Learning Romanian language

"...so - aşa... '

so meaning 'very' or so meaning 'and' or 'therefore'?

Doesn't "esti sa frumoasa" translate as "You are so beautiful"? Is that 'sa' with an 's' or an 'ş'? And may I ask what accounts for the forms 'sa' as compared with 'aşa'? Is sa just a shortened form of aşa or is there more to it than meets the eye?

Very interesting stuff!

(p.s. Happy Birthday to you, Soso!)

Originally Posted by wolver99

"...so - aşa... '

so meaning 'very' or so meaning 'and' or 'therefore'?

aşa is hard to translate in english in just one word. It basically means: "like this"
Îmi place aşa==I like it like this
Fă aşa!--- Do like this!

But in contexts like "(esti )aşa frumoasă" it is translated with "so": (you are) so beautiful

Originally Posted by wolver99

Doesn't "esti sa frumoasa" translate as "You are so beautiful"? Is that 'sa' with an 's' or an 'ş'? And may I ask what accounts for the forms 'sa' as compared with 'aşa'? Is sa just a shortened form of aşa or is there more to it than meets the eye?

Esti așa frumoasă. That's the sentence. The sentence you wrote is not correct, it doesn't mean anything.

"...Esti așa frumoasă. That's the sentence. The sentence you wrote is not correct, it doesn't mean anything..."

Okay, now I am confused again; it comes from these lyrics by Holograf, the song Asa Frumoasa, I believe:

Esti sa frumoasa si daca m-ai iubi,
As atinge luna si timpul s-ar opri
Esti sa frumoasa
Si ne-am iubi o viata intr-o zi

...and is where my question partly originated from.

?

Ești așa frumoasă și dacă m-ai iubi,
Aș atinge luna și timpul s-ar opri
Ești așa frumoasă
Și ne-am iubi o viață într-o zi

This is what they sing, this is the only correct way to say it. Your confusion comes from the fact that there were typos in the lyrics And nobody corrected them when translating the song. It happens. Sometimes when I translate a song I don't mind the typos in the Romanian text because I can understand it with or without typos. Especially if I know the song I don't even pay too much attention to what's written.

lol, my confusion and my embarrassment. Now I understand the puzzled looks I kept getting when trying to show off my new verbal skills when I'd say "esti 'sa' frumoasa..."---but no one ever corrected me!

How am I ever going to learn this if Romanians insist on being so polite?!



Thanks, dya, and yes, I know it happens, but I am ill-equipped to know when it has---or exactly how it's all supposed to sound many times when listening to the audio along with the lyrics.

Okay, I'd better get back to my other job again....

Just a hint: tell your friends to correct you and assure them you don't mind, you don't take it personally and you're not offended by it.

When someone is trying to learn our language(which incidentally is not an international one and does not arise too much interest usually) we are simply glad, proud and honoured so we have no intention of discouraging that person by correcting mistakes at every step. We know it's a difficult language and we don't want to make that person think about giving up, if we keep correcting every word.

So make that clear with the people you speak on messenger/phone. Insist that this is how you'll learn and that they would do you a favour by correcting you.

It should work

Thanks for the tip, dya, it is indeed working.

It has also made my Romanian friends feel much more open to laughing at me!
lol...A lot!

Which in this case is a good thing. Because now I'm making real progress (I hope).

Well, I'm glad it worked

And it will be progress, cause once "activated", your friends will probably do their best into showing you "the best way"

One Christmas surprise I received over the weekend is finding out that my neighbors, a young couple (they have a baby) who I generally see only in passing very quickly as they go their way & I go mine....speak Romanian.

The lady, who is from Moldava, says anytime I have a question about the language, just ask. Nice!

But now I have some questions and no one else is around to ask....

