The following notes will aid you in case you're having trouble with the lesson,

but feel free to skip them and continue with the lesson. Once you have a
broader context, they will help you put everything together.

Romanian alphabet
Romanian uses an extended Latin alphabet. Compared to the English
alphabet, it has the following five extra letters.

Letter English name

Ă A-breve

 A-circumflex

Î I-circumflex

Ș S-comma (not to be confused with Ş - S-cedilla)

Ț T-comma (not to be confused with Ţ - T-cedilla)

Pronunciation
Apart from a few exceptions, Romanian consonants sound virtually identical to
their English counterparts. Vowels, on the other hand, have slightly different
pronunciations using a more relaxed/open mouth.
The following tables will aid you in pronouncing what are most probably the
most unfamiliar sounds to English speakers, yet they are by no means
complete. See Romanian pronunciation for a more exhaustive explanation.

Vowels

Sound IPA phoneme English example

A a father

Ă ə above

Â/Î ɨ roses

I i creed

O o door

U u loom

Consonants
C and G followed by either E or I change their sounds.
 Sound IPA phoneme English example

C k car

Ce / Ci tʃ chalk

Ge / Gi dʒ general

J ʒ exposure

Ș ʃ sharp

Ț ts pizza

 or Î
Although  and Πsound precisely the same, Romanian use of both letters
stems from etymology. So, by using a simple rule to swap between the two,
Romanian has been able to retain some similarity with Latin, where most
etymons use A instead of  and I instead of Î.

The rule between them is that Î is only used at the start and end of a word. In
the middle, you would use Â.

 începe (to begin) - start

 hotărî (to decide) - end
 mânca (to eat) - middle
 neînfricat (fearless) - here we use î because the word stems
from înfricat with the preposition ne

Eu, ea, e, este

Although Romanian has exceptionally few pronunciation exceptions, there is
one which is noticeable from the very
beginning. Eu (I/me), el (he/him), ea (she/her), ei (they/them
masc.), ele (they/them fem.), e (is), and este (is) are all pronounced starting
with /ie/ instead of simply /e/.

Personal pronouns
Compared to English, Romanian's personal pronouns lack a precise
translation for it. When having a subject that you would normally use it for, you
can either use demonstrative pronouns (acesta (this masc.), aceea (that fem.)
etc.), or simply refrain from using a pronoun.

English Romanian

I eu

you tu

he / she / it el / ea / N/A

we noi
 English Romanian

you (pl.) voi

they (masc. / fem.) ei / ele

To be
In Romanian, the subject of any setence has to be in agreement with the verb
representing the action it is performing. This agreement is
called conjugation and comes with its own set of rules and exceptions. Below
you will find the conjugation table for a fi (to be).

English Romanian

I am eu sunt

you are tu eşti

he / she is el / ea este

we are noi suntem

 English Romanian

you are (pl.) voi sunteţi

they are (masc. / fem.) ei / ele sunt

Inflection
Compared to English, Romanian is an inflected language. This means that the
words of the language are comprised of roots, which rarely change, and
inflections, or endings. Although not all words change form, most of them
(nouns, adjectives, pronouns, verbs) do.

Cases
Even though Romanian has five cases, (nominative, accusative, dative,
genitive, and vocative), respectively dative and genitive have the same form.

Below is an example of how a noun forms differ in Romanian but remain the
same in English.

Case English Romanian

nominative man bărbat

accusative man bărbat

 Case English Romanian

dative man bărbatului

genitive man's bărbatului

vocative man bărbatule/bărbate

To have
Conjugation table for a avea (to have).

English Romanian

I have eu am

you have tu ai

he / she has el / ea are

we have noi avem

 English Romanian

you have (pl.) voi aveţi

they have (masc. / fem.) ei / ele au

Salut!
Romanian culture puts a great emphasis on politeness. Thus, knowing how to
greet is an essential skill for anyone learning the basics.

Formal greetings

English Romanian

Good day Bună ziua

Good morning Bună dimineața

Good evening Bună seara

 English Romanian

Good night Noapte bună

Good bye La revedere

Less formal greetings

Apart from salut (hi), most Romanian informal greetings have higher usage
only in particular regions but are understood by virtually everyone.

Also, some ways of greeting can be use when meeting and departing.

English Romanian

Hi Salut

Hi Bună

Hi Ciao

Hi Servus
 English Romanian

Bye Pa

Bye Salut

Bye Ciao

Polite pronouns
Much like in the case of the French language, Romanian has a special
politeness pronoun. If you want to be explicitly polite, you use the following
forms.

English Usual Polite

you tu/voi dumneavoastră

he el dumnealui

she ea dumneaei
 English Usual Polite

they ei/ele dumnealor

This difference also adds more polite forms of some phrases.

English Usual Polite

please te rog vă rog

thank you [îți] mulțumesc/mersi [vă] mulțumesc

Uncountables
In Romanian, the equivalent of uncountable nouns are the nouns lacking a
plural form. Some exmples would be lapte, miere, zahăr etc. Like in English,
these nouns usually denote substances or concepts that cannot be separated
into individual elements.

When talking about food, for example, you should use the singular of nouns
lacking plural form and the plural for all others, as long as the quantity is not
known.

English Romanian

I never eat sugar. Eu nu mănânc zahăr niciodată.

 English Romanian

They eat tomatoes every day. Ei mănâncă roșii în fiecare zi.

If the quantity is known, you should use the proper form.

English Romanian

We are eating two cucumbers. Noi mâncăm doi castraveți.

You are eating a cake. Voi mâncați un tort.

Meals

English Romanian

breakfast mic dejun

lunch prânz

supper cină
 English Romanian

Courses

English Romanian

entrée/first course antreu/felul întâi

main course felul principal/felul doi

dessert desert

Compound food names

In order to use more complex names of foods that usually require multiple
nouns, you will have to use a preposition. The two most frequent ones when it
comes to food are de (of) and cu (with).

de is used when in English you would normally use nothing, while cu is simply
translated from the English with. (usually used in the case of dish names)
 English Romanian

cocoa butter unt de cacao

seawater fish pește de mare

chicken with soy sauce pui cu sos de soia

There are some exceptions when one language may have a specialized word,
whereas the other will use a compound noun, like carne de vită (beef), or even
miss the preposition de entirely, like lună plină (full moon).

This will come in handy later, as it applies to most English compound nouns
that are also translated to compound nouns in Romanian.

Animal names for male, female, and baby

Romanian has specialized names for common animal types. The plural is
formed from either the male or the female form.

English Male Female Baby Plural

horse cal iapă mânz cai

chicken cocoș găină pui găini/pui

 English Male Female Baby Plural

sheep berbec oaie miel oi

goat țap capră ied capre

cattle taur vacă vițel vaci

Animal groups
Like in English, some groups of animals have specialized names. Herbivores,
for example, will get the name turmă which is similar to the word herd.

 turmă de oi (flock of sheep)

 turmă de elefanți (elephant herd)
 turmă de vaci (cattle herd)

For birds one would usually use the word stol.

 stol de ciori (murder of crows)

 stol de porumbei (flock of pigeons)

Some groups, though, have custom names.

