Dnes večer dělám salát z okurky a rajčete.

In Czech, the subject pronoun is often omitted because the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

• dělám = I do / I am making
• the ending -ám tells you it is 1st person singular

So Dnes večer dělám salát... naturally means Tonight I’m making a salad...

You can add já for emphasis, contrast, or clarity:

• Já dělám salát, on dělá polévku. = I’m making salad, he’s making soup.

But in a neutral sentence, leaving out já is more natural.

Dnes večer means this evening / tonight.

Czech often uses time expressions without a preposition:

• dnes = today
• večer = in the evening / evening

Together, dnes večer works as a natural adverbial phrase meaning tonight.

Compare:

• dnes ráno = this morning
• zítra večer = tomorrow evening
• včera odpoledne = yesterday afternoon

English often needs words like in, this, or tonight, but Czech frequently does not.

Here dělám means I am making.

The verb dělat is very common and broad in meaning. Depending on context, it can mean:

• to do
• to make
• to be doing

In this sentence, since the object is salát, the natural meaning is make/prep a salad.

Also, Czech present tense of an imperfective verb often translates into English as either:

• I make
• I am making

Here, because of dnes večer, English usually prefers I’m making a salad tonight.

Salát is in the accusative case, because it is the direct object of dělám.

You are making what?
→ salát

For masculine inanimate nouns like salát, the nominative and accusative singular are the same:

• salát = nominative singular
• salát = accusative singular

So the form does not change here.

They change because the preposition z requires the genitive case.

So:

• okurka → z okurky
• rajče → z rajčete

This is very important in Czech: prepositions often determine the case of the noun after them.

Here z means from / out of, so the ingredients are expressed with the genitive:

• salát z okurky = a salad made from cucumber
• polévka z rajčat = soup made from tomatoes

So the noun forms change because they are governed by z.

Because rajče is the basic dictionary form, but after z you need the genitive singular.

The forms are:

• rajče = nominative singular
• rajčete = genitive singular

So:

• z rajčete = from a tomato

This is one of the patterns for neuter nouns ending in -e.

Yes, English often uses plurals for ingredients, but Czech can use singular or plural depending on what the speaker has in mind.

In this sentence:

• z okurky a rajčete suggests something like from a cucumber and a tomato or ingredients mentioned in a general/simple way

If you wanted clear plural ingredients, you could say:

• z okurek a rajčat = from cucumbers and tomatoes

So the singular here is not wrong; it just presents the ingredients as single items or in a simple recipe-style way.

Not only in a physical sense. Z often means from, but it has several common uses.

In this sentence:

• salát z okurky a rajčete = salad made from cucumber and tomato

That is a material/ingredient use.

Other examples:

• jsem z Prahy = I am from Prague
• spadl z kola = he fell off the bike
• udělal to z lásky = he did it out of love

So z can express origin, movement away from something, material, cause, and more.

Czech word order is quite flexible, though some orders sound more neutral than others.

The given sentence:

• Dnes večer dělám salát z okurky a rajčete.

is a perfectly normal neutral sentence.

You could also say:

• Salát z okurky a rajčete dělám dnes večer.
• Dělám dnes večer salát z okurky a rajčete.

These alternatives may shift emphasis slightly:

• putting dnes večer first highlights the time
• putting salát first highlights what is being made

English word order is much more rigid than Czech, so this is something learners often notice.

Yes. Both are possible, but they feel a little different.

• dělám salát = very common, everyday, simple: I’m making a salad
• připravuju salát = I’m preparing a salad, a bit more explicit

In casual speech, dělat is extremely common and natural for food preparation:

• dělám večeři = I’m making dinner
• dělám oběd = I’m making lunch

So dělám salát is completely normal Czech.

A very natural Czech version would use a perfective verb, for example:

• Dnes večer udělám salát z okurky a rajčete.

Here:

• dělat = imperfective
• udělat = perfective

Very roughly:

• dělám can mean I’m making / I make
• udělám means I will make / I’ll get it done

Czech often uses aspect, not just tense, to express whether an action is ongoing, repeated, or completed.

Yes. A is the standard Czech word for and.

So:

• okurky a rajčete = cucumber and tomato

It simply links the two nouns.

Be careful not to confuse it with English pronunciation or use. In Czech it is a normal conjunction, very common and straightforward.