Ich schaue mir das Sortiment an, bevor ich zur Kasse gehe.

I look at the assortment before I go to the checkout.

Breakdown of Ich schaue mir das Sortiment an, bevor ich zur Kasse gehe.

• ich: I
• gehen: to go
• bevor: before
• die Kasse: the checkout
• mir: myself
• zur: to the; (feminine, dative)
• anschauen: to look at
• das Sortiment: the assortment

Questions & Answers about Ich schaue mir das Sortiment an, bevor ich zur Kasse gehe.

Why is anschauen split into schaue ... an?

Because anschauen is a separable-prefix verb (an- + schauen). In a main clause, the conjugated verb goes in position 2 and the separable prefix goes to the end:

• Ich schaue … an. In an infinitive or subordinate clause, it stays together (e.g., …, weil ich mir das Sortiment anschaue.).

What does mir do here, and why is it mir (dative) instead of mich (accusative)?

sich etwas anschauen commonly takes:

• a dative reflexive pronoun (mir/dir/sich/uns/euch) and
• a direct object (here das Sortiment, accusative). So it’s literally like “I look at the assortment for myself / “I take a look at the assortment.” Using mich would change the structure and is not the normal pattern for this verb in this meaning.

Is mir actually reflexive here? It doesn’t look like myself.

Yes—grammatically it’s a reflexive pronoun in the dative. German uses dative reflexives in many verbs where English doesn’t use “myself” at all (e.g., Ich wasche mir die Hände = “I wash my hands”). It’s often idiomatic and doesn’t always need emphasis in English.

What case is das Sortiment, and how can I tell?

It’s accusative, because it’s the direct object of (sich) anschauen (“to look at something”). You can tell because:

• The article das could be nominative or accusative, but here it’s not the subject (Ich is).
• So das Sortiment must be the object → accusative.

Why is there a comma before bevor?

Because bevor introduces a subordinate clause. In German, subordinate clauses are separated by a comma:

• Ich schaue mir das Sortiment an, bevor …

Why does the verb go to the end in bevor ich zur Kasse gehe?

In subordinate clauses (introduced by words like bevor, weil, dass, wenn), German typically sends the conjugated verb to the end:

• …, bevor ich zur Kasse gehe. Main clause: verb in position 2. Subordinate clause: verb-final.

What exactly is zur, and why isn’t it zu der?

zur is a contraction of zu der:

• zu + der → zur It’s extremely common in everyday German. You’d only keep zu der uncontracted for strong emphasis or contrast.

Why is it zur Kasse (dative)? What case does zu take?

The preposition zu always takes the dative. Since Kasse is feminine, dative singular is der Kasse, and with contraction:

• zu der Kasse → zur Kasse

Does zur Kasse gehen mean “to go to the cash register” or “to go to checkout”?

Both are fine; idiomatically it’s “to go to checkout” / “to go to the till/cash desk.” Kasse in a store context usually refers to the checkout counter/area, not “cash” as money in general.

Why is ich repeated in the second clause? Could it be omitted?

German normally requires an explicit subject in each clause, so ich is repeated:

• …, bevor ich … gehe. You generally can’t omit it the way you might in some other languages. You can rearrange the sentence, but the subject stays:
• Bevor ich zur Kasse gehe, schaue ich mir das Sortiment an.

Is the tense here present even though it refers to the future?

Yes. German often uses the present tense for near-future actions when the context makes the timing clear (here: first browsing, then checkout). Using werden future would be possible but usually sounds more formal or emphatic.