English Romanian

pack of wolves/dogs haită de lupi

 English Romanian

beaver colony colonie de castori

bee hive/swarm stup/roi de albine

locust swarm nor de lăcuste

Plural forms by gender

Compared to English, Romanian plural forms have to be acquired when
learning each noun. Nevertheless, the forms are not completely irregular as
they roughly fall into categories, according to their gender:

Masculine

English Singular Plural Rule

carrot morcov morcovi cons. + i

bear urs urși cons. + i

English Singular Plural Rule

lion leu lei u→i

dog câine câini e→i

horse cal cai vowel + l → i

Feminine

English Singular Plural Rule

salad salată salate ă→e

cabbage varză verze ă→e

evening seară seri ă→i

beer bere beri e→i

 English Singular Plural Rule

book carte cărți e→i

coffee cafea cafele ea → ele

kitchen bucătărie bucătării ie → ii

Neuter
Note: Although Romanian has three genders, the neuter gender usually acts
like a masculine noun when being singular and feminine one when being
plural. If you see rules or tables where neuter is missing (which is probably
most of them), treat neuter nouns as either masculine or feminine depending
on their count.

English Singular Plural Rule

dessert desert deserturi cons. + uri

message mesaj mesaje cons. + e

menu meniu meniuri u + ri

 English Singular Plural Rule

tea ceai ceaiuri i + uri

Exceptions
Some examples like ou - ouă don't fit in any of the rules above and should
simply be remembered. In a similar fashion to English, some uncountable
nouns form plural with the use of compound nouns:

English Singular Plural

garlic clove cățel de usturoi căței de usturoi

pair of glasses pereche de ochelari perechi de ochelari

i/ii/iii
As mentioned in a previous lesson, Romanian is an inflected language. Each
word has its own stem that is inflected in order to convey meaning, and one
such examples is the plural.

Because some nouns' stems end with an i, you can have plurals that end
with ii or with iii if articulated.
 English Singular Plural Plural + article

lion leu lei leii

son fiu fii fiii

Verb moods
In Romanian, verbs have moods that help a speaker express attitude towards
something. (command, wish, etc.) Two important moods that you will use and
should probably remember are indicative and infinitive.

Indicative is the default mood use for factual statements and is the most
common one. Compared to English, infinitive is less used in Romanian (it has
more specialized moods instead), but it's very useful in
recognizing conjugation groups.

Conjugation groups
All Romanian verbs fall into four conjugation groups which help when
conjugating. Unfortunately, these groups are divided into further groups, but
they still help form four rough conjugation sets of rules that work for all regular
verbs with very minor exceptions.

The four groups are identified by the way verbs end when in the infinitive
mood.

Group Ending

I a
 Group Ending

II ea

III e

IV i or î

Irregular verbs
Irregular verbs have different conjugations that don't fall in the aforementioned
rules, but they are usually learned on the fly as they are not many.

A few examples are a fi (to be), a avea (to have), a vrea (to want), a da (to
give), a lua (to take), a ști (to know), a mânca (to eat), a face (to do), and a few
more.

Possessive pronouns
Like in English, Romanian distinguishes between two types of possessive
pronouns named relative and absolute.

Relative possessive pronouns are used when only wanting to replace the
owner.

 El e prietenul meu. (He is my friend.)

Absolute possessive pronouns, on the other hand, are used instead of the
owner and the owned object or person.

 Nu e al tău. (It's not yours.)

The absolute form is formed by adding the possessive article to the relative
form according to the gender and number of the replaced noun (neuter nouns
are masculine when singular, and feminine when plural):
 Number Masculine Feminine

Singular al a

Plural ai ale

Relative possessive pronouns

Relative possessive pronouns change form according to the owner's person
and number, and to the owned object or person's gender and number.

Owned Owned Owned Owned

Owner English
masc. sg. fem. sg. masc. pl. fem. pl.

1st person, my meu mea mei mele

sg.

2nd your tău ta tăi tale

person, sg.

3rd person, his său/lui sa/lui săi/lui sale/lui

masc. sg.

3rd person, her său/ei sa/ei săi/ei sale/ei

 Owned Owned Owned Owned
Owner English
masc. sg. fem. sg. masc. pl. fem. pl.

fem. sg.

1st person, our nostru noastră noștri noastre

pl.

2nd your vostru voastră voștri voastre

person, pl.

3rd person, their lor lor lor lor

pl.

Absolute possessive pronouns

Like in the case of relative possessive pronouns, they change form according
to the owner's person and number, and to the owned object or person's
gender and number, while also adding the possessive article in front.
 Owned Owned Owned Owned
Owner English
masc. sg. fem. sg. masc. pl. fem. pl.

1st mine al meu a mea ai mei ale mele

person,
sg.

2nd yours al tău a ta ai tăi ale tale

person,
sg.

3rd his al său/lui a sa/lui ai săi/lui ale sale/lui

person,
masc. sg.

3rd hers al său/ei a sa/ei ai săi/ei ale sale/ei

person,
fem. sg.

1st ours al nostru a noastră ai noștri ale noastre

person,
pl.

2nd yours al vostru a voastră ai voștri ale voastre

person,
pl.
 Owned Owned Owned Owned
Owner English
masc. sg. fem. sg. masc. pl. fem. pl.

3rd theirs al lor a lor ai lor ale lor

person,
pl.

Genitive-dative form
Possession can also be expressed by not replacing the owner with a
possessive pronoun and using the noun's genitive-dative form which is similar
to 's you would add in English to signal possession.

 Nu găsesc portofelul lui. (I can't find his wallet.)

 Nu găsesc portofelul bunicului. (I can't find grandfather's wallet.)

In the example above, we are keeping the owner, bunicului, instead of using
a pronoun-originating adjective, lui.

The genitive-dative form is better explained in a further lesson. The

introduction here is only meant to give you a bigger picture when it comes to
possession in Romanian.

Numerals up to ten
The parts of speech that refer to numbers directly are called numerals.

Up to the number ten, they have specific names:

English Romanian

zero zero
English Romanian

one unu

two doi

three trei

four patru

five cinci

six șase

seven șapte

eight opt

nine nouă
 English Romanian

ten zece

Numerals up to nineteen
Numerals between eleven and nineteen are formed from the numbers
euqivalent to their last digit and the ending sprezece (spre
zece means towards ten) with a few small exceptions.

English Romanian

eleven unsprezece

twelve doisprezece

thirteen treisprezece

fourteen paisprezece

fifteen cincisprezece
 English Romanian

sixteen șaisprezece

seventeen șaptesprezece

eighteen optsprezece

nineteen nouăsprezece

Tens
Numerals of tens are formed by adding zeci (tens) to the numbers equivalent
to their first digit.

English Romanian

twenty douăzeci

thirty treizeci
 English Romanian

forty patruzeci

fifty cincizeci

sixty șaizeci

seventy șaptezeci

eighty optzeci

ninety nouăzeci

In-between tens
To form numerals that are between tens, you need to start with the lower
boundary (23's lower boundary is 20) and add și (and) followed by the last
digit.

 douăzecișitrei (twenty-three) - douăzeci + și + trei

 patruzecișișase (forty-six) - patruzeci + și + șase

Larger numerals
Apart from the above, all other numerals will be composed from separate
words which are not hyphenated. To form them, you need to remember a few
multiples and their plural forms.

English Romanian Plural

hundred sută sute

thousand mie mii

million milion milioane

billion miliard miliarde

Here are a few examples. It's also common in Romanian to use the
prepositon de between multiples (apar from sută) in order to form larger
numerals but it is not necessary.

