / said this morning

Czech often uses bare time expressions like this:

• ráno
• večer
• včera večer
• dnes ráno

You do not need a preposition here.

Yes. In Czech, být is often used for scheduled events in the sense of take place, be held, or simply be.

So:

• Porada bude v devět. = The meeting will be at nine.
• Schůzka bude zítra. = The meeting/appointment will be tomorrow.

You could also say porada se bude konat, but porada bude... is very common and natural.

Because Czech has no articles.

So Czech does not have separate words for a and the. Whether something is definite or indefinite is understood from context.

That means:

• sekretářka can mean a secretary or the secretary
• porada can mean a meeting or the meeting

In this sentence, context makes them understood as the secretary and the meeting.