Ten zákazník chce zaplatit kartou teď a hotovostí až později.

Ten is the masculine singular form of ten / ta / to, which basically means that and can sometimes feel like the in context.

Here it agrees with zákazník, which is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

So you get ten zákazník = that customer.

A learner may notice that Czech often has no word for the, so ten can sometimes sound stronger than English the. Depending on context, ten zákazník may feel like:

• that customer
• or sometimes the customer if a specific person is already known

Because zákazník is the subject of the sentence, so it stays in the nominative case.

• ten zákazník = the subject, the person doing the wanting
• zákazníka would be a different case, often accusative or genitive, and would not fit here as the subject

So:

• Ten zákazník chce... = That customer wants...

This is very normal in Czech.

• chce = wants
• zaplatit = to pay

After verbs like chtít (to want), Czech usually uses an infinitive:

• chci jít = I want to go
• chce koupit = he/she wants to buy
• chce zaplatit = he/she wants to pay

So the structure is just:

• subject + wants + infinitive

This is about aspect, which is very important in Czech.

• platit = imperfective
• zaplatit = perfective

In this sentence, zaplatit is used because it refers to a completed payment: the customer wants to make the payment / pay up.

A rough contrast:

• platit kartou = to pay by card, to be paying by card, to use a card as a payment method
• zaplatit kartou = to pay by card as a completed act

With chtít, both aspects are possible in some contexts, but here zaplatit is the natural choice because the speaker means a concrete payment event.

They are in the instrumental case.

In Czech, methods or means are often expressed with the instrumental, especially after verbs like platit / zaplatit.

So:

• karta → kartou
• hotovost → hotovostí

Here they mean:

• kartou = by card
• hotovostí = in cash / with cash

This is one of the most useful uses of the instrumental: expressing what means you use to do something.

Because Czech often expresses by means of / using with the instrumental case alone, without a preposition.

In English you say:

• by card
• with cash

In Czech, the case does that job:

• kartou
• hotovostí

So zaplatit kartou and zaplatit hotovostí are normal fixed patterns.

Teď means now.

It tells you when the first payment is supposed to happen:

• zaplatit kartou teď = pay by card now

Czech word order is flexible, so teď could appear in slightly different positions, but here it naturally belongs with the first part of the contrast:

• now by card
• only later in cash

In this sentence, až později means something like:

• only later
• not until later

That is a very common use of až.

So:

• teď = now
• až později = only later / not until later

Here až adds the idea that the second payment will happen later than now, not immediately.

Important: až has several meanings in Czech, depending on context. It can mean:

• until
• as far as
• when (in some future contexts)
• not until / only

In this sentence, the best understanding is not until later.

Because a normally means and, but in Czech it can also connect two contrasting parts when the contrast is clear from the rest of the sentence.

Here the contrast comes from:

• teď = now
• až později = only later

So the structure is basically:

• by card now and in cash only later

Czech does not need a stronger contrast word here. The time expressions already create the contrast.

Yes, Czech word order is fairly flexible.

The original sentence is natural:

• Ten zákazník chce zaplatit kartou teď a hotovostí až později.

But other orders are possible, for example:

• Ten zákazník chce teď zaplatit kartou a hotovostí až později.
• Kartou chce ten zákazník zaplatit teď a hotovostí až později.

The meaning stays similar, but the emphasis changes.

The original version is good because it clearly groups the information:

• kartou teď
• hotovostí až později

That makes the contrast easy to follow.

In this sentence, yes, hotovost is the normal word for cash.

Its instrumental form is hotovostí, so:

• platit hotovostí
• zaplatit hotovostí

Both mean to pay in cash.

You may also hear related expressions like:

• v hotovosti = in cash

So both of these are common:

• zaplatit hotovostí
• zaplatit v hotovosti

Yes.

You could also say:

• Zákazník chce zaplatit kartou teď a hotovostí až později.

That would mean:

• The customer / a customer wants to pay by card now and in cash only later, depending on context.

Adding ten makes the customer more specific:

• that customer
• or that particular customer we’re talking about

So ten adds definiteness or pointing/reference.

Grammatically, it suggests two stages or two parts of payment:

• one now by card
• another later in cash

That is because the sentence contrasts two methods and two times:

• kartou teď
• hotovostí až později

If it were just one single payment method, Czech would normally not phrase it this way. So the structure strongly suggests a split payment or partial payment arrangement.