 șaizecișitrei (de) milioane două sute optzecișiuna (de) mii trei sute
paisprezece (63,281,314)
 un milion șapte (1,000,007)

1, 2 and 12
You may have noticed until now that the numerals for 1, 2 and 12 change
form. The reason why this happens is because they have different forms when
agreeing with masculine and feminine nouns in case it is used where you
would normally use an adjective.

For example:

 un bărbat / o femeie (one man / one woman)

 doi bărbați / două femei (two men / two women)

This also applies when using multiples (sute, mii, milioane) which are all
feminine.

English Masculine Feminine

one un o

two doi două

twelve doisprezece douăsprezece

In case you're wondering why unu is missing from the table above, it's
because this particular form is used only when talking about the mathematic
number one or quantities whose name is not provided. In other words, unu is
used only in the case of pure numerals, not adjectives form from numerals.

 Am doar unul. (I have just one.) - numeral

 Un om și jumătate. (One and a half men.) - adjective formed from numeral

Verbs for clothing

When it comes to clothes, in Romanian we use verbs like:

 a purta/to wear

English Romanian

I wear eu port
 English Romanian

you wear tu porți

he / she wears el / ea poartă

we wear noi purtăm

you wear (pl.) voi purtați

they wear (masc. / fem.) ei / ele poartă

 a (se) îmbrăca/to dress

English Romanian

I dress eu îmbrac

you dress tu îmbraci

 English Romanian

he / she dresses el / ea îmbracă

we dress noi îmbrăcăm

you dress (pl.) voi îmbrăcați

they dress (masc. / fem.) ei / ele îmbracă

In Romanian, we use its reflexive form (reflexive pronoun +

verb) :
mă îmbracI am getting dressed

te îmbraciYou are getting dressed

se îmbracăHe/She/It is getting dressed

ne îmbracămWe are getting dressed

vă îmbracațiYou are getting dressed

se îmbracăThey are getting dressed

Other verbs that require the same form:

 a (se) trezi/ to wake up

 a (se) spăla/ to wash
 a (se) bucura/ to enjoy etc.

Different verbs need different forms when translated into English

Eu mă spălI am washing myself

Tu te trezeștiYou are waking up

El/Ea se bucurăHe/She/It enjoys

Degrees of comparison
Unlike English, Romanian has only one way of comparing adjectives, and it
involves no irregulars. It does, however, involve some degree of inflection just
like in the case of adjectives.

Comparative

Comparative type English Romanian

of superiority more pronounced mai pronunțat

of inferiority less pronounced mai puțin pronunțat

of equality as pronounced la fel de pronunțat

Superlative
Relative superlative requires the use of the demonstrative pronoun cel which
has 4 forms that differ by gender and number. The pronoun has to agree with
noun that the adjective describes.
 Number Masculine Feminine

singular cel cea

plural cei cele

Relative superlative type English Romanian (masc. sg.)

of superiority most pronounced cel mai pronunțat

of inferiority least pronounced cel mai puțin pronunțat

Absolute superlative is straightforward; it is constructed by

prepending foarte (very).

 foarte pronunțat (very pronounced)

Present tense
Present tense verbs are used for indicating the fact that an action takes place
in the moment of speaking.

 a lucra/to work
 English Romanian

I work eu lucrez

you work tu lucrezi

he / she works el / ea lucrează

we work noi lucrăm

you work (pl.) voi lucrați

they work (masc. / fem.) ei / ele lucrează

 a tăia/to cut

English Romanian

I cut eu tai
 English Romanian

you cut tu tai

he / she cuts el / ea taie

we cut noi tăiem

you cut (pl.) voi tăiați

they cut (masc. / fem.) ei / ele taie

 a măsura/to measure

English Romanian

I measure eu măsor

you measure tu măsori

 English Romanian

he / she measures el / ea măsoară

we measure noi măsurăm

you measure (pl.) voi măsurați

they measure (masc. / fem.) ei / ele măsoară

 a cumpăra/to buy

English Romanian

I buy eu cumpăr

you buy tu cumperi

he / she buys el / ea cumpără

 English Romanian

we buy noi cumpărăm

you buy (pl.) voi cumpărați

they buy (masc. / fem.) ei / ele cumpără

The letters written in italics are called desinences (desinențe) and they
indicate the person (I,II,III) and the number (sg./pl).

Present tense can mark future or past actions in order to bring them in present
time.

Mâine mergem acasă. | Tomorrow we are going home.

Becul se inventează în 1897. | The light bulb is invented in 1879.**

Adverb or adjective?
 roșu/red

Mărul roșu este al meu. | The red apple is mine.

In this case the word roșu is an adjective, because it modifies a

noun (mărul/the apple).

El vede roșu în fața ochilor | He sees red in front of his eyes.

In this case the word roșu is an adverb, because it modifies a

verb (vede/sees).

Different forms
Colors can have different forms when acting like an adjective, according to
number/person:

câine negru black dog

câini negri black dogs

pisică neagră black cat

pisici negre black cats

EXCEPTIONS:

 mov (mauve)
 roz (pink)
 maro (brown)
 gri (gray)

These colors keep the same form, exactly like in English.

câine gri (gray dog) | câini gri (gray dogs)

pisică gri (gray cat) | pisici gri (gray cats)

Ordinal Numbers
How are they formed?

 masculine: al [cardinal number] + -le + -a

 feminine: a [cardinal number] -a

English Masculine Feminine

second al doilea a doua

English Masculine Feminine

third al treilea a treia

fourth al patrulea a patra

fifth al cincilea a cincea

sixth al șaselea a șasea

seventh al șaptelea a șaptea

eighth al optulea a opta

ninth al nouălea a noua

tenth al zecelea a zecea

eleventh al unsprăzecelea a unsprăzecea

 English Masculine Feminine

twentieth al douăzecilea a douăzecea

twenty-first al douăzeci și unulea a douăezci și una

First does not comply with the rules and has distinct formes:
primul/întâiul (masc. sg.) / primii/întâii (masc. pl.)
prima/întâia (fem. sg.) /primele/întâile (fem. pl.)

English Masculine Feminine

100th al o sutălea a (o) suta

101st al o sută unulea a o sută una

200th al două sutelea a două suta

300th al trei sutelea a trei suta

1000th al o mielea a (o) mia

 English Masculine Feminine

2000th al două miilea a două mia

50000th al cincizeci miilea a cincizeci mia

1000000th al (un) milionulea a milioana

Masculine ordinal numbers that are formed from eight, milion, bilion etc.:

al [cardinal number] -lea + -u : al optulea, al un

milionulea.
Feminine ordinal numbers that are formed from two, four, thousand, milion
etc. :

-a substitutes the final vowel of the cardinal number:

patru/a patra.
*Ordinal numbers that are formed from compound cardinal numbers:

we add -lea and -a only to the last numeral: al douăzeci

și cincilea, al o sută douăzecilea.
Present tense
 a vrea/to want
 English Romanian

I want eu vreau

you want tu vrei

he / she wants el / ea vrea

we want noi vrem

you want (pl.) voi vreți

they want (masc. / fem.) ei / ele vor

Tips and tricks: a vrea=a voi=to want

Even if a vrea and a voi mean the same thing, they have different forms for
present, past and future.

