Breakdown of Он попросил позвать к телефону директора.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
директор
director
просить
to ask for, to request
позвать к телефону
to get someone on the phone
Questions & Answers about Он попросил позвать к телефону директора.
Why is попросил used here instead of спросил?
English uses "ask" for both asking a question and asking someone to do an action. In Russian, спросить is only for asking a question to get information. Because he is requesting an action (getting someone on the phone), you must use the verb попросить.
The translation says "get... on the phone", but what does позвать к телефону literally mean?
It literally means "to call to the telephone." The verb позвать means "to call" or "to summon," and к телефону uses the preposition к (towards) with the dative case. This is the standard Russian phrase for asking to speak to someone who is not currently on the line.
Why does директор have an -а at the end here?
It is in the accusative case because the director is the direct object of the verb позвать (whom are they calling?). Because директор is a masculine, animate noun (a living person), its accusative ending changes to match the genitive case, taking the -а ending.
Why is директора placed at the very end of the sentence?
Russian word order is flexible, and placing new or important information at the end of a sentence gives it emphasis. Ending with директора highlights exactly who he wanted to speak to. You could also say Он попросил позвать директора к телефону, which sounds a bit more neutral.