Russian Shopping Phrases: Asking the Price, Paying and Checking Out

Q: How do you ask the price in Russian?

Say Сколько стоит...? for one item — literally "how much does ... cost?" — as in Сколько стоит этот билет? ("How much is this ticket?"). If you are asking about several things, the verb becomes plural: Сколько стоят эти туфли? ("How much are these shoes?"). At markets you will also hear Почём...?, an informal "how much?" used for goods sold by weight.

Q: How do you say "I'll take it" in Russian?

Use Я возьму... with the thing in the accusative (the direct-object case): Я возьму это ("I'll take this"), Я возьму вот этот ("I'll take this one"). Возьму is the future of the verb взять (to take). To ask for something directly, say Дайте, пожалуйста... ("Please give me..."), for example Дайте, пожалуйста, два билета.

Q: How do you say "can I pay by card" in Russian?

Ask Можно оплатить картой? ("Can I pay by card?") or Вы принимаете карты? ("Do you accept cards?"). To pay in cash, say наличными. Both картой and наличными are in the instrumental case (the "by means of" case), which is why the endings change from карта and наличные.

Shops are one of the friendliest places to practise, because the exchanges are short and predictable. You ask a price, you say what you want, you pay. Learn the frame for each of those three steps and you can swap the nouns in and out forever. We'll start with the one question you'll use in every shop, market and kiosk in the country.

The question you'll use everywhere: Сколько стоит?

To ask a price, use Сколько сто́ит…? — literally "how much does … cost?". Сто́ить is the verb "to cost", and сто́ит is its third-person-singular form, the one you use for a single item:

Ско́лько сто́ит э́тот биле́т? — How much does this ticket cost?
Ско́лько сто́ит ко́фе? — How much is the coffee?

If you're pointing at several things, the verb agrees with them and becomes the plural сто́ят:

Ско́лько сто́ят э́ти ту́фли? — How much are these shoes? (plural)

In practice you can get away with Ско́лько э́то сто́ит? ("How much is this?") while pointing, and never worry about the plural at all. At open-air markets you'll also hear the informal Почём…? — a colloquial "how much?" used mostly for things sold by weight, as in Почём помидо́ры? ("How much are the tomatoes?"). It's friendly, not rude, but Ско́лько сто́ит is always safe.

The phrases to walk in with

Here is the core kit. Keep these ready and most shop visits take care of themselves; the sections below unpack the grammar hiding in a few of them.

Russian	Meaning	When you use it
Ско́лько э́то сто́ит?	How much is this?	asking any price
У вас есть…?	Do you have…?	looking for a product
Я про́сто смотрю́.	I'm just looking.	to a hovering assistant
Мо́жно приме́рить?	Can I try it on?	clothes and shoes
Я возьму́ э́то.	I'll take this.	deciding to buy
Да́йте, пожа́луйста…	Please give me…	asking over a counter
Мо́жно оплати́ть ка́ртой?	Can I pay by card?	at the till
Э́то всё.	That's everything.	finishing up

Saying how much: roubles and the number trap

Russian money is counted in рубли́ (roubles) and копе́йки (kopecks, 100 to a rouble, though prices are usually whole roubles now). The catch is that the word for "rouble" changes shape depending on the number in front of it. This isn't special to money — Russian nouns take a particular case (the ending that shows a word's job) after every number — but money is where you meet it first.

The pattern looks at the last word of the number:

Number ends in…	Form of "rouble"	Example
1 (but not 11)	рубль (nominative singular — the plain form)	1, 21, 101 рубль
2, 3, 4 (but not 12–14)	рубля́ (genitive singular — the "of" form, one item)	2, 3, 4, 22 рубля́
5–9, 0, and 11–14	рубле́й (genitive plural — the "of" form, many)	5, 11, 100 рубле́й

So a price tag of 350 reads три́ста пятьдеся́т рубле́й (ends in a number that takes рубле́й), while 42 is со́рок два рубля́ and 101 is сто оди́н рубль. The same three-way split applies to kopecks (копе́йка / копе́йки / копе́ек) and to counting anything else. If the whole number system is new, Russian numbers 1–100 builds it from the ground up, and the Russian genitive case explains the "of" form these rely on.

You rarely have to produce these on the spot. The cashier says the total and the number is on the screen, so at first you only need to recognise the forms. Reading prices aloud as you shop is the easiest way to make them automatic.

Finding what you want: У вас есть…?

To ask whether a shop has something, use У вас есть…? — literally "by you is there…?", the same sideways "have" Russian uses for "I have" (у меня́ есть). The thing you're after stays in its plain dictionary form (the nominative):

У вас есть молоко́? — Do you have milk?
У вас есть э́то в друго́м цве́те? — Do you have this in another colour?
Я ищу́ хлеб. — I'm looking for bread. (ищу́ = "I'm looking for")

And when an assistant offers help but you'd rather browse, the magic words are Я про́сто смотрю́ ("I'm just looking") — polite, and it ends the hovering instantly.

