Word
Покупатель спрашивает у кассира, есть ли скидки на колбасу.
Meaning
The customer asks the cashier if there are any discounts on the sausage.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Покупатель спрашивает у кассира, есть ли скидки на колбасу.
быть
to be
на
on
спрашивать
to ask
скидка
the discount
Questions & Answers about Покупатель спрашивает у кассира, есть ли скидки на колбасу.
Why is спрашивает in the present tense? Could we say Покупатель спросил у кассира instead?
We use спрашивает (imperfective, present) to describe an action that’s currently happening or habitual. If you say Покупатель спросил у кассира, you switch to the perfective past, indicating the buyer already completed the action of asking.
What’s the difference between спрашивать у and спросить у?
Спрашивать is the imperfective aspect (ongoing or repeated actions), while спросить is the perfective aspect (one-time or completed). In this sentence, спрашивает shows the buyer is in the process of asking.
Why do we use спрашивает у кассира instead of just спрашивает кассира?
When you ask someone a question in Russian, you normally use спрашивать/спросить у + a person in the genitive case. The у marks the source of information. Saying спрашивает кассира without у is grammatically possible but less idiomatic.
What does есть ли mean here?
Есть ли literally means “is there,” and ли is the particle that turns the clause into an indirect yes/no question. So есть ли скидки = “whether there are discounts.”