Я подошёл к кассе и попросил чек.

I went up to the cash desk and asked for a receipt.

Breakdown of Я подошёл к кассе и попросил чек.

• я: I
• и: and
• к: to
• попросить: to ask for

Questions & Answers about Я подошёл к кассе и попросил чек.

Why is it подошёл and not пришёл?

Подошёл comes from подойти, which means to come up to / approach something or someone.

So Я подошёл к кассе means I walked up to the checkout/cash register.

By contrast, пришёл just means came/arrived in a more general sense.

• Я пришёл в магазин = I came to the store
• Я подошёл к кассе = I came up to the checkout

So подошёл is more specific and fits the situation very naturally.

Why is it к кассе? What case is that?

After the preposition к (to, toward), Russian uses the dative case.

So:

• касса = nominative
• к кассе = dative, meaning to the cash register / to the checkout

This is a very common pattern:

• к дому = to the house
• к другу = to a friend
• к двери = to the door

So in this sentence, к кассе means to the checkout.

Why does касса become кассе?