Breakdown of Они долго торговались насчёт расценок.
они
they
долго
for a long time
насчёт
regarding, about
торговаться
to bargain
Questions & Answers about Они долго торговались насчёт расценок.
How does the preposition насчёт work in this sentence?
The preposition насчёт means regarding or concerning and it always requires the Genitive case. It points to the specific subject being discussed. Here, it forces the following noun into the Genitive plural.
Could we use о or об instead of насчёт here?
Yes, you could say о расценках using the Prepositional case. However, насчёт is very natural here because it sounds slightly more professional or specific, much like choosing regarding over about in English when discussing business rates.
Why does the Genitive plural word расценок have an extra vowel near the end when the singular is расценка?
This is due to a fleeting vowel. When forming the Genitive plural of feminine nouns ending in a consonant plus -ка, Russian drops the final -а. To make the remaining cluster of consonants easier to pronounce, an о or е is inserted. Thus, расценка becomes расценок.
Why is the imperfective verb торговались used here?
The imperfective aspect is required because the sentence emphasizes the ongoing duration of the action, triggered by the adverb долго (for a long time). The reflexive ending -лись shows that the bargaining was an interactive, reciprocal process between people.