Prodavačka se mě ptá, jestli chci účtenku.

Prodavačka means saleswoman, shop assistant, or sometimes female clerk in a shop.

It is a feminine noun, so it refers specifically to a woman. Czech marks gender much more clearly than English does. The masculine form is prodavač.

So:

• prodavačka = a female shop assistant
• prodavač = a male shop assistant

Here se is part of the verb ptát se, which means to ask.

So you should learn the verb as:

• ptát se = to ask

In this sentence, se does not mean herself. It is not translated separately; it just belongs to the verb.

This is common in Czech: some verbs are simply used with se and have to be learned that way.

Mě means me, but here it is in the genitive case.

That is because ptát se requires the person being asked to be in the genitive:

• ptát se koho/čeho = to ask whom/what

So:

• mě = me in the required form after ptát se

This may feel strange to an English speaker, because English does not show case like this very much, but in Czech the verb controls the case of its object.

Yes. Mě and mne are both possible forms of me.

In this sentence, mě is the normal everyday choice. Mne sounds more formal, more careful, or more emphatic.

So:

• ptá se mě = normal, common
• ptá se mne = also correct, but less everyday

Jestli means if or whether when introducing an indirect yes/no question.

So:

• ptá se mě, jestli chci účtenku = she asks me if / whether I want a receipt

This is different from že, which introduces a statement, not a yes/no question.

Compare:

• Říká, že přijde. = He says that he will come.
• Ptá se, jestli přijdu. = He asks whether I will come.

Because this is reported indirectly from the speaker’s point of view.

The sentence means:

• The saleswoman asks me whether I want a receipt.

Since the embedded subject is I, the verb has to be chci = I want.

In direct speech, the shop assistant would more likely say:

• Chcete účtenku? = Do you want a receipt? (polite/formal)
• Chceš účtenku? = Do you want a receipt? (informal singular)

But when you report that question, it becomes:

• Ptá se mě, jestli chci účtenku.

Because it is the direct object of chci.

The verb chtít takes the accusative case, so účtenka changes to účtenku.

• účtenka = nominative singular
• účtenku = accusative singular

This is a very common pattern with feminine nouns ending in -a:

• káva → kávu
• taška → tašku
• účtenka → účtenku

Czech present tense covers both:

• asks
• is asking

So ptá se can mean either one depending on context.

In this situation, English naturally uses is asking, because it sounds like something happening right now at the checkout. Czech does not need a special progressive form for that.

So:

• ptá se = asks / is asking

Czech word order is much more flexible than English word order.

Short unstressed words like se and pronouns like mě often appear early in the clause. That is why Prodavačka se mě ptá sounds natural.

You may also see other orders, depending on emphasis and style, for example:

• Ptá se mě prodavačka, jestli chci účtenku.
• Prodavačka se ptá, jestli chci účtenku.

The meaning stays very similar, but the focus changes slightly.

Yes, you can.

Both are grammatically possible, but the emphasis is different:

• jestli chci účtenku = neutral
• jestli účtenku chci = more emphasis on receipt

Czech often uses word order to show what is new, important, contrasted, or emphasized.

So the version in your sentence is the most neutral and straightforward one.

Because Czech has no articles.

There is no separate word for a or the in normal Czech grammar. The noun appears by itself, and context tells you whether English should translate it as:

• a receipt
• the receipt

In this sentence, English most naturally says a receipt.