Очередь у кассы тянется до входа.

The line at the cashier stretches to the entrance.

Breakdown of Очередь у кассы тянется до входа.

• у: at
• вход: the entrance
• до: to
• очередь: the line
• тянуться: to drag on
• касса: the cash register

Questions & Answers about Очередь у кассы тянется до входа.

Why is касса in the form кассы?

Because the preposition у (meaning by / near / at) normally requires the genitive case.
So у кассы = near the cash register / at the checkout.
Base form: касса (nominative) → genitive singular: кассы.

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Why is вход in the form входа?

Because the preposition до (meaning up to / as far as) also requires the genitive case.
So до входа = up to the entrance.
Base form: вход (nominative) → genitive singular: входа.

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What does у кассы mean exactly, and how is it different from в кассе or к кассе?

• у кассы = by/next to the cash register (location near something)
• в кассе = in the cash register / in the cashier’s office (inside; usually not what you want here)
• к кассе = toward the cash register (direction; movement destination)

So for a line that is physically located near the register, у кассы is the natural choice.

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What part of speech is тянется, and why does it end in -ется?

тянется is a verb: 3rd person singular, present tense of тянуться.
The ending -ется matches the subject очередь (feminine singular), so it means it stretches / it extends.

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Why is the verb reflexive (тянуться)—what does -ся add?

In Russian, тянуть is usually to pull / to stretch something (transitive), while тянуться is to stretch / to extend (intransitive)—the subject “does it itself,” so to speak.
Here, the line isn’t pulling something else; it extends, so тянется fits.

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Is тянется describing a physical “stretching,” or can it be used figuratively?

Both are possible in Russian, but in this exact context it’s a very common literal spatial description: the line’s length reaches a point.
It can also be figurative in other contexts (for example, time or processes “drag on”), but here it’s about distance.

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Why is очередь in the nominative (очередь) and not some other case?

Because очередь is the grammatical subject of the sentence—the thing that тянется.
So it stays in nominative: Очередь … тянется …

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Does до входа mean “all the way to the entrance” or just “toward the entrance”?

до + genitive normally means up to / as far as a boundary point, often implying it reaches that point.
If you only mean “in the direction of,” Russian typically uses something like к входу (toward the entrance) instead.

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Is the word order fixed? Could I say До входа тянется очередь у кассы?

Russian word order is flexible. You can reorder for emphasis:

• Очередь у кассы тянется до входа. (neutral)
• До входа тянется очередь у кассы. (emphasizes how far it goes)
• У кассы очередь тянется до входа. (emphasizes location near the register)

The cases keep the meaning clear even when the order changes.

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How would the sentence change if there are multiple checkouts?

Common options:

• Очередь у касс тянется до входа. = A line by the checkouts stretches to the entrance. (касс = genitive plural after у)
• Or you might specify: Очередь к одной из касс… if you mean a particular one.

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What’s the pronunciation/stress of the key words here?

• очередь: stress on the second syllable → очерЕдь
• кассы: stress on the first syllable → кАссы
• тянется: stress on the first syllable → тЯнется
• входа: stress on the first syllable → вхОда