I'm wondering what the Romanian equivalents might be for these phrases & ideas:

1) wishful thinking

2) want me to give you a hint?/let me give you a hint (I can't find a word for 'hint' in my dictionary and no one seems to understand what I'm getting at when I try to substitute the word 'clue')

3) that's the impression I got/you gave me

4) making a fool of yourself/I don't want to make a fool of myself

5) I didn't expect that at all/I wouldn't have expected that

And that's enough play time...fell a bit behind in my studies over the Christmas weekend---too many nieces & nephews who still believe in Santa Claus (who of course is quite real)---but today I am, and will be for several hours, trying to make up for lost time.

Merry Christmas, everybody

Wolver, let's proceed:

1) wishful thinking---The only equivalent expression I can come up with now is "gândire pozitivă"-- positive thinking. We tell people: "gândești pozitiv" in the same way you refer to "wishful thinking", usually with an ironic shade

2) want me to give you a hint?/let me give you a hint - vrei să-ți dau un indiciu/ lasă-mă să-ți dau un indiciu (or stai să-ți dau un indiciu)

3) that's the impression I got/you gave me--asta-i impresia pe care am avut-o/pe care mi-ai lăsat-o/dat-o

4) making a fool of yourself/I don't want to make a fool of myself-- a te face de râs/ nu vreau să mă fac de râs

5) I didn't expect that at all/I wouldn't have expected that- nu m-am așteptat deloc la asta/nu m-aș fi așteptat la asta

Hope I helped

Thank you, dya, you did, very much so; and Merry Christmas to you, too.

Hmmm....wishful thinking, at least the idea I had in mind, means more along the way of hoping things will go the way you want them to, or have made up your mind to expect them to, even though they probably aren't going to happen that way at all. Just in case that helps...no wonder I can't make myself understood with my English-Romanian dictionary all the time...I thought I maybe could, but as it turns out, that was just so much---wishful thinking!

One more toughie, if I may: my family bought a puppy as a gift for my mother this Christmas...it is a mixed breed, part German Shepherd, part collie (and she's really foarte frumoasa and a real sweetie!)

Is there a best way to convey this puppy's mixed-breed status to my Romanian friend who is sure to ask later tonight? Thanks in advance yet again.

So: gândire pozitivă as an expression is meant to refer to exactly what you said.

It's just that, besides this meaning, we also use the expression in an ironic way, especially with the verb in it: Îmi place că gândești pozitiv! (I like it that you think positively----what I actually want to say is: I like that even if there's NO way for this to happen, you still "see" the way!)

As for the puppy issue I didn't understand what exactly you need? How to say "mixed-breed status"? That is(and the word used in any other context than referring to animals is insulting) :corcitură.

How to say German Shepherd? That is "ciobănesc german". Collie has no equivalent in Romanian. We use the same word. Or we say " Lassie" !!!

Alltogether, if you want to say that the puppy is a mixed breed, part german sheperd, part collie, you'd say: "este o corcitură între/de ciobănesc german si collie".

Hey Wolver and Dya.
I saw I missed the lines a little.
I'm very suprised how faster you learn Romanian. It's interesting. And the questions you're asking are not ordinary. For instance, I met a person who asked me If in Romania we speak Russian as a mother language. I remained something like : W*TF ?
Congratz my friend for beeing such a good student and of course to your teacher, DYA ! (sorry I skip classes, I'm in a rough periode)
Hugs and kisses to all .

Hey there! I missed some lines too..Hmmm..and this is not good..So,I will continue a bit later with the romanian lessons
Kisses..Pupici!:*