English Romanian

I want eu voiesc
 English Romanian

you want tu voiești

he / she wants el / ea voiește

we want noi voim

you want (pl.) voi voiți

they want (masc. / fem.) ei / ele voiesc

The problems with a vrea and a voi begin, even for native speakers, when we
use past time (in Romanian- timpul imperfect)

a vrea a voi wrong alternative

(eu) vream (eu) voiam (eu) vroiam

(tu) vreai (tu) voiai (tu) vroiai

 a vrea a voi wrong alternative

(el/ea) vrea (el/ea) voia (el/ea) vroia

(noi) vream (noi) voiam (noi) vream

(voi) vreați (voi) voiați (voi) vroiați

(ei/ele) vreau (ei/ele) voiau (ei/ele) vroiau

 a face/to do

English Romanian

I do eu fac

you do tu faci

he / she does el / ea face

 English Romanian

we do noi facem

you do (pl.) voi faceți

they do (masc. / fem.) ei / ele fac

 a răspunde/to answer

English Romanian

I answer eu răspund

you answer tu răspunzi

he / she answers el / ea răspunde

we answer noi răspundem

 English Romanian

you answer (pl.) voi răspundeți

they answer (masc. / fem.) ei / ele răspund

 a (a)dormi/to sleep

English Romanian

I sleep eu (a)dorm

you sleep tu (a)dormi

he / she sleeps el / ea (a)doarme

we sleep noi (a)dormim

you sleep (pl.) voi (a)dormiți

 English Romanian

they sleep (masc. / fem.) ei / ele (a)dorm

The main difference between a dormi and a adormi:

a dormi= to sleep
a adormi= to fall asleep

 a trăi/to live

English Romanian

I live eu trăiesc

you live tu trăiești

he / she lives el / ea trăiește

we live noi trăim

you live (pl.) voi trăiți

they live (masc. / fem.) ei / ele trăiesc

English Romanian

Weekdays/Zilele săpămânii

English Romanian

Luni Monday

Marți Tuesday

Miercuri Wednesday

Joi Thursday

Vineri Friday

Sâmbătă Saturday
 English Romanian

Duminică Sunday

Adverbial forms:

 lunea = on Mondays
Example: Lunea mergem la școală= We go to school on Mondays.
 marțea = on Tuesdays
 miercurea = on Wednesdays
 joia = on Thursdays
 vinerea = on Fridays
 sâmbăta = on Saturdays
 duminica = on Sundays

Did you know?

LuniLunaThe Moon

MarțiMarteMars

MiercuriMercurMercury

JoiJupiter Jupiter

VineriVenusVenus

SâmbătăSaturnSaturn

DuminicăSoareThe Sun
Weekdays in Romanian originate from Latin, where every day was named
after a planet.

Months of the year/Lunile anului

English Romanian Folk names

Ianuarie January Gerar

Februarie February Făurar

Martie March Mărțișor

Aprilie April Prier

Mai May Florar

Iunie June Cireșar

Iulie July Cuptor

August August Gustar

 English Romanian Folk names

Septembrie September Răpciune

Octombrie October Brumărel

Noiembrie November Burmar

Decembrie December Undrea

The folk names come from legends, agriculture, symbols of one season or
another, or weather particularities.

How to write the date with numbers?

In Romanian we use this system: dd.mm.yyyy.

Basic rules

English Romanian

stepmother mamă vitregă

 English Romanian

stepfather tată vitreg

stepdaughter fiică vitregă

stepson fiu vitreg

Three i rule:

Articulated and unarticulated forms of the masculine plural nouns and

adjectives ending in -iu, the noun child (copil) and the adjective roșu
(red) receive a three i termination:

Singular Plural Plural articulated

copil (child) copii (children) copiii (the children)

fiu (son) fii (sons) fiii (the sons)

roșu (red) roșii (pl.) roșiii (pl. art.)

Tips and tricks: synonymy

The Romanian word vitreg also means hostile, rough, ruthless.

Verbs

 a (se) mărita= a (se) căsători= a (se) însura= to marry

to marry a (se) mărita

I marry Eu (mă) mărit

You marry Tu (te) măriți

He/She marries El/Ea (se) mărită

We marry Noi (ne) mărităm

You marry (pl.) Voi (vă) măritați

They marry (masc./fem.) Ei/Ele (se) mărită

to marry a (se) căsători

I marry Eu (mă) căsătoresc

to marry a (se) căsători

You marry Tu (te) căsătorești

He/She marries El/Ea (se) căsătorește

We marry Noi (ne) căsătorim

You marry (pl.) Voi (vă) căsătoriți

They marry (masc./fem.) Ei/Ele (se) căsătoresc

to marry a (se) însura

I marry Eu (mă) însor

You marry Tu (te) însori

He/She marries El/Ea (se) însoară

 to marry a (se) însura

We marry Noi (ne) însurăm

You marry (pl.) Voi (vă) însurați

They marry (masc./fem.) Ei/Ele (se) însoară

 a boteza/to baptize

to baptize a boteza

I baptize Eu botez

You baptize Tu botezi

He/She baptizes El/Ea botează

We baptize Noi botezăm

 to baptize a boteza

You baptize (pl.) Voi botezați

They baptize (masc./fem.) Ei/Ele botează

Tips and tricks: differences

There are differences between a (se) mărita and a (se) însura.

a (se) mărita is used when we talk about women.
a (se) însura is used when we talk about men.

Traditions
In Romania, in the wedding day, the couple receives some special names:

The man becomes mire (groom), the woman becomes mireasă (bride).
Togheter they are called miri (the wedded couple).

Another tradition is the wedding vows renewal:

nunta de argint (silver wedding): 25 years anniversary.
nunta de aur (golden wedding): 50 years anniversary.
nunta de diamant (diamond wedding): 75 years anniversary.

Basic rules
Accusative pronouns can have two forms:
accented form
unaccented form: it may appear linked by a hyphen

pers./num. acc. unacc. English

I sg. (pe) mine mă-, m- me

 pers./num. acc. unacc. English

II sg. (pe) tine te, te- you

III sg. (pe) el/ea îl, l-, o, o- him/her

I pl. (pe) noi ne,ne- us

II pl. (pe) voi vă, v-, vă- you

III pl. (pe) ei/ele le, i-, le- them

Examples:

Pe tine te întreb.- I ask you.

Vouă nu vă place nimic.- You do not like anything.
El ne-a sfătuit ieri.- He advised us yesterday.
Ele i-au iubit. They have loved them.

Tips and tricks: pe

As you see, we use the preposition pe for accented forms of acusative

pronouns.

In English, pe can be also translated as:

on: The book is on the table- Cartea este pe masă.
by: He walks by foot- El merge pe jos.
upon: It was based upon two principles- A fost bazat pe două principii.
per: On this road should run two cars per band.- Pe acest drum ar trebui să
circule două mașini. pe/per bandă.
to: The cat is to their liking.- Pisica este pe placul lor.
over: The milk was all over me- Laptele era peste tot pe mine.
along: We are driving along a narrow road.- Conducem pe un drum îngust.
onto: They went up onto the ridge. - Ei s-au urcat pe creastă.

Noun gender
Most nouns have a well-established gender. However, some nouns are formed
by adding a gender suffix:

feminin from masculine:

doctor (doctor)- doctoriță (female doctor)
lup (wolf)- lupoaică (she-wolf)

masculine from feminine:

vuple (fox)- vulpoi (male fox)
vrabie (sparrow)- vrăbioi (male sparrow)

Tips and tricks: neuter nouns

Neuter nouns are usually naming objects. You can recognize them by counting
like this:
un [masc.]/o [fem.]

