המוכר שואל אם הלקוח צריך עודף אחרי שהוא משלם.

ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, meaning the.

So:

• מוכר = a seller / seller
• המוכר = the seller
• לקוח = a customer / client
• הלקוח = the customer

Unlike English, Hebrew attaches the directly to the beginning of the word instead of writing it as a separate word.

המוכר means the seller, the shopkeeper, or the salesperson, depending on context.

It comes from the root מ־כ־ר, which is related to selling. The form מוכר is also the masculine singular present-tense form of the verb to sell, but in many cases Hebrew uses this same form as a noun.

So המוכר can literally be understood as the one who sells.

Yes. שואל is the masculine singular present-tense form of לשאול = to ask.

Because the subject is המוכר and that noun is masculine singular, the verb also appears in the masculine singular form:

• הוא שואל = he asks / is asking
• היא שואלת = she asks / is asking

Hebrew present tense often covers both simple present and present progressive, so שואל can mean either asks or is asking, depending on context.

Here אם means if / whether and introduces an indirect yes-no question.

So:

• המוכר שואל אם... = the seller asks if / whether...

In English, if and whether are both possible in this kind of sentence. Hebrew commonly uses אם for that job.

Hebrew does not use an auxiliary verb like English do/does in sentences like this.

English says:

• Does the customer need change?

Hebrew simply says:

• הלקוח צריך עודף?

Literally that is more like:

• the customer needs change?

So in indirect speech:

• אם הלקוח צריך עודף = if the customer needs change

No extra word for does is needed.

צריך means needs / need here, and it agrees with the subject הלקוח, which is masculine singular.

Forms of צריך include:

• צריך = masculine singular
• צריכה = feminine singular
• צריכים = masculine plural
• צריכות = feminine plural

So with הלקוח:

• הלקוח צריך = the customer needs

If the subject were feminine, for example הלקוחה = the female customer, it would be:

• הלקוחה צריכה

In this sentence, עודף means change, as in money returned after payment.

For example, if something costs less than the amount paid, the extra money returned is עודף.

In other contexts, עודף can also mean excess or surplus, but in a shopping situation it normally means change.

Because עודף here is not definite.

In Hebrew, את is used before a definite direct object, usually one with ה־ or something otherwise specific.

Compare:

• הלקוח צריך עודף = the customer needs change
• הלקוח צריך את העודף = the customer needs the change

In your sentence, עודף is general/indefinite, so את is not used.

This means after he pays.

It breaks down like this:

• אחרי = after
• ש־ = that / when / which, depending on context
• הוא = he
• משלם = pays / is paying

So:

• אחרי שהוא משלם = after he pays

Very often in Hebrew, time expressions like אחרי are followed by ש־ plus a clause:

• אחרי שהוא בא = after he comes
• אחרי שהיא אוכלת = after she eats

Because Hebrew often states the subject explicitly in present-tense subordinate clauses.

משלם by itself only tells you masculine singular, not a fully marked person the way some other verb forms do. Adding הוא makes the subject clear:

• אחרי שהוא משלם = after he pays

It sounds natural and complete this way.

In context, it most naturally refers to הלקוח = the customer, because the customer is the one who pays and may need change.

However, grammatically, there is some potential ambiguity because both המוכר and הלקוח are masculine singular.

If someone wanted to make it completely explicit, they could say:

• המוכר שואל אם הלקוח צריך עודף אחרי שהלקוח משלם

That is less elegant because it repeats הלקוח, but it removes ambiguity.

Because once the question is embedded after שואל אם, Hebrew uses normal statement word order.

So:

• הלקוח צריך עודף = the customer needs change

And after אם, it stays in that same order:

• אם הלקוח צריך עודף = if the customer needs change

Hebrew does not do the English-style inversion found in direct questions such as Does the customer need change?

Yes. Hebrew present tense often covers both meanings:

• he pays
• he is paying

So אחרי שהוא משלם can be understood according to context. In this sentence, English usually prefers after he pays, but the Hebrew form itself is a standard present-tense form that can be flexible in translation.