Утром я заходила в деканат, чтобы взять справку для работы, и в деканате сказали, что заявление уже подписано.

Утром is the instrumental singular of утро.

In Russian, some time expressions are commonly used in the instrumental to mean at/in a certain part of the day:

• утром = in the morning
• днём = in the daytime
• вечером = in the evening
• ночью = at night

So Утром я заходила... simply means In the morning, I stopped by / went into...

Заходила is the imperfective past form of заходить, while зашла would be the perfective past form of зайти.

Here, заходила often sounds natural because the speaker is referring to the fact of the visit or a brief stop-in, rather than highlighting one completed result. It can also suggest a there-and-back visit: I dropped by the dean’s office earlier.

Also, заходила shows that the speaker is female. A male speaker would say заходил.

Very roughly:

• я заходила в деканат = I stopped by / went into the dean’s office
• я зашла в деканат = I went into the dean’s office (more focused on the single completed act)

Both are possible in some contexts, but заходила gives a more neutral, experience/fact-of-visit feeling here.

This is a very important Russian pattern:

• в + accusative = motion to/into a place
• в + prepositional = being in a place

So:

• в деканат = into/to the dean’s office
  because the speaker went there
• в деканате = in the dean’s office
  because this refers to location

Compare:

• Я иду в университет. = I am going to the university.
• Я учусь в университете. = I study at the university.

After чтобы, Russian often uses an infinitive to express purpose:

• чтобы взять справку = in order to get a certificate/document

The verb взять is perfective, which fits well because the goal is a single completed action: to obtain the certificate.

If you used брать instead, it would sound more like an ongoing, repeated, or general action, which does not fit as well here.

So:

• чтобы взять = in order to take/get it once, successfully
• чтобы брать = in order to be taking / to take regularly

Because справку is the accusative singular of справка.

It is the direct object of взять:

• взять что? → справку

Since справка is a feminine noun ending in -а, its accusative singular changes to -у:

• nominative: справка
• accusative: справку

This is very common with feminine nouns:

• книга → книгу
• машина → машину
• работа → работу

Because the preposition для requires the genitive case.

So:

• работа = nominative
• работы = genitive

That gives:

• для работы = for work / for the job

This is a standard pattern:

• для мамы = for mom
• для студента = for the student
• для университета = for the university

This is a very common Russian structure: 3rd person plural with no stated subject.

• сказали literally means they said
• but in Russian it often means someone said, I was told, or the people there said

So в деканате сказали means something like:

• they told me at the dean’s office
• I was told at the dean’s office

The exact people are not important; the context makes it clear that it was the staff there.

English often uses:

• they said
• I was told
• someone said

Russian frequently uses this subjectless plural instead.

Что introduces a clause meaning that:

• сказали, что заявление уже подписано
• they said that the application has already been signed

In English, that is often optional:

• They said that...
• They said...

In Russian, что is usually stated explicitly after verbs like:

• сказать = to say
• думать = to think
• знать = to know
• видеть = to see

So here it is the normal way to introduce what was said.

Подписано is a short passive participle from подписать.

It means:

• has been signed
• is signed

So:

• заявление уже подписано = the application has already been signed

This construction focuses on the resulting state of the document, not on who did it.

By contrast:

• заявление уже подписали = they already signed the application

That version focuses more on an unspecified doer, while подписано focuses on the fact that the document is now in the signed state.

Also, подписано is neuter singular, agreeing with заявление, which is a neuter noun.

Because заявление is a neuter singular noun, and the short passive participle agrees with it.

Compare:

• документ подписан — masculine
• справка подписана — feminine
• заявление подписано — neuter
• документы подписаны — plural

So the ending -о tells you that the thing being described is neuter singular.

Russian often repeats nouns where English might prefer a pronoun or a word like there.

So:

• и в деканате сказали... sounds clear and natural
• и там сказали... is also possible, but slightly less specific

Repeating деканат keeps the reference completely clear and firmly anchors the second part of the sentence in the same place/institution.

It also helps the sentence flow:

• first: I went to the dean’s office
• then: at the dean’s office, they said...

That kind of repetition is very normal in Russian.

Russian word order is more flexible than English word order, but it still affects focus and style.

The sentence begins with Утром, which sets the time frame first:

• Утром я заходила в деканат...

Then in the second part:

• и в деканате сказали...

Putting в деканате before сказали highlights the place where the information came from.

A different order is possible, for example:

• ...и сказали в деканате, что...

But the original sounds smoother and more natural in this context. It presents the location first, then the action.

So the word order is not random; it helps organize what the speaker wants to foreground.