Or if it admits an demonstrative pronominal adjective:

acest [masc.]/acest[fem.]

un creion/one crayon două creioane/two crayons

acest creion/this crayon aceste creioane/these crayons

Prefixoids/Suffixoids
Prefixoid= groups of letters that are placed at the begining of the word, but that
don't have the characteristcs of a prefix.
Suffixoid= groups of letters that are placed at the end of the word, but that
don't have the characteristcs of a suffix.
Prefixoid Romanian English

arhi arhiplin crammed

hemo hemoglobină hemoglobin

foto fotosinteză photosynthesis

tele telecomandă remote control

hidro hidrocentrală hydropower plant

hipo hipoglicemie hypoglycaemia

hiper hiperactiv hyperactive

ultra ultracunoscut well-known

 Suffixoid Romanian English

log psiholog psychologist

fil cinefil film fan

fob claustrofob claustrophobic

cid insecticid insecticide

Lexical family
The lexical family consists of a main word and all the other words that can be
formed from that word

președinte president

președinție presidency

vicepreședinte vicepresident

copreședinte copresident
președinte president

președințial presidential

preot priest

preoție priesthood

preoteasă priestess

preoțesc sacerdotal

a (se) preoți to become a priest

inginer engineer

inginerie engineering

ingineresc regarding engineering

inginer engineer

inginerește as engineers do

pescar fisher

pescuit fishing

a pescui to fish

pescărie fishery

pescărește as fishers do

șofer chauffeur/driver

șoferie driving

a șofa to drive
 șofer chauffeur/driver

șoferiță driver (fem.)

Tips and tricks: președinție vs. președenție

Lots of native speakers are using the word președenție when talking about
presidency. This version is wrong.
The correct one is președinție, word derived from președinte.

Basic rules
The main role of the presposition is to realize a connecation relation between
words.

Even if the concept is the same in Romanian as it is in English, our

prepositions can have several corresponding words in English, depending on
context.

Romanian English

pe on, by, at, over, upon, along, on to

la to, at, in, on, for, with, about

de of, by, for, to, from, with, since, about, regarding

între between, among, amid, from

Romanian English

din of, in, from, out of, on, off, at, among, upon

în in, to, into, on, at, under, over, until, within

ca like, for, in

cu with, by, of, in, on, into

fără without, less, ex, besides

pentru for, to, on, toward(s)

lângă near, next, by, beside, over

sub under, in, below, beneath, underneath

 Romanian English

peste over, above, across, after, through

după after, by, for, to, on, from

către by, to, toward(s), near, for

printre through, among, between, amid

despre about, on, concerning, to

prin by, through, in, via, with, over, around

Tips and tricks: hyphen

When writing in Romanian, you should be concerned about using the hyphen.
At first glance, the same word, written with and without a hyphen, may seem a
little bit confusing. Be careful, because the hyphen really makes a difference.

The rule is simple: we use the hyphen when the words have meaning by
themselves
Example: la vs l-a

Eu merg la București- I go to Bucharest.

Ea l-a văzut ieri pe MIhai.- She saw Mihai yesterday.
Now the explanation: l-a merges two words:
l-- unaccented form of the personal pronoun el(he)
a- auxiliary form of a avea (to have), which formes with the main verb timpul
perfect compus

Did you know?

When it comes to poetry, Romania is on the Olympic podium. The hyphen has
a very important role in rhyme and meter.

O, rămâi, rămâi la mine,

Te iubesc atât de mult!
Ale tale doruri toate
Numai eu ştiu să le-ascult;
(O rămâi- Mihai Eminescu)

O remain, dear one, I love you,

Stay with me in my fair land,
For your dreamings and your longings
Only I can understand.

In this case, the hypen is used to merge the unaccented form of the personal
pronoun ele (they) and the verb a asculta (to listen), but only in order to
maintain the meter. In everyday talking and writing we use the form le ascult (I
listen to them).

Basic rules
In order to become a pronominal adjective, a demonstrative pronoun and a
noun should agree in number, gender and grammatical case.

Demonstrative pronoun is: proximity pronoun: acesta (this)

distance pronoun: acela (that) * identity pronoun: același (same)

The position of a pronominal adjective:

 the proximity adjectival pronouns and the distance pronouns can be placed
before and after the noun

 the identity adjectival pronouns can only be placed before the noun

The form of the proximity and distance pronominal adjective that is placed
before the noun is with the final -a: acest munte (this mountain), acel munte
(that mountain), această casă (this house), acea casă (that house)

Nominative Case/Acusative Case

gender/ number pronume de apropiere proximity pronoun

masc. sg. acesta this

masc. pl. aceștia these

fem. sg. aceasta this

fem. pl. acestea these

gender/ number pronume de depărtare distance pronoun

masc. sg. acela/celălalt that/other

masc. pl. aceia/ceilalți those/other

fem. sg. aceea/cealaltă that/other

fem. pl. acelea/celelalte those/other

 gender/ number pronume de intentitate identity pronoun

masc. sg. același same

masc. pl. aceiași same

fem. sg. aceeași same

fem. pl. aceleași same

Dative Case/Genitive Case

gender/ number pronume de apropiere proximity pronoun

masc. sg. acestuia its

masc. pl. acestora their

fem. sg. acesteia its

fem. pl. acestora their

gender/ number pronume de apropiere proximity pronoun

gender/ number pronume de depărtare distance pronoun

masc. sg. aceluia/celuilalt to him/other

masc. pl. acelora/celorlalți to them/other

fem. sg. aceleia/celeilalte to her/other

fem. pl. acelora/celorlalte to them/other

gender/ number pronume de identitate identity pronoun

masc. sg. aceluiași isame

masc. pl. acelorași same

 gender/ number pronume de identitate identity pronoun

fem. sg. aceleiași same

fem. pl. acelorași same

Tips and tricks: short forms

Do not mistake the short forms of the demonstrative pronoun with mood
adverbs or demonstrative articles:

 demonstrative pronoun
Cei din clasă au răspuns.- Those in class responded.

 demonstrative article
Ei sunt cei mai buni prieteni.- They are the best friends.

Tips and tricks: traditional forms

There are some traditional forms of these pronouns, used just in some areas
of our country. We also taught some of these forms as they are used by
speakers of Romanian often.

ăsta this (masc. sg.)

ista this (masc. sg.)

ălălalt other (masc. sg.)

aia that (fem. sg.)

aialaltă other (fem. pl.)

Basic rules
Units of Measurement in International System of Units (SI):

 metre for length

 kilogram for mass

 second for time

 ampere for electric current

 kelvin for temperature

 candela for luminous intensity

 mole for amount of substance

In Romania we usually use these units of measurement. However, there are

some exceptions:

Time/Timp

In spoken language, we express time in hours (ore) and minutes (minute).

oră minut secundă

hour minute second

Temperature/Temperatură

We express temperature in degrees Celsius:

 1 degree Celsius = 33.8 degrees Fahrenheit = 274.15 degrees Kelvin

graddegree

termometruthermometer

vremewheater

climăclimate

Lenght/Lungime
 Submultiples of meter

Romanian English Value

decimetru decimeter 0,1 meters

centimetru centimeter 0,01 meters

milimetru milimeter 0,001 meters

 Multiples of meter

Romanian English Value

decametru decametre 10 meters

hectometru hectometre 100 meters

kilometru kilometre 1000 meters

Tips and tricks: Metric System vs Imperial System

 1 mile (milă) = 1.609,344 m = 1.760 yards (yarzi) = 63.360 inches (țoli)

 1 inch (țol) = 25,4 milimeters

 1 foot (picior) = 12 inches (țoli) = 30,48 centimeters = 0,3048 meters

Mass/Masă

 Submultiples of gram

Romanian English Value

decigram decigram 0,1 grams

centigram centigram 0,01 grams

miligram miligram 0,001 grams

 Multiples of gram

Romanian English Value

decagram decagram 10 grams

hectogram hectogram 100 grams

kilogram kilogram 1000 grams

Be careful! The Kilogram is the unit of measurement of mass. When
measuring weight we should use another unit of measurement, the Newton.

