Learning Romanian language

[DeBaires]

I've learned that it's very impolite to use "ce?" when asking "what?" & instead to use "poftim/poftiti"...but when do I use which one?

Cuz "poftim" seems to have the ending for when verbs are conjugated in the "noi" form & "poftiti" in the "voi" form...so I'm just a little confused.

Also, is it rude to say "ce vrei" or "ce faci" or is there a way to use "poftim/poftiti" for those phrases as well?

Mersi anticipat

[kmmy]

Even if is impolite to use "ce?" is also very used and now about "poftim/poftiti" issue: u use it exactly like "tu" and "dumneavoastra". poftiti is used for pers that are older than u , or in an higher rank .. and poftim for friends etc ...

Ce faci? / ce faceti? works in the same way like poftim and poftiti.

"Ce vrei?" pa explicarte mejor te lo digo en espanol xq es muy parecida a mi idioma. ce vrei? = que queres?/ ce vreti? = que queren? .Ahora en las dos idiomas suena mas cortes preguntar que se te ofrece? = ce doresti?/ que se le ofrece?= ce doriti? no se si entendiste xq me parece que soy mala en dar explicaciones pero algo es algo

[DeBaires]

Si, si, gracias, entendi todo!

[rudaire]

Hello again..
How do I say in romanian:
I should go.
I should have gone.
I could have gone. "as fi putut sa merg?"


thanks for your help. You are amazing..

dave

[dya]

Hi everybody, I'm back

So, Rudaire:

I should go-- Ar trebui să merg
I should have gone--Ar fi trebuit să merg
I could have gone. "aș fi putut să merg"--exactly!!

[DeBaires]

Welcome back Dya!!! Sper ca ai avut o vacanta buna!


*in Spanish, we say "vacaciones buenas"~"good vacations"

should it be that way in Romanian as well?

[Katina]

Hey I already have a translation for this so I didn't see the point in posting this in a separate topic. Can someone please correct this song for me so it's as literally correct as possible? for example writing this line "Pe o ureche imi intra si pe alta imi iese" as "it comes in an ear and comes out by another" instead of "I never pay attention" does that make sense? thanks

Oare cat?
How much?

Oare cat o sa ma certe tata tam tara tam
How much is my father going to berate me
Sa ma culc in pat atunci cand noaptea bate la geam?
To go to sleep when the night knocks at my window?
Dar nici mama incantata nu-i cand vede ca eu
But mum isn't happy either when she sees that I
Pun papusile sa faca nani in locul meu
Make the dolls sleep instead of me

Pe o ureche imi intra si pe alta imi iese
I never pay attention
Cand imi spune care lucruri trebuie sa le fac
When he tells me what I should do
Si care nu-s bune
And what I shouldn't
Uite o vorba: daca m-am jucat cu canele
Look a rule: If I've played with the dog
Tre' neaparat sa-mi spal cu apa manele!
I must wash my hands!
Poate am noroc sa fac si ceea ce nu se poate
Maybe I'm lucky to do even the things that aren't allowed
Mai ales cand tata stiu ca cearta dar nu ma bate
Especially when I know my father berates me but doesn't beat me
Stiu ca nu-ti prea place dar si tu adu-ti aminte
I know you don't like it but remember
Cand ai fost ca mine nu cred ca ai fost mai cuminte
When you were my age I don't think you were any better
Mai cuminte...
Any better

[tigress_tim]

Originally Posted by Katina

Hey I already have a translation for this so I didn't see the point in posting this in a separate topic. Can someone please correct this song for me so it's as literally correct as possible? for example writing this line "Pe o ureche imi intra si pe alta imi iese" as "it comes in an ear and comes out by another" instead of "I never pay attention" does that make sense? thanks

Sure Katina It's the same thing Except one is literary and the other is word to word translation

[tigress_tim]

Now let's see this

Oare cat?
How much?
- - - I wonder how much

Oare cat o sa ma certe tata tam tara tam
- - - I wonder how much is father ....

Make the dolls sleep instead of me
- - - Put the dolls to sleep....


Oh My God ! This is perfect translation !!
Hoo, you guys seem to learn faster than ever - soon we "translators" here will run out of business very very very good Katina !
Even I wouldn't have done it better

[DeBaires]

I was wondering if there was any explanation for the similarties in words like "rai" & "răi", especially since those words are such opposites...

Another question, how come there's so much French influence in Romanian?

cauchemar-cosmar
cadeau-cadou
vous for you formal & plural - voi
d'accord - de acord
deja - deja

Is there anyway of knowing where the words come from? Cuz I can tell if they come from Latin, but if it's not Latin, it could be Slavic or German or Turkish, like "vinovat" - guilty~in Russian it's "vinovata", so that word is Slavic.

