Breakdown of Они спорили о сценарии в академии.
они
they
в
in / to (direction)
о
about (о, об, обо)
спорить
to argue
Questions & Answers about Они спорили о сценарии в академии.
Why does сценарии end in -ии instead of the usual masculine prepositional ending -е?
The noun сценарий (script) ends in -ий. Masculine nouns ending in -ий are a special group: in the prepositional case, they take the ending -ии instead of the standard -е. So, о сценарии means "about the script".
Why does академии also end in -ии? Isn't академия a feminine noun that should normally end in -е?
You are right that академия is feminine, but it ends in -ия. Just like the masculine -ий nouns, feminine nouns ending in -ия (like Россия or академия) take the special ending -ии in the prepositional case. Therefore, "at the academy" is в академии.
Why is the imperfective verb спорили used here instead of a perfective form?
The English translation "were arguing" points to an ongoing, continuous process in the past rather than a completed, single event. The imperfective verb спорить (to argue) captures this continuous meaning perfectly.
Could I say об сценарии instead of о сценарии?