Sprzedawczyni mówi, żeby nie odcinać metki.

The saleswoman says not to cut off the tag.

Breakdown of Sprzedawczyni mówi, żeby nie odcinać metki.

• nie: not
• mówić: to say
• żeby: that
• sprzedawczyni: the saleswoman

Questions & Answers about Sprzedawczyni mówi, żeby nie odcinać metki.

What does sprzedawczyni mean, and is it specifically feminine?

Yes. Sprzedawczyni is a feminine noun meaning saleswoman, female shop assistant, or female clerk.

The masculine form is sprzedawca.

So this sentence specifically tells you that the speaker is talking about a woman working in the shop.

Why is it mówi?

Mówi is the 3rd person singular present tense of mówić, meaning to say or to speak.

So sprzedawczyni mówi means the saleswoman says.

In this kind of sentence, mówi can also feel a bit like tells, especially when it is followed by an instruction:

Sprzedawczyni mówi, żeby...
= The saleswoman says/tells [someone] to...

What does żeby mean here?

Here żeby introduces a subordinate clause that expresses what someone wants, says, requests, or recommends.

In English, it often corresponds to things like:

• to
• that
• so that

In this sentence, mówi, żeby nie odcinać metki is roughly the structure of says not to cut off the tag.

So żeby is doing an important grammatical job, even if there is no single perfect one-word English translation.