Breakdown of Мне страшно торговаться с заказчиком.
я
I
с
with (also со)
страшно
scared / scary
заказчик
the client
торговаться
to bargain
Questions & Answers about Мне страшно торговаться с заказчиком.
Why do we use the Dative Мне страшно instead of saying Я страшный?
In Russian, expressing a person's internal emotional or physical state requires an impersonal construction. The person experiencing the feeling takes the Dative case (Мне), and the state is an adverb (страшно). If you said Я страшный using the Nominative and an adjective, it would describe a permanent trait, meaning 'I am scary' or 'I am terrifying'!
Why is the imperfective verb торговаться used here?
The imperfective is used because the sentence describes a general fear or attitude toward the continuous process of bargaining, not a specific, one-time completed deal. When expressing an attitude toward an action (like loving, hating, or being afraid to do something), Russian strongly prefers the imperfective infinitive to focus on the activity itself.
Does the -ся at the end of торговаться mean the action is passive?
No! Here, the -ся suffix indicates a reciprocal action, meaning an action done back and forth with someone else. Just like встречаться (to meet with each other) or общаться (to converse), торговаться implies a two-way interaction where you haggle with another party.
What is the difference between a заказчик and a regular клиент?
While клиент is a general word for a client, заказчик comes from the verb заказывать (to order). It specifically refers to someone who commissions a service, a project, or custom work, like someone hiring a freelance developer or designer.
How would I use the preposition насчёт in this sentence if I wanted to specify that I am bargaining 'about the price'?
You would add насчёт followed by the Genitive case of the word price (цена). The sentence would become Мне страшно торговаться с заказчиком насчёт цены. This is a very natural way to introduce the specific topic of the negotiation, acting just like 'regarding' or 'concerning' in English.
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