Learning Romanian language

[Lenka]

baietii si fetele
/Hope its good/

See ya later...

[apiland]

Hello. Happy Easter to everyone.

My friend told me that there is a saying in Romanian that everyone says to teach other on easter. It is something like, "Christ is risen." There is also a standard reply, but I don't remember it. Can anyone help me with that?

Multumesc.

Alex

[dya]

Of course, here you areȘ

Hristos a înviat!(Christ has risen)

and the answer is

Adevărat a înviat!(True He has risen)

This is the Orthodox tradition so this "dialogue" is to be found in all the languages of Orthodox people.

[Night Wish]

Happy Easter to everyone from me to...Wish you so much love and happiness...!
Give all you wish to receive!!!
And btw...I can only confirm that Dya said...I live in Serbia and most people are Orthodox...and in my language we have the same sayings but they remain with Slavic sounds....
So this was something about something else...not Romanian...

[ivsmk]

Happy Easter to all the people who celebrate it!

This is my first post here... I'm so glad I found this forum and I'm very grateful to all the people who contribute to it. I've learned a lot in the past few days just by reading through posts here and some other translations of lyrics.

I have a question about "din" vs. "de la". What is the difference? They both mean "from", right? Here's the example sentence:

Am luat cartea de la Andrew.

Why "de la" and not "din"?

Mulţumest mult!

[dya]

Night Wish, Happy Easter to you too

Ivsmk, welcome. Here is your answer:

de la means from

din means from within

So: Am luat cartea de la Andrew--I took the book from Andrew

Am luat cartea din geantă--I took the book from within the bag.

din implies the notion of in, while de la implies the notion of at

El este din Londra--He is from London. (He's living in London)
El vine de la Londra--He come from London. (He' is/was at London and now comes here)

Această carte este din 1995--This book is from 1995 (It was made/bought/etc in 1995)

din has also a different meaning = made of
Bluza aceasta este din bumbac--This blouse is made of cotton.

This is just a brief explanation. If you need further clarification, tell me and I'll continue with other examples.

[ivsmk]

Thank you very much for the clarification, Dya. I think I understand now. I very much appreciate your help.

I definitely need to work on my grammar. Usually, I don't have much trouble understanding Romanian, because I have Aromanian background (I come from Macedonia). However, I do have difficulties when writing and speaking.

Anyway, my next question is: how do you say 'Good luck with your exams?' My guess is 'Noroc cu examenele tale', but I've never heard anything similar before, so I just wanted to confirm this.

Mulţumesc.

[wolver99]

How do you say Happy Name Day (or whatever the traditional greeting is) to someone in Romanian?

What kind of flowers would one send to a close female friend on the occasion of her name day (when she is close but not a girl friend, I mean)?

And while we're at it, I suppose, how does one say Happy Birthday in the best traditional Romanian way?

Multumesc.

[dya]

Hello

So:

Originally Posted by ivsmk

Anyway, my next question is: how do you say 'Good luck with your exams?' My guess is 'Noroc cu examenele tale', but I've never heard anything similar before, so I just wanted to confirm this

Your translation is a word-by-word one and it's correct. But in day-to-day conversations we do not use the possesive anymore. It's obvious that I refer to your exams when I'm wishing you good luck, so I'm saying:

Noroc la examene (if I want to use the word noroc)

The standard colloquial phrase is:
Baftă la examene

The standard formal expression is :
Succes la examene

Now, Wolver:

Originally Posted by wolver99

How do you say Happy Name Day (or whatever the traditional greeting is) to someone in Romanian?

+

Originally Posted by wolver99

And while we're at it, I suppose, how does one say Happy Birthday in the best traditional Romanian way?

La mulți ani! This is the only way of saying Happy Birthday and it is used both for birthdays and name days. Also it is used for every major holiday together with the specific saying in each case: Christmas, Easter, 1st and 8th of March, etc. And it is also used on New Year's occasion.

La mulți ani! literally means : Many Years. That's why it is used for every ocasion, cause actually what you're saying is : (may you live) many years to celebrate this occasion/holiday/day.

