kaikei no toki ni tenin ni 「motikaeri desu ka, tennai desu ka」 to kikaremasita.

It means at the time of paying / at checkout.

Breakdown:

• 会計 = payment, bill, checkout
• の = links 会計 to とき
• とき = time, when
• に = marks the time when something happens

So 会計のときに is literally something like at the time of checkout.

In natural English, that often becomes when I was paying or at the register.

They do two different jobs.

1. 会計のときに

   • Here, に marks the time of the action: at the time of checkout

2. 店員に

   • Here, に marks the person who did the action to the speaker in a passive sentence: by the clerk / from the clerk

So:

• 会計のときに = at checkout
• 店員に = by the store clerk

Even though they are both に, their functions are different.

Because the sentence is written from the speaker’s point of view as I was asked.

• 聞く = to ask / to hear
• 聞かれる = to be asked
• 聞かれました = was asked

So:

• 店員が聞きました = the clerk asked
• 店員に聞かれました = I was asked by the clerk

Japanese often uses the passive here when talking about your own experience of being asked something.

It marks the content of what was said or asked.

So in this sentence, everything before と is the actual question the clerk asked:

持ち帰りですか、店内ですか

Then と聞かれました means I was asked, ...

You can think of this と as a quotation marker.

These are common service-counter words.

• 持ち帰り = takeout, to-go
• 店内 = in the store, eat-in

Literally:

• 持ち帰り = taking something home
• 店内 = inside the shop

But in restaurants, cafés, convenience stores, and fast-food places, they are commonly used as short options:

• 持ち帰りですか = Is this for takeout?
• 店内ですか = Is this for here?

Because the clerk is presenting two polite choices:

• 持ち帰りですか
• 店内ですか

This is a very common Japanese pattern:

Aですか、Bですか
= Is it A, or is it B?

In English we often say For here or to go? without making both parts full questions, but Japanese often keeps both options in question form.

Yes, very much so.

Literally, 店内ですか is something like Inside the store? which sounds incomplete in English. But in Japanese service situations, this kind of shortening is very normal.

The full idea is something like:

• 店内で食べますか
• 店内でお召し上がりですか

But these are often shortened to just:

• 店内ですか

because the meaning is obvious from the situation.

Yes. Context tells you which meaning it has.

Examples:

• 先生に聞く = ask the teacher
• 音楽を聞く = listen to music

In your sentence, it clearly means to ask, because:

• the speaker is being asked something
• there is a quoted question before と
• 店員に shows the clerk is the one asking

So 聞かれました here means was asked, not was heard.

Because Japanese often leaves out information that is already clear from context.

In this sentence, the understood subject is the speaker:

I was asked...

Japanese does not need to say 私は unless there is a reason to emphasize it or contrast it with someone else.

So the full idea is:

• 私は会計のときに店員に…と聞かれました
• but 私は is naturally omitted

Yes, 会計 can mean different things depending on context.

Common meanings include:

• accounting
• bill
• payment
• checkout

In this sentence, because it is happening in a store and a clerk is speaking, 会計 clearly means checkout / paying.

So 会計のとき means when I was paying or at the checkout.

No. Normal Japanese writing usually does not use spaces between words.

A standard version would look like this:

会計のときに店員に持ち帰りですか、店内ですかと聞かれました。

Very often, the spoken part would also be marked with Japanese quotation marks in normal writing.

The spaced version you saw is probably just for learners, to make the structure easier to read.

Common answers are:

• 持ち帰りでお願いします。 = Takeout, please.
• 店内でお願いします。 = For here, please.

You might also hear or say shorter answers such as:

• 持ち帰りで。
• 店内で。

The で here marks the chosen option.