Tips and tricks: Franctional Numbers

Fractional numbers indicate one part of a whole.

How are they formed?

 with the suffix -ime: pătrime (1/4), doime (1/2);

 the ones written with percentages: doi la sută=2%;

 jumătate (half), sfert (quarter), trei sferturi (three quarters)

Basic rules: Paronyms

Paronyms - words with similar forms and pronunciations, but with different
meaning.

 original (original) & originar (native)

 emigrant (a person who leaves their own country in order to settle
permanently in another.) & imigrant (a person who comes to live
permanently in a foreign country.)
 literal (word by word) & literar (which refers to literature)
 temporal (which indicates time) & temporar (temporary)
 solidar (united) & solitar (lonely)
 eminent(very intelligent) & iminent (something that is about to happen)

Did you know?

In Romania we have three officially recognized untranslatable words:

 dor: Strong desire to see or meet again someone or something dear or

even pain caused by love for someone or something that is far way.
 doină: Category of poetry and traditional Romanian slow folk music,
expressing a feeling of longing, grief, pain, melancholy, rebellion, love.
 colindă: Traditional Christmas song, which is sung by groups of people,
especially children, that are walking from house to house.

Tips and tricks: prepositions

In English we say She is on the television when referring to someone being on

a TV team, while in Romanian we say from the TV"...
Example: Femeia de la radio este tânără.- The woman from the radio is
young.
 Basic rules
Like for the accusative, the personal pronoun has two sets of forms in the
dative: stressed (full) forms and unstressed forms.

Please pay attention to the following facts:

1. In the 3rd person singular there are two stressed dative forms, one for
masculine (lui) and one for feminine (ei); the unstressed forms are identical (îi,
-i, i-, -i-)
2. In the 3rd person plural there is no gender opposition.
3. The unstressed forms of the personal pronouns in the dative, like those in the
accusative, always accompany a verb: — Îmi aduce Dan cartea. (Dan is
bringing me the book.)
4. The unstressed forms beginning with î- (îmi, îţi, îi) occur as separate words: —
Îmi explici asta? (Can you explain this to me?)
5. The unstressed short forms without î- (with the î- elided) are always attached
to another word that begins or ends in a vowel: Mi-a explicat asta. (He
explained this to me.)
6. The stressed forms of the personal pronouns in the dative are used
independently, in isolated constructions, or as a repetitive element, for
emphasis: — Îmi aduce Dan cartea. (Dan is bringing me the book.) — Ţie? (To
you?) — Da, îmi aduce cartea mie, nu ţie! (He's bringing the book to me, not to
you!)

Basic rules
The four states of aggregation:

solidăsolid

lichidăliquid

gazoasăgaseous

plasmăplasma

Tips and tricks: Numerical prefixes

In Science, but not only Science, it is good to know the numerical prefixes in
order to indicate how many sides a geometrical figure has, for example:

 bi- for two: Parlament bicameral (Bicameral Parliament)

 tri- for three: triunghi (Geometrical figure with three sides and angles)
 tetra- for four: tetrapod (animal with four legs)
 penta- for five: pentagon (polygon with five angles and five sides)
 hexa- for six: hexaedru (six-sided polygon)
 hepta- for seven: heptatlon (a track and field event in which each
competitor takes part in the same prescribed seven events)
 octa/o- for eight: octogenar (a person who is from 80 to 89 years old)
 nona-/enea- for nine: eneadă (reunion of nine things or people- rar.)
 deca- for ten: decadă (a period of ten years)

Tips and tricks : Vechime

This word refers to the age of an object (as in length of age). It is not to be
confused with the age of a person or a thing.

Basic rules
To begin with, the noun forms in the genitive and in the dative are identical.
However, the dative is the case of the indirect object, while the genitive is
mainly the case of possession, belonging or origin..

Example:

 Genitive: Cartea băiatului este aici. (The boy's book is here.)

 Dative: Îi dau cartea băiatului! (I give the book to the boy!)

CASE FORMS:
If not modified by an adjective or pronominal adjective, the Romanian noun in
the genitive or the dative will always be accompanied by its article, definite or
indefinite. The element that changes in the genitive-dative forms is the article.
It is only the feminine nouns that take a particular ending in the genitive-dative
singular. This ending is identical in form to the ending for the nominative plural.

Declension with the indefinite article:

 masculine and neuter nouns (not considering the article) have:

(i) one form for the singular in all cases; and

(ii) one form for the plural in all cases.

Example:

-- Nominative-Accusative singular: un pom (a tree); un scaun (a chair)

-- Genitive-Dative singular: unui pom (to a tree/ of a tree); unui scaun (to a
chair/ of a chair)

-- Nominative-Accusative plural: niște pomi (some trees); niște scaune (some

chairs)

-- Genitive-Dative plural: unor pomi (to some trees/ of some trees); unor
scaune (to some chairs/ of some chairs).

 feminine nouns (not considering the article) have:

(i) one form for the nominative-accusative singular; and

(ii) a different form for the genitive-dative singular and all the cases in the
plural.

Example:

-- N-A sing.: o floare (a flower)

-- G-D sing.: unei flori (to a flower/ of a flower)

-- N-A pl.: niște flori (some flowers)

-- G-D pl.: unor flori (to some flowers/ of some flowers).

 the indefinite article has three genitive-dative forms: unui (masculine and
neuter, singular), unei (feminine, singular) and unor (plural for the three
genders)

Declension with the definite article:

 masculine and neuter nouns (not considering the article) have:

(i) one form for the singular; and

(ii) one form for the plural in all cases.

Example:

-- N-A sing.:pomul (the tree); scaunul (the chair)

-- G-D sing.: pomului (to the tree/ of the tree); scaunului (to the chair/ of the
chair)

-- N-A pl.: pomii (the trees); scaunele (the chairs)

-- G-D pl.: pomilor (to the trees/ of the trees); scaunelor (to the chairs/ of the
chairs).

 feminine nouns (not considering the article) have:

(ii) one form for the nominative-accusative singular; and

(ii) a different form for the genitive-dative singular and all the cases in the
plural.

Example:

-- N-A sing.: floarea (the flower)

-- G-D sing.: florii (to the flower/ of the flower)

-- N-A pl.: florile (the flowers)

-- G-D pl.: florilor (to the flowers/ of the flowers).

However, for the feminine nouns that take the ending -ii in the nominative-
accusative plural, the ending changes into -ie in the genitive-dative singular,
and the article is attached to this form:

-- N-A sing.: o familie (a family)

-- N-A pl.: niște familii (some families)

-- G-D sing.: familiei (to the family/ of the family)

-- G-D pl.: familiilor (to the families/ of the families) |

 the definite article has three genitive-dative forms: -(u)lui (masculine and
neuter, singular), -i (feminine, singular) and -lor (plural for the three
genders).

DIFFERENTIATING THE GENITIVE AND THE DATIVE:

The Genitive:
The case question of the genitive is al, a, ai, ale cui? (whose?).