Originally Posted by wolver99

What kind of flowers would one send to a close female friend on the occasion of her name day (when she is close but not a girl friend, I mean)?

Basically any kind of flowers you know she likes(or you like). Yes, roses are well-known for their romantic significance(especially red roses) but they are also known as elegant, noble, stylish flowers and one can receive roses on her birthday from her parents, co-workers, etc. But if you think the person who receives these flowers may interpret the message in the wrong way, then avoid red roses.

Hope I helped

[wolver99]

I can only speak for myself, and of course it helped--very much. Multumesc, and now I can see how sending someone flowers from 'long distance' works out.

New question: Are 'din nou' and 'iar' pretty much interchangeable? I get the sense that they are not, although I don't quite understand, from either a grammatical, or usage, standpoint, just why this is.

[hashpe]

yes, 'din nou' is again and 'iar' is again
You can say "you hurt me 'iar" or "you hurt me 'din nou"

Y don't know if the english combination is ok... but i explained like this before )

[dya]

Hashpe is perfectly right. They mean absolutely the same thing.

The only "difference", if I can call it like this, is that iar is rather familiar, informal. In speech you make absolutely no difference (only that we chose iar because it's ...shorter!!) but in official letters, for example, you'll use din nou.

As for the meaning: they are absolute sinonims.

[wolver99]

Originally Posted by dya

The only "difference", if I can call it like this, is that iar is rather familiar, informal.

Ah, okay, that makes sense then.

Now I'm wondering if I might get translations of the following statements, as they would be expressed in the everyday manner---

1. And of course now that I have the chance to really joke with you I can't think of any to say.

2. I would never lie to you about something like that.

3. Yes, I know---you’re an angel.

4. No, really---it's true.

5. That's a lie.

6. You need to see my face when I say it, then you would understand.

7. And as amazing as that is, even more amazing is the fact that she really seems to believe that I believe it’s true.

8. Honest?

And this challenging paragraph, if anyone is willing to tackle it (having noted allusions to more 'advanced' syntax in the 'Speaking Ro' thread, I think), from a letter I am trying to write to a Romanian friend---

Of course around here even something as mundane as cleaning the coffee pot can turn into a big adventure...when the heating element has burned out...and, though I’ve pulled the plug, have neglected to empty out the old coffee and grounds...so that when I finally do get around to washing it, I find, to my utter astonishment...how alien and aggressive---though amazingly interesting, don’t get me wrong---some of these new local varieties of mold can be....and the colors, wow! Psychedelic.


Plus this common little rhyming poem (or its equivalent)--

Star light, star bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.


Lastly, do you have some equivalent of the saying "How time flies..." in both its meanings, of "...when you're having fun" as well as "before you know it (or just when you've stopped paying attention), it's gone"? Is it a common concept in your country, or at least common enough to be expressed in some everyday adage or aphorism?

Thanks much to all, for all. I really want to learn these things...soon, I hope!

Next time I will make my own translation attempts for posting to be checked, whenever I post new questions.

[dya]

Ok, let's start with these

1. And of course now that I have the chance to really joke with you I can't think of any to say.
Si, evident, acum ca am ocazia sa glumesc cu tine, nu-mi vine nimic in minte!

2. I would never lie to you about something like that.
Nu te-as minti niciodata in legatura cu asa ceva.

3. Yes, I know---you’re an angel.
Da, stiu--esti un inger

4. No, really---it's true.
Nu, vorbesc serios--este adevarat

5. That's a lie.
Asta-i o minciuna

6. You need to see my face when I say it, then you would understand.
Trebuie sa-mi vezi fata cand spun asta, abia atunci ai intelege

7. And as amazing as that is, even more amazing is the fact that she really seems to believe that I believe it’s true.
Si oricat ar parea de suprinzator, si mai surprinzator este faptul ca ea chiar pare sa creada ca eu cred ca-i adevarat.