Trying things on and sizes

For clothes and shoes you need two things: permission to try, and the word for size. Мо́жно…? means "may I / is it allowed…?" and is followed by a verb in the infinitive (the dictionary form of a verb):

Мо́жно приме́рить? — Can I try it on?
Где приме́рочная? — Where is the fitting room?
Есть разме́р побо́льше? — Is there a bigger size?
Есть разме́р поме́ньше? — Is there a smaller size?

Разме́р is "size"; побо́льше and поме́ньше are the handy "a bit bigger / a bit smaller" forms you'll use constantly.

At the till: paying, cash or card, bags and change

When you've decided, Я возьму́ э́то ("I'll take this") signals it. Возьму́ is the future of взять (to take), and the thing taken sits in the accusative (the direct-object case). To ask for something across a counter, use the polite imperative Да́йте, пожа́луйста… ("please give me…"; the imperative is the command form of a verb):

Да́йте, пожа́луйста, два биле́та. — Two tickets, please.

Then comes payment. "By card" and "in cash" both use the instrumental case (the "by means of" case — the form for the tool or method you use), which is why ка́рта becomes ка́ртой and нали́чные becomes нали́чными:

Russian	Meaning
Мо́жно оплати́ть ка́ртой?	Can I pay by card?
Вы принима́ете ка́рты?	Do you accept cards?
Я бу́ду плати́ть нали́чными.	I'll pay in cash.
Мо́жно чек?	Can I have a receipt?
Вам паке́т ну́жен?	Do you need a bag? (the cashier asks you)

A few more words that fly past at the register: ка́сса (the till / checkout), сда́ча (change — the money you get back), скидка (discount) and распрода́жа (sale). The instrumental turns up again whenever you name a method, so it's worth a proper look in the Russian instrumental case.

"I need…": the ну́жен construction

Often you don't want to buy yet — you want to say what you need. Russian says this the same sideways way it says "I like" (see how to say "I like" with нра́вится): you go in the dative (the "to / for" case), and the word for "needed" agrees with the thing you need, not with you:

The thing needed	Form	Example
masculine	ну́жен	Мне ну́жен паке́т. — I need a bag.
feminine	нужна́	Мне нужна́ по́мощь. — I need help.
neuter	ну́жно	Мне ну́жно молоко́. — I need milk.
plural	нужны́	Мне нужны́ ба́тарейки. — I need batteries.

It feels fiddly for one phrase, but it's the same dative pattern that runs through a lot of everyday Russian, so learning it here pays off well beyond the shop. The full map of the cases is in Russian cases explained.

Try it yourself

Say each of these in Russian. Cover the answers first.

"How much is this?" (pointing at one thing)
"Do you have milk?"
"Can I try it on?"
"Can I pay by card?"
Read this price aloud: 350 рублей.

Answers. 1. Ско́лько э́то сто́ит? 2. У вас есть молоко́? 3. Мо́жно приме́рить? 4. Мо́жно оплати́ть ка́ртой? 5. три́ста пятьдеся́т рубле́й (ends in 0 → рубле́й).

Questions people actually ask

How do you ask the price in Russian? Say Ско́лько сто́ит…? for one item — literally "how much does … cost?" — as in Ско́лько сто́ит э́тот биле́т? ("How much is this ticket?"). If you're asking about several things, the verb becomes plural: Ско́лько сто́ят э́ти ту́фли? ("How much are these shoes?"). At markets you'll also hear Почём…?, an informal "how much?" used for goods sold by weight.

How do you say "I'll take it" in Russian? Use Я возьму́… with the thing in the accusative (the direct-object case): Я возьму́ э́то ("I'll take this"), Я возьму́ вот э́тот ("I'll take this one"). Возьму́ is the future of the verb взять (to take). To ask for something directly, say Да́йте, пожа́луйста… ("Please give me…"), for example Да́йте, пожа́луйста, два биле́та.

How do you say "can I pay by card" in Russian? Ask Мо́жно оплати́ть ка́ртой? ("Can I pay by card?") or Вы принима́ете ка́рты? ("Do you accept cards?"). To pay in cash, say нали́чными. Both ка́ртой and нали́чными are in the instrumental case (the "by means of" case), which is why the endings change from ка́рта and нали́чные.

Why does рубль change to рубля́ and рубле́й after numbers? Russian nouns change case after a number. After 1 (and numbers ending in 1, except 11) you use the nominative singular: 1 рубль. After 2, 3, 4 (and numbers ending in 2–4, except 12–14) you use the genitive singular: 2 рубля́. After 5 and up, and everything ending in 5–9 or 0, you use the genitive plural: 5 рубле́й, 100 рубле́й.

Shops give you something most beginner settings don't: real stakes, tiny sentences and instant feedback. The way Ско́лько э́то сто́ит? and Я возьму́ э́то become automatic is by saying them out loud, in order, many times — which is exactly the kind of practice we build — start your seven-day free trial — no card required. New to the app? Search "Gora Academy" in the Apple App Store or Google Play, or open it on the web.