Я подошёл к кассе и попросил чек.

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.

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.

Because касса is a feminine noun ending in -а, and in the dative singular, that ending usually changes to -е.

So:

• касса → кассе
• мама → маме
• школа → школе

That is why you get к кассе after к.

Here чек is the direct object of the verb попросил (asked for / requested), so it is in the accusative case.

For inanimate masculine nouns, the accusative singular is usually the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: чек
• accusative: чек

That is why the sentence says попросил чек.

Попросил is the past tense of попросить, which means to ask for, to request, or sometimes to ask someone to do something.

In this sentence:

• попросил чек = asked for a receipt

It is a very natural verb here. It suggests a single completed request.

Compare:

• просил = was asking / asked repeatedly / asked in a more ongoing sense
• попросил = asked once, as a completed action

In Russian, past tense verbs agree with the gender and number of the subject.

Here:

• подошёл
• попросил

both end in a masculine past tense form, which means the speaker is male.

If the speaker were female, it would be:

• Я подошла к кассе и попросила чек.

If it were plural:

• Мы подошли к кассе и попросили чек.

So the sentence gives you information about the speaker.

Yes, it matters.

Подошёл is pronounced with yo: pada-SHYOL.

The letter ё is always stressed. In many printed texts, Russians often write е instead of ё, so you may see:

• подошел

But it is still pronounced подошёл.

For learners, it is helpful to remember the real pronunciation and stress:

• подошёл
• попроси́л
• кассе
• чек

You can often omit Я in Russian if the meaning is clear from the verb endings and context.

So both are possible:

• Я подошёл к кассе и попросил чек.
• Подошёл к кассе и попросил чек.

Including Я can make the sentence a bit clearer, more explicit, or more natural in isolation. Since this is a standalone example, keeping Я is perfectly normal.

Russian has no articles like a/an or the.

So Russian often leaves that idea to context.

• к кассе can mean to the checkout or to a checkout
• чек can mean a receipt or the receipt

The exact meaning depends on the situation. In this sentence, English naturally uses the checkout and a/the receipt, but Russian does not need separate words for that.

Here чек means receipt.

In a shop or supermarket, попросить чек means to ask for a receipt.

A useful distinction:

• чек = receipt
• счёт = bill/check in a restaurant

So at a store:

• Можно чек? = Could I have the receipt?

At a restaurant:

• Можно счёт? = Could I have the bill?

Not with the same meaning.

• к кассе = to the checkout, showing movement toward it
• у кассы = by the checkout / near the checkout, showing location

So:

• Я подошёл к кассе = I walked up to the checkout
• Я стоял у кассы = I was standing by the checkout

If you say подошёл у кассы, that would sound wrong here.

Because this is one sentence with two coordinated verbs sharing the same subject:

• Я подошёл к кассе
• и попросил чек

In Russian, you normally do not put a comma before и when it simply connects two actions of the same subject.

So:

• Я подошёл к кассе и попросил чек. ✅

A comma would usually appear only in more complex structures.

No, Russian word order is fairly flexible, but the original order is the most neutral and natural.

• Я подошёл к кассе и попросил чек. = neutral, straightforward

You could change the order for emphasis, but it may sound less neutral:

• К кассе я подошёл и попросил чек. = emphasizes to the checkout
• Чек я попросил, подойдя к кассе. = emphasizes the receipt

For learners, the original sentence is the best standard version to remember.

A natural version with stress marks is:

Я подошёл к ка́ссе и попроси́л чек.

Approximate pronunciation:

• Я = ya
• подошёл = pada-SHYOL
• к ка́ссе = k KA-sye
• и попроси́л = i papra-SEEL
• чек = chek

The most important stress points are:

• подошёл
• ка́ссе
• попроси́л

That will help you sound much more natural.