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Questions & Answers about Я вижу кассира.
Why does the verb вижу have a 'ж' instead of a 'д'?
Вижу comes from the verb видеть (to see). In Russian, some verbs change their consonant in the 'I' form (first-person singular) to make them easier to pronounce. Here, the 'д' in видеть changes to a 'ж' for я вижу (I see). The other forms keep the 'д', like ты видишь (you see).
Why does кассир end in '-a' here? I thought masculine nouns did not change when they are the direct object.
You are right that inanimate masculine nouns (things and objects) do not change in the accusative case. However, кассир (cashier) is a person, which makes it an 'animate' noun. For animate masculine nouns, the accusative case adds an -а or -я to the end. That is why it becomes кассира.
Wait, does the -а ending on a masculine noun not usually mean it is in the genitive case?
Yes, exactly! For living things (animate masculine nouns), the accusative case looks absolutely identical to the genitive case. Since кассир is a person, its accusative form (кассира) copies its genitive form. You know it is accusative here because it is the direct object receiving the action of вижу (I see).
How do we know it means 'the cashier' and not 'a cashier' since there is no word for 'the' in the sentence?
Russian does not have articles like 'a' or 'the'. You have to figure it out from the context of the conversation. Depending on the situation, Я вижу кассира could translate to 'I see a cashier' or 'I see the cashier.'