In simple constructions or sentences, the noun in the genitive is placed after

the noun that it modifies, in its immediate proximity:

 cartea profesorului (the professor's book);

 mama Corinei (Corina's mother);
 misterele Egiptului (the mysteries of Egypt).

In such simple combinations, the noun modified by the genitive takes the
definite article.

If the modified noun takes the indefinite article, or if it is modified by one or

more adjectives or by a noun in the accusative, the noun in the genitive will
take the possessive or genitive article:

 o carte a profesorului (a book of the professor);

 cartea nouă a profesorului (the professor's new book);
 mama minunată a Corinei (the wonderful mother of Corina);
 misterele fermecătoare ale Egiptului (the enchanting misteries of Egypt).

The Dative:
The dative indicates the person or thing the action of the verb is directed to.
The case question of the dative is cui? (to whom?).

The dative comes after certain verbs related to the general idea of giving:

a da (to give)

a oferi (to offer)

a înmâna (to hand in)

a dărui (to give a gift)

a spune (to tell, to say)

a explica (to explain)

a promite (to promise)

a arăta (to show).

Useful words regarding places

Our country is organized by counties (județe) and each county has its own
county seat (reședință de județ). It is also devided by regions, nine in total.

Restaurants: useful words

 chelner- waiter with the feminin form cheleneriță

 bucătar- cook, but we also use chef(more formal)
 tacâmuri- tableware, including furculiță (fork), cuțit (knife), lingură (spoon).
 șervețel- table napkin
 notă de plată- bill

Hotels: useful words

 recepție- reception
 cameristă- maid
 parcare- parking lot
 seif- safe-deposit box
 room service is used in Romanian too

Churces: useful words

 icoană- icon
 rugăciune- prayer
 preot- priest
 altar is used in Romanian too
 lumânare- candle

Markets: useful words

 fructe- fruits
 legume- vegetables
 flori- flowers
 a negocia- to negotiate

Museums: useful words

 tablou- painting
 statuie- statue
 artă- art
 ghid- guide
 a contempla- to contemplate

Theatres: useful words

 piesă de teatru- play

 actor- actor, with the feminine form actriță
 comedie- comedy
 tragedie- tragedy

Cinemas: useful words

 bilet- ticket
 loc- seat
 film- movie
 floricele de porumb- popcorn, but more often we use popcorn too
 acțiune- action
 regizor- director

Libraries: useful words

 carte- book
 autor- author
 literatură universală- universal literature
 a împrumuta- to borrow
 beletristică- fiction
 poezie- poetry

Schools: useful words

 elev- student
 profesor- professor
 director adjunct- deputy director
 manual- textbook
 temă- homework
 orar- schedule

Shops: useful words

 rest- change
 raion- departament
 reducere- discount (also used in Romanian)
 a plăti- to pay

Basic rules
Prepositions

When talking about visiting a country or another, the right preposition is în:

Plec în Suedia- I go to Sweden

When moving from a country, the right preposition is din:

Mă mut din Italia- I move from Italy

Grammatical agreement

 locuitorii Suediei- inhabitants of Sweden

 locuitorii Argentinei- inhanitans of Argentine

 locuitorii Statelor Unite ale Americii- inhabitants of the United States of

America
 locuitorii Danemarcei- inhabitants of Denmark

Be careful! the form Danemarcăi is wrong!

 locuitorii Țării Galilor- inhabitants of Wales

literatură danezăDanish literature

literatură argentinianăArgentinean literature

literatură americanăAmerican literature

literatură galezăWelsh literature

costum rusescRussian outfit

costum englezescEnglish outfit

costum brazilianBrazilian outfit

costum românescRomanian outfit

Tips and tricks: phobias (fobii)

In Romanian we call xenofobie the irrational dislike or fear of new (including

other countries or people from other countries).

Every phobia in our language is ended in -fobie, wich is a suffixoid that

means fear, distase

Manners of adress
 for king: Sire or Majestatea Voastră (Your Majesty)
 for queen: Majestatea Voastră
 for princess/for prince: Alteța Voastră Regală (Your Royal Highness)
 for president/ for amabssador: Excelența Sa (His Excelence)

Tips and tricks: pleonasms

A pleonasm is the use of more words than are necessary to convey meaning,
either as a fault of style or for emphasis.
 alegeri electorale | elegere= election & electoral= regarding election
 dar totuși | dar= totuși= but, however etc.
 perspectivă de viitor | perspectivă=perspective (and it can only be viewed
in future) & viitor= future
 aversă de ploaie | aversă= short, abundant rain & ploaie= rain

Did you know? Romanian politics

Our Parliament is divided into two chambers: Camera Deputaților (The

Chamber of Deputies) and Senatul (The Senate).

The President has a five-year mandate, but a member of the Parliament has a
four-year mandate. We have a democratic vote, so everyone who is 18 years
old or older can vote on election day.

Since we became a democracy, we only had four presidents (including our

president in function, Mr. Klaus Iohannis).

Crimes

furt theft

evaziune fiscală tax evasion

violență violence

abuz în serviciu abuse of power

amenințare threat

abuz verbal verbal abuse

Tips and tricks: crime vs. murder

In English, the word crime is used for expressing an action that is punishable
by law (generally speaking), and the Romanian equivalent is delict.

The word crimă, (very similar with crime, but they don't have the same
meaning) in Romanian, it means murder.

Basic rules
Conjunctions can be:

 coordinator conjunctions

și, nici and, neither

dar, iar, însă, ci but, and, however, but

sau, ori, fie or

deci, așadar so, therefore

 subordinate conjunctions

să ~ should

că that

dacă if

deși although

Phrases

precum și as well as

numai că only that

prin urmare if

pentru că therefore

fără să without

până să until
Tips and tricks

We use comma:

 before dar, iar, însă & ci

 before sau, ori, fie used twice

Ori rămâi, ori pleci- Either you stay or you leave

 before așadar, deci

Basic rules
The adverb is a word or phrase that modifies the meaning of an adjective,
verb, or other adverb, expressing manner, place, time, or degree

Types:

 adverbe de loc (place): aici (here), acolo (there), sus (up)

 adverbe de timp (time): azi (today), devreme (early), curând (soon)
 adverbe de mod (manner): bine (well), da/nu (yes/no), agale (slowly)

Derived adverbs

Suffixes:

 -ește: iepurește, românește

 -iș: cruciș, pieptiș
 âș: târâș

Compound adverbs

a) adverb + subs. (noun): azi-dimineaţă (this morning), ieri-noapte (yesterday

night), mâine-seară (tomorrow evening);

b) adverb + adverb: oriunde (anywhere), oarecum (somewhat), orişicând

(anytime), târâş-grăpiş (with difficulty);

c) prep. (preposition) + adverb: de abia (barely), până când (until), până unde
(how far), încotro (where).

Tips and tricks:

– nu îi … (lui/ei): Nu-i (nu îi) dă voie să vină.

– nu e/este: Nu-i (nu e/este) de acord.

Interrogative Pronouns
Example: Cine a cumpărat cărțile?- Who bought the books?

The main role of the Interrogative Pronoun is to replace the noun that is
expected as an answer to the question which includes the pronoun.

Pronoun forms:

cine?/cui?who?/whose?&whom?

ce?what?

care?which?

căruia?/cărora?whose?

cât?how much?

Adjectival Pronoun

Example: Pentru cine sunt cărțile?- For whom the books are?