VERBS:

to be = a fi
to have=a avea
to go,to walk=a merge
to do,to make=a face
to read=a citi
to work-a lucra
to write=a scrie
to eat=a mânca
to drink=a bea
to sleep=a dormi
to run=a fugi
to return= a se întoarce
to arrive=a ajunge
to become=a deveni
to try=a încerca
to love=a iubi
to speak=a vorbi
to sing=a cânta
to dance=a dansa
can=a putea
to know=a şti
to understand=a înţelege
to hear=a auzi
to come=a veni
to say=a spune
to ask( question)=a întreba
to answer=a răspunde
to start=a începe
to finish=a termina
to buy=a cumpăra
to translate=a traduce
to know(somebody)=a cunoaşte
to explain=a explica
to prefere=a prefera
to ask(for something)=a cere
to send=a trimite
to let=a lăsa
to pay=a plati
to put=a pune
to take=a lua
to need=a avea nevoie
to live=a trai
to die=a muri
to live(somewhere)=a locui
to get in=a intra
to go out=a ieşi
to pass=a trece
to sit=a se aşeza
to stand=a se ridica
to search=a căuta
to find=a găsi
to keep=a pastra
to give=a da
to bring=a aduce
to forget=a uita
to dream=a visa
to learn=a învaţa
to help=a ajuta
to open=a deschide
to close=a închide
to remember=a îşi aduce aminte(a-şi aduce aminte),a îşi aminti (a-şi aminti)
to suffer=a suferi
to cry=a plânge
to forgive=a ierta
to smile=a zâmbi
to laugh=a râde
to meet-a se întâlni
to turn on=a aprinde(the lamp),a porni(the radio)
to turn off=a stinge(the lamp),a opri(the radio)
to feel=a simţi
to wear=a purta
to burn=a arde
to look (to something)=a privi,a se uita
to look (like)-a arata
to smell= a mirosi
to lose=a pierde
to win=a câştiga
to hate=a urî
to swimm=a înota
to jump=a sări
to fly=a zbura
to play=a se juca
to tremble=a tremura
to cut=a tăia
to push=a tăia
to pull=a trage
to get mad=a se enerva
to invite=a invita
to touch=a atinge
to hurt=a răni
to hide-a (se) ascunde

Enjoy!!!!

Thanks, Cristina...I was ust finishing up chatting with someone in Bucuresti and wanted to say 'I need to sleep.'

Would this be: 'Vreau a dormi' ?

Anyway, buna seara when your afternoon is done, and noapte buna even later than that.

Me....time for Dreamland. And thanks dya for the puppy talk, it went very well!

Hello!
As this thread is educational and useful, and this way also questions about grammar come in one place, I have made this thread to a Sticky.

I wish you all happy educating and learning!

Originally Posted by wolver99

Thanks, Cristina...I was ust finishing up chatting with someone in Bucuresti and wanted to say 'I need to sleep.'

Would this be: 'Vreau a dormi' ?

Anyway, buna seara when your afternoon is done, and noapte buna even later than that.

Me....time for Dreamland. And thanks dya for the puppy talk, it went very well!

Not really the verbs I put in the list are in the infinitive mode(like you find them in the dictionary).We didn't talk about the times or modes yet..
In the sentence "I need to sleep" the verb "sleep" is not in the infinitive mode,it is subjunctive so the translation for "to sleep" is "să dorm"..We will talk about this but step by step..

PRESENT TENSE for to be and to have

to be-a fi

I am=Eu sunt
You are=Tu eşti
He is=El este
She is=Ea este
It is=El/ea este
We are=Noi suntem
You are=Voi sunteţi
They are=Ei sunt (masculine)
Ele sunt (feminine)


to have=a avea

I have=Eu am
You have=Tu ai
He has=El are
She has=Ea are
It has=El/ea are
We have=Noi avem
You have=Voi aveţi
They have=Ei au
Ele au

Conjugation of the verbs in romanian:

Romanian verbs are categorized into four large conjugation groups depending on the ending in the infinitive mood(mode).

First conjugation: verbs ending in –a, such as a da (to give), a cânta (to sing), a lucra (to work)

Second conjugation: verbs ending in –ea (only when ea is a diphthong), such as a putea (can), a cădea (to fall),a vedea (to see)

Third conjugation: verbs ending in –e, such as a vinde (to sell), a crede (to believe),a merge (to go)

Fourth conjugation: verbs ending in –i or –î, such as a veni (to come), a urî (to hate).