Официантка принесла счёт, и я оплатил его наличными.

The waitress brought the bill, and I paid it in cash.

Breakdown of Официантка принесла счёт, и я оплатил его наличными.

• я: I
• и: and
• счёт: the bill
• оплатить: to pay
• его: it
• принести: to bring
• наличными: in cash
• официантка: the waitress

Questions & Answers about Официантка принесла счёт, и я оплатил его наличными.

Why is it официантка and not официант?

Официантка is the feminine form meaning a (female) waiter/waitress. Russian often marks professions for gender in everyday speech.

• официант = male waiter (or sometimes gender-neutral in some contexts)
• официантка = female waiter
  Here it also matches the verb form принесла (past tense feminine).

What does принесла tell me grammatically?

принесла is past tense, perfective aspect, feminine singular. It agrees with официантка (feminine).

• infinitive: принести (perfective) = to bring (and finish the action)
  So it implies the bill was brought successfully (completed event).

Why is счёт in this form, and what case is it?

In принесла счёт, счёт is the direct object of принесла, so it’s in the accusative case. For inanimate masculine nouns like счёт, accusative looks the same as nominative:

• nominative: счёт
• accusative: счёт (same form)

Is счёт always a restaurant bill? I thought it meant an account.

счёт can mean several related things depending on context:

• in a restaurant: счёт = the bill/check
• in banking: счёт = an account
• in sports: счёт = the score
  The restaurant context makes the meaning unambiguous here.

Why is there a comma before и?

Because и is connecting two independent clauses, each with its own subject and verb:

• Официантка принесла счёт
• я оплатил его наличными
  In Russian, a comma is typically used before и in this situation (similar to English when you join two full sentences with and).

Why does оплатил look different from принесла?

оплатил is past tense, masculine singular, agreeing with я (the speaker is presumed male from the form). If the speaker were female, it would be оплатила.
Both are past tense forms, just with different gender endings:

• masculine past often ends in -л (here -лил)
• feminine past often ends in -ла

What’s the difference between оплатить and заплатить?

Both can translate as to pay, but they focus on slightly different grammar patterns:

• оплатить + what you pay for (accusative): оплатить счёт, оплатить покупку
• заплатить + money (amount) + for (за + accusative): заплатить 500 рублей за ужин
  So оплатил его = paid it (the bill), which fits perfectly here.

Why use его? Could I just say я оплатил наличными?

его means it, referring to счёт (masculine singular). Russian often includes the object pronoun if it’s relevant and clear.
You can omit it in some contexts, especially if the object is obvious, but оплатил его sounds complete and natural:

• я оплатил его наличными = I paid it in cash
• я оплатил наличными can sound a bit incomplete unless the object is already strongly implied.

Why is наличными in that form? What case is it?

наличными is instrumental plural, used to express the means/method: paid with cash.
The base word is наличные (cash; literally something like cash funds), which is normally plural in this meaning:

• nominative: наличные
• instrumental: наличными
  So оплатил ... наличными = paid ... by means of cash / in cash.

Is the word order fixed? Could it be Я оплатил его наличными, и официантка принесла счёт?

Russian word order is flexible, but you usually keep the real-world order of events unless you have a reason to reorder.
Официантка принесла счёт, и я оплатил его наличными matches the normal sequence: bill arrives → you pay.
You can reorder for emphasis or style, but the example you gave would sound odd because it reverses the timeline.

How do I pronounce счёт, and why is it sometimes written счет?

Pronunciation: счёт is roughly like shchyot (with a soft ё sound). The stress is on ё.
Spelling: ё is often written as е in everyday texts, so you may see счет instead of счёт, but it’s the same word. In careful writing (or textbooks), ё is often shown to avoid ambiguity.