Relative Pronouns
They have the same form as the interogative pronouns.

When the relative pronoun agrees with a noun, they become adjectival relative
pronouns.

Be careful at the form of the adjectival pronoun:

Casa ale cărei geamuri sunt albe e mare.-The house whose windows are
white is big.

In this situation we use ale because we have the noun geamuri in the plural,
neutral form. The grammatical agreement is made between this words.

Indefinite Pronouns
Pronoun forms:

Simple:
 altulanother

unulone

Compound (some examples):

cevasomething?

oricineanyone

altcevasomething else

Some indefinite pronouns are invariable (ceva, altceva), but there are others
that can vary depending on genre (fiecăruia/fiecăreia), or even case and
number.

Negative Pronouns
Pronoun forms:

 nimeni
 niciunul/niciuna
 nimic

Be careful! There is a big difference between niciunul and nici unul!

Examples: Niciunul din ei nu a primit slujba.- None of them got the job.

Nu a cumpărat nici un pepene, nici o portocală.- He neither bought a

watermelon, nor an orange.

In the last case, un and o are indefinite articles.

Prepositional Phrases
Prepositional phrases consist of one or two prepositions and another part of
speech:

 articulated or non-articulated noun: în urma (behind), în spatele (behind), în

loc de (instead of);
 articulated or non-articulated adverbs: pe dinaintea (before), aproape de
(close to), în afară de (apart from);

Tips and Tricks: preposition vs. adverb

Usually, prepositions and prepositional

phrases are articulated, adverbs and adverbial phrases are non-articulated.

Examples: Ei merg înainte.- They walk ahead (adverb)

Ei merg înaintea lui.- They walk before him (preposition)

Many prepositions can also consist of a personal pronoun (Dativ Case,

unaccented form):

asupra-mi (asupra mea)on me

în juru-ți (în jurul tău)around you

în fața-ți (în fața ta)in front of you

Tips and tricks: care vs. pe care

Another frequent gramamtical mistake is forgetting the preposition pe in this

structure and making the phrase more than ambiguous.

Examples:
Oamenii CARE au venit sunt fericiți.- The people who came are happy.
Oamenii PE CARE i-am văzut sunt fericiți.- The people I have seen are happy.

Ea a venit cu o fată PE CARE o urăște.- She came with a gril that she hates.
Ea a venit cu o fată CARE o urăște.- She came with a girl that hates her.

As you can see, it is a big difference regarding the meaning, depending on

who does the action and who suffers it.

Diminutives and Augmentatives

Diminutives- nouns formed by derivation with diminutival suffixes, naming
objects that are smaller than the main object.
 Main object Diminutive

deget (finger) degețel

burtă (belly) burtică

palmă (palm) pălmuță

obraz (cheek) obrăjor

față (face) fețișoară

In Romanian, there are several diminutival suffixes: -aș, -el, -ic, -ișor etc. .

Examples: iepuraș (bunny), șoricel (mouse), lăptic (milk), peștișor (fish);

Diminutives are also used for expressing sympathy.

Examples: mamă (mother)- mămică (mum)

Augmentatives- nouns formed by derivation with augmentative suffixes,

naming objects that are bigger than the main object.

Main object Diminutive

palmă (palm) pălmoaie

 Main object Diminutive

pumn (fist) pumnoi

Suffixes: -an, -andru, -oi, -oaie;

Examples: bogătan, cățelandru, cuțitoi, căsoaie;

Did you know?

In Romanian literature, diminutives and augmentatives are used as figures of

speech, highlighting qualities or flwas of one character or another.

Example: Atunci Gerilă suflă de trei ori cu buzișoarele sale cele iscusite și
casa rămâne nici fierbinte, nici rece [...]
Ion Creangă- Povestea lui Harap Alb

Then Gerilă blew three times with his cunning little lips and the house
remains neither hot, nor cold [...]
Ion Creangă- The story of Harap Alb

Tips and tricks: phrases & sayings

 A-și lua inima-n dinți: To screw up one's courage.

 A-l durea în cot: Couldn't care less

 A sta cu ochii în patru: To be on the lookout

 A ține piept: To withstand

 A da din coate: To scramble

Loanwords
Loanword- a word adopted from a foreign language with little or no
modification.
In Romanian, we still use some words that come from the extinct Dacian
language, such as:

 amurg- twilight

 brad- fir tree

 brânză- cheese

 melc- snail

 viscol- blizzard

The Slavic influences are the most pronounced ones because the Slavonic
language was once the main language of the administration, diplomacy, also
used in the religious cults.

 Rai- Heaven

 prieten- friend

 vrăjmaș- enemy

 bogat- rich

 duh- spirit

The direct contacts between the Romanian culture and the Hungarian culture
led to a significant influence regarding our lexicon.

 chin- struggle

 neam- nation

 chipeș- handsome

 a chibzui- to contemplate

 pildă- parable

Turkish influences began to manifest in the 16th century, because of the

vassal relationship between Țara Românească & Moldova and the Ottoman
empire

 dușman- enemy

 chef- binge
 murdar- dirty

 dușumea- floor

 cherhana- fishery

Loanwords of Greek origin:

 mănăstire- monastery

 politicos- polite

 a (se) plictisi- to get bored

 ifose- airs

 Patriarh- Patriarch

Loanwords of French origin:

 alambicat- sophisticated

 obsesie- obsession

 grup- group

 meditație- meditation

 cochet- coquettish

Loanwords of English origin:

 site

 job

 airbag

 clovn- clown

 a scana- to scan

Tips and tricks: English words&expressions

 to make sense

The correct translation in Romanian for this expression is a avea sens, with
the verb a avea (to have) not * a face sens, with a face* (to do).
 hazard

The correct translation in Romanian is destin (destiny), not dezastru.

 determination

The correct translation in Romanian is hotărâre (decision), not determina

Basic rules
In Romanian, we use the expressions:

 a face curățenie (with the verb a face/to do) in order to express cleaning up
(something).

 a duce gunoiul (with the verb a duce/to carry) in order to express taking the
rubbish out.

 a face baie (with the verb a face/to do) in order to express taking a bath.

We also have some different words for living room (we use this form in
Romanian too, we also use just living): sufragerie, cameră de zi, cameră de
oaspeți.

Related verbs&nouns:

Noun Verb

mătură (broom) a mătura (to sweep)

cuptor (oven) a coace (to bake)

aspirator (vacuum cleaner) a aspira (to vacuum)

 Noun Verb

fier de călcat (iron) a călca (to iron)

mașină de spălat (washing machine) a spăla (to wash)

Basic Rules
Other forms for sensations:

FOAME

 înfometat- starved

 fomiță (diminutival form)- hunger

 foamete- famine

SETE

 însetat- thirsty

FRICĂ

 înfricoșat- frightened

 neînfricat- fearless

 fricos- fearful

 înfricoșător- scary

FRIG

 înfrigurat- cold

 friguț (diminutival form)

CALD
 încălzit- heated

 călduț (diminutival form)

 călduros- warm(ly)

RUȘINE

 rușinat- ashamed

 rușinos- shameful

 nerușinat- shameless

POFTĂ

 pofticios- greedy

TEAMĂ

 temător- fearful

SOMN

 somnoros- sleepy

 somnic (diminutival form)

 somnolent- drowsy

LENE

 a lenevi- to laze

 leneș- lazy

INDIFERENT

 indiferență- indifference

DRAG

 drăguț- nice

 drăgăstos- loving(ly)