Біля каси довга черга.

біля means near, by, or next to.

It requires the genitive case, so the noun after it changes form:

• каса → каси

That is why the sentence has біля каси, not біля каса.

The dictionary form is каса.

After біля, Ukrainian uses the genitive singular, and the genitive singular of каса is каси.

A useful extra note: каси can also be the nominative plural form, meaning cash desks/checkouts, but here the preposition біля makes it clear that this is genitive singular.

Here каса means the checkout, cash register area, or cash desk.

Depending on context, каса can also mean a ticket office or box office, but in a shop sentence like this, learners usually understand it as the checkout.

It normally refers to the place, not the cashier as a person.

In Ukrainian, the verb to be is usually omitted in the present tense.

So:

• Біля каси довга черга.

is a completely normal sentence structure.

English needs is or there is, but Ukrainian often does not.

You can also say:

• Біля каси є довга черга.

That version sounds a bit more explicitly like There is a long queue by the checkout, but the version without є is very common and natural.

Because довга has to agree with черга.

• черга is a feminine singular noun
• the adjective must match it in gender, number, and case

So:

• masculine: довгий
• feminine: довга
• neuter: довге
• plural: довгі

Since черга is feminine singular, the correct form is довга черга.

черга is in the nominative singular.

It is the main noun phrase in the sentence, and довга matches it:

• черга = nominative singular feminine
• довга = nominative singular feminine

So довга черга is one matching noun + adjective phrase.

Yes, Ukrainian word order is fairly flexible.

• Біля каси довга черга starts with the location
• Довга черга біля каси starts with the thing being described

Both are natural, but the emphasis changes slightly.

A rough way to feel the difference:

• Біля каси довга черга = By the checkout, there’s a long queue
• Довга черга біля каси = A long queue is by the checkout

The first version is especially natural when you want to set the scene first.

Yes. черга can mean:

• a queue/line
• a turn
• sometimes a sequence/order

In this sentence, it clearly means a queue/line of people.

For example:

• Моя черга. = My turn.

So this is a useful word with more than one meaning.

Ukrainian has no articles, so it does not directly mark the difference between a and the the way English does.

That means the exact English choice depends on context.

In isolation, this sentence could be rendered naturally as something like:

• There is a long queue by the checkout
• There’s a long line at the checkout

Ukrainian leaves that definite/indefinite distinction to context.

The stress is:

бі́ля ка́си до́вга че́рга

A rough English-style pronunciation guide:

BEE-lya KAH-sy DOV-ha CHER-ha

Important point:

• Ukrainian г is usually pronounced like a soft, voiced h-sound /ɦ/
• it is not the hard g sound of English go

So in довга and черга, the г sounds more like h than g.

Yes. коло каси is very similar and also means near/by the checkout.

Some close alternatives are:

• біля каси = near/by the checkout
• коло каси = near/by the checkout
• поруч із касою = next to/beside the checkout

Notice that поруч із uses a different case, so you get касою, not каси.

Also, на касі is not quite the same. It often means something more like:

• at the checkout register
• on cashier duty
• being processed at the checkout

So for simple physical location, біля каси is a very good choice.