Do you guys get what I mean? Sorry for rambling on

[Sahrian]

Originally Posted by DeBaires

Another question, how come there's so much French influence in Romanian?

They are borrowings, as happens now with English words. French was the most influential foreign language in the Romanian culture those times.
But 'voi' is not French borowing (it is inherited from Latin 'vos') and is never used formally, formally you would say 'dumneavoastră'. 'Voi' is just the 2-nd person plural of the personal pronoun in nominative and accusative case.

Is there anyway of knowing where the words come from? Cuz I can tell if they come from Latin, but if it's not Latin, it could be Slavic or German or Turkish, like "vinovat" - guilty~in Russian it's "vinovata", so that word is Slavic.

Look for etymology in DEX ( http://dexonline.ro/ ).

[DeBaires]

Mersi mult pentru tot!

Originally Posted by Sahrian

They are borrowings, as happens now with English words. French was the most influential foreign language in the Romanian culture those times.

Any idea why it was French & not another Romance language?

& do you know how Romanian became the only Romance language with NO written accents?

[Sahrian]

Cu plăcere!

Originally Posted by DeBaires

Any idea why it was French & not another Romance language?

Because French was the most culturally prestigious from all Romance languages.

& do you know how Romanian became the only Romance language with NO written accents?

I think because they were considered to be superfluous for native speakers and there are not so many non-native speakers who learn the language . But in very few cases, in order to prevent confusion, accent is used, e.g. 'copii' (='children') and 'cópii' (='copies').

[viora]

What is the Romanian spoken in Serbia called?

[DeBaires]

Thanks a million Sahrian!

[wolver99]

Originally Posted by dya

@Wolver: so, your trip to Romania comes closer and closer to reality

Yes, dya! Unfortunately at the moment it's a case of "So near...yet so far, too." (& if you check your PM box when you get a chance, I think you'll figure out why.)

So did you have a nice "recharge"? Or is summer vacation (vacanta de vara? Sau vice-versa? ) still in session for you?

Oricum, am un pic mai mult timp acum...de fapt timp pentru a lucra la unele întrebări pentru a cere mai multe despre aceasta minunata limba de a ta--

(Anyway, I have a little more time now...in fact time to work on some more questions to ask about that wonderful language of yours--)

...from the colloquial pov, desigur, as I'm getting tired of being teased about my "phrase book" grammar and way of putting so many things, lol.

[dya]

I got the PM. And yes, the recharge was ok, but the present moment is a choas(see PM lol!)

Anyway, your phrase in Romanian was very good, except for the last part:

a cere mai multe detalii --it sounds better this way

limba ta not limba de a ta. The rest is perfectly fine

[viora]

My family is from Serbia, although they speak Serbian they also speak Romanian. But as I have been looking through the forums I can see that my family are speaking a different dialect. Can someone tell me what dialect it is and where can I learn it. Example: MILK - my family says > LAPCHE, Romanians say > LAPTE.

[DeBaires]

Originally Posted by viora

My family is from Serbia, although they speak Serbian they also speak Romanian. But as I have been looking through the forums I can see that my family are speaking a different dialect. Can someone tell me what dialect it is and where can I learn it. Example: MILK - my family says > LAPCHE, Romanians say > LAPTE.

I found that there's a large population of Serbs in a part of Romania called "Banat" & a dialect called "bănăţeană" is spoken there...so maybe that's what your family speaks?

Hope this helps!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_dialects

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian_Romanian

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banat

[Sahrian]

Originally Posted by viora

My family is from Serbia, although they speak Serbian they also speak Romanian. But as I have been looking through the forums I can see that my family are speaking a different dialect. Can someone tell me what dialect it is and where can I learn it. Example: MILK - my family says > LAPCHE, Romanians say > LAPTE.

Your family speaks the Bănăţean dialect of the Romanian language.
Edit: Learn firstly standard Romanian and then visit some place where the Bănăţean dialect is spoken, I think this is the easier way for you to learn it as long as you don't know some specific person eager to teach it to you .
To be more specific, the differences between Daco-Romanian dialects are too minor in order for them to have their own literary form different from standard Romanian.

[nefeli]

buna,
your page is great and i look as often as i can
but i prefer audio
i just finished my first pimsleur course of romanian.. and this is not enough for me..
do you know some audio? and the www page with that? or u can send by email etc?
multumesc mult

[rudaire]

can you help me to understand when exactly I should use atunci and when I should use apoi?? Are there rules I can learn?

thanks

dave

[DeBaires]

I think that "atunci" is "then" & "apoi" is more like "after" or "next"...but I could be wrong...I wouldn't be surprised if I am lol.