Breakdown of Izvolite, ovo je vaš račun.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
to
that
vaš
your (formal/plural)
račun
bill
Questions & Answers about Izvolite, ovo je vaš račun.
Why is Izvolite translated as "Here you are"? I thought it meant "please".
Izvolite is a very versatile polite word! While molim usually means "please", you use Izvolite when you are offering or handing something to someone, like a waiter giving you your bill. The -te ending shows it is the formal or plural form.
Račun is a masculine noun. Why does the sentence use the neuter word ovo (this) instead of the masculine ovaj?
When you use the phrase "this is..." to point out or introduce something, Croatian uses the general neuter pronoun ovo. You do not need to match the gender of the noun here. You just say ovo je (this is) followed by whatever the object is.
Could I say tvoj račun instead of vaš račun?
Grammatically yes, but it would be too informal for a service situation. Vaš is the formal or polite "your" (as well as the plural "your"). Waiters and shop assistants will almost always use vaš with adult customers. Note that vaš does not have an extra ending here because it is matching the masculine noun račun.
What else can the word račun mean besides "bill"?
In a cafe or store, it means your bill or receipt. However, račun is also the word for a bank account. The root of the word relates to math and calculating, which is why the Croatian word for computer is računalo.