Breakdown of Ты поговорил с заказчиком насчёт почасовой оплаты?
ты
you (singular)
с
with (also со)
поговорить
to have a talk (perfective)
насчёт
regarding, about
заказчик
the client
почасовой
hourly
оплата
the payment
Questions & Answers about Ты поговорил с заказчиком насчёт почасовой оплаты?
Why use насчёт here instead of just о for "about"?
Насчёт translates more closely to "regarding" or "concerning" a specific matter to be resolved. While о + Prepositional is for general topics of conversation, насчёт is widely used in everyday and business Russian when discussing a specific issue, like negotiating this hourly pay. As taught in this lesson, it always forces the following noun phrase into the Genitive case (почасовой оплаты).
How is the adjective почасовой (hourly) constructed?
It is built from the root час (hour). By adding the prefix по- (which often distributes meaning, like "per") and the adjective suffix -овой, it literally means "per-hour". You will see this same prefix pattern in words like помесячный (monthly) or пошаговый (step-by-step).
Why use заказчик instead of клиент for "client"?
Both are valid, but заказчик (from заказ, meaning "an order") specifically refers to someone who commissions a project, service, or piece of work. It is extremely common in freelancing, construction, or contracting. Клиент is a broader word for a retail customer or a regular patron. Here, it takes the Instrumental case (с заказчиком) because of the preposition с (with).
Why is the perfective verb поговорил used here rather than the imperfective говорил?
The speaker is asking about the completion and result of a specific task. They want to know if the conversation about the pay actually took place and is now finished. If they used говорил, it would focus on the process, asking something more like "Were you talking to the client?" without emphasizing whether the goal of the conversation was achieved.
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