8. Honest?
Cinstit?

[dya]

Next:

Of course around here even something as mundane as cleaning the coffee pot can turn into a big adventure...when the heating element has burned out...and, though I’ve pulled the plug, have neglected to empty out the old coffee and grounds...so that when I finally do get around to washing it, I find, to my utter astonishment...how alien and aggressive---though amazingly interesting, don’t get me wrong---some of these new local varieties of mold can be....and the colors, wow! Psychedelic.

Evident, pe aici chiar si un lucru pamantesc cum e curatarea filtrului de cafea se poate transforma intr-o mare aventura...atunci cand plita filtrului s-a ars...si, desi am scos filtrul din priza, am neglijat sa arunc cafeaua si zatul...asa ca atunci cand in final m-am dus sa-l spal, descopar spre totala mea uimire....cat de nepamantene si agresive--desi uimitor de interesante, nu ma intelege gresit--pot fi unele dintre noile varietati locale de mucegai...si culorile... wow! Psihedelic ( halucinant).

[dya]

Next:

Lastly, do you have some equivalent of the saying "How time flies..." in both its meanings, of "...when you're having fun" as well as "before you know it (or just when you've stopped paying attention), it's gone"? Is it a common concept in your country, or at least common enough to be expressed in some everyday adage or aphorism?

"How time flies..." --Cum zboara timpul

"How time flies when you're having fun" --Cum zboara timpul cand te simti bine!

"How time flies..." "before you know it (or just when you've stopped paying attention), it's gone"? ---Cum zboara timpul...inainte sa-ti dai seama, s-a dus!

And yes, this "lamentation" about how time flies is very common in Romanian as well I guess it's international

[dya]

As for the rhyme, I can only provide a word-by-word translation(as much as it still makes sense in Romanian). I don't have any imagination at this hour so I can't make it rhyme! Also, we do not have (or I'm unable to remember) a similar little poem to express this exact idea. Maybe someone else will come up with a better idea:

Star light, star bright,
Stea lucitoare, stea stralucitoare
First star I see tonight,
Prima stea pe care o vad in seara asta
I wish I may, I wish I might,
As vrea sa pot, as vrea sa pot
Have the wish I wish tonight.
Sa-mi indeplinesc dorinta pe care mi-o pun in seara asta

[ivsmk]

Originally Posted by dya

Hello
...
The standard colloquial phrase is:
Baftă la examene
...
Hope I helped

You definitely helped. Thank you so much, dya!!!

[dya]

You're welcome

[wolver99]

In case anyone missed this link before, this is one of my favorite--and most useful, to me, for hearing the living, spoken limba--resources on the net (besides this forum, desigur! ) --

http://www.tvr.ro/index.php

I've been watching this most recently--

http://www.tvr.ro/jurnal.php

Enjoy, it's great stuff for us students!

(I understand a little more each day.)

[wolver99]

Can someone please tell me the meaning of 'piteştiul'? It isn't in the dictionary, is it the name of a town? I found it when doing vocabulary & listening studies from the Romanian news site, scrolling across the bottom of the page in the bulletin:

Piteştiul fără apă caldă ('X' is without hot water...right?)

When I entered 'Piteştiul' into Google I only became more hopelessly lost...lol

Multumesc in advans.


(and in searching around I find the phrase 'Piteştiul după Piteşti' aici: http://civicmedia.ro/acm/index.php?o...703&Item id=1 dar "no results" in any of the dictionaries I have regardless of the forms of what appear to be possible root words of the 'ul' construction in the original, arrrrrgh! )

[thadeus]

here is another link for those who have problems with the pronunciation
just type the text in romanian and then click read on (select the romanian voice)

http://say.expressivo.com/nk1wucpo

use the full romanian alphabet (ă, ţ, ş, etc) in order to hear the correct pronunciation and don't use contractions like dute-n or şi-n (write duten or şin)

[wolver99]

^^^ thadeus multumesc foarte mult for that amazing link (pentru *aceala* linkul uimitor? Not sure what gender 'link' is), I've been playing with that all day, lol.