Learning Romanian language

Haha, mersi pentru tot, dya. Esti profesora mea particular. Mereu raspunzi orice chestiune ce am, esti cea mai buna dintre aici!

You're welcome, DeBaires And since I see you start to communicate in Romanian--congratulations!-- I need to make sure you do that correctly

Originally Posted by DeBaires

Esti profesora mea particular. Mereu raspunzi orice chestiune ce am, esti cea mai buna dintre aici!

Ești profesoara mea particulară. Mereu răspunzi la orice chestiune am, ești cea mai bună de aici / dintre toți.

And thank you for the compliment

Haha, again, thank you.

I actually have a couple questions if you don't mind.

How do you say "you're welcome"?

How do you say "what are you doing/looking at"? - ce faci/ ce privesti?

You're welcome <=> Cu plăcere

What are you doing ?<=> Ce faci?

What are you looking at? <=> La ce te uiți?

(La) Ce privești? is gramatically correct but not very much used. The closest equivalent for the verb a privi would be to watch but even for that we actually use the verb a se uita.

He watches television- El privește la televizor

but in 99&#37; of the cases we say:

El se uită la televizor.

Awesome, thanks.

Do you have AIM, MSN or an e-mail I can reach you at?

I feel bad always bugging you on here...

Originally Posted by DeBaires

I feel bad always bugging you on here...

It's ok, that's why I'm here

And besides, it's better to ask for explanations in here. This way, more people get to see/read/learn new stuff. And I don't have to write it twice. Once in private and then in here when somebody else asks for the very same piece of information

Foarte adevarat, tu castigi

Salut!!
I've spent my whole weekend studying Romanian and that's the result: Lots of questions!!

Originally Posted by Cristina

The vocative is less used as it is normally restricted to nouns designating people or other things we can address.

Example:
And you,Maria?-(Şi) tu,Maria? -The noun "Maria" is in vocativ case.

I'm wondering whether the vocative is used today in everyday speech or not? My Romanian book says that names are frequently used in nominative case instead of their vocative forms (e.g. "Maria" instead of "Mario" or "Radu" instead of "Radule"), but what about other words? E.g., do you say "Fetelor!" or just "Fete!" for "Girls!" or "Băieţilor!" or just "Băieţi!" for "Boys!"??

Originally Posted by Cristina

There are situations in Romanian when the noun in the genitive requires the presence of the so-called genitival (or possessive) article :

masculine-singular:al
-plural:ai

feminine-singular:a
-plural:ale

neuter:-singular:al
-plural:ale

I understand when to use these articles (I'm good, don't you think so? )... but what makes me go crazy is that in my book there's also mentioned the article "alor" - and the only explanation that is given is that this word is used in genitive and dative only for plural??
Can you please give me some examples for the use of this word, because I REALLY don't understand when to use it?

Originally Posted by igrec

For those who want the Romanian grammar (Volwer, gossip etc) take it from here : Romanian grammar

Thanks a million for this Igrec!!!

And my last question: Can you please give me example sentences for the use of the words "asupra" and "dedesubtul" with genitive case?


Mulţumesc mult în avans!

Originally Posted by Xtapodi87

Salut!!
I've spent my whole weekend studying Romanian and that's the result: Lots of questions!!

Congratulations! Let's go to the questions

Originally Posted by Xtapodi87

I'm wondering whether the vocative is used today in everyday speech or not? My Romanian book says that names are frequently used in nominative case instead of their vocative forms (e.g. "Maria" instead of "Mario" or "Radu" instead of "Radule"), but what about other words? E.g., do you say "Fetelor!" or just "Fete!" for "Girls!" or "Băieţilor!" or just "Băieti!" for "Boys!"??

The vocative form for names --the form that implies a slight change of the noun (Radu--Radule) is still pretty much used today, but it belongs to the informal/familiar/friendly register. In a formal case, the name remains in its nominative form.

As for common nouns, usually when you generally address a group (boys! girls!) we use the vocative form. Quite alleatory, I could say. Because for the very examples you choose, we say Fetelor! but ... Baieti! rather then Baietilor! Tricky, huh?

As an off-the-record trick, I could say that the feminine and neutral nouns tend to keep the vocative "by the book" : Fetelor! Doamnelor!(ladies), etc while the masculine nouns tend to be used in their dictionary form: Băieți! Elevi!(pupils) Studenți!(students)

Originally Posted by Xtapodi87

I understand when to use these articles (I'm good, don't you think so? ... but what makes me go crazy is that in my book there's also mentioned the article "alor" - and the only explanation that is given is that this word is used in genitive and dative only for plural??
Can you please give me some examples for the use of this word, because I REALLY don't understand when to use it?

Good! I'm glad you understood the article thing. (quite like in Greek, so you can use that as reference!)

Now: alor written like that is to be found in contexts like:
Le-am spus alor mei ca vin la 10. --I told my folks that I come at 10.
Le-a dat alor lui niste bani.-- He gave his folks some money.

Alor is always follwed by a pronoun in Genitive. Both words (alor + pronoun) are to denote a mutual connection between the group of persons denoted by alor and the person denoted by the pronoun.

Alor mei, alor tăi, etc are usually considered to refered to my folks/family, your folks/family, but it can expand to many other groups of people whom I consider mine/yours by opposition with other groups. e.g. my neighbors, my friends, etc

If it's still confusing, tell me what you understood, what you didn't and I'll find new methods of explaining again

Originally Posted by Xtapodi87

And my last question: Can you please give me example sentences for the use of the words "asupra" and "dedesubtul" with genitive case?

Asupra orașului--Above the city
Dedesubtul mesei--below the table.

O furtună se abătu asupra orașului-- A storm strayed above the city. ( poetic form for A venit o furtună peste oraș--A storm came over the city)

Dedesubtul mesei stătea o pisică--Below the table a cat was sitting (same as above, literar form for O pisică stătea sub masă--A cat was sitting under the table)

I'm sorry if I didn't manage to clarify these issues for you. I'm really tired and I may not have found the best examples. But keep asking questions and we'll find the best way to explain things for you

Originally Posted by dya

Quite alleatory, I could say. Because for the very examples you choose, we say Fetelor! but ... Baieti! rather then Baietilor! Tricky, huh?

I see ... but thanks for making it clearer!! I hope that one day I'll manage to guess right whether to use the vocative or not... I'll do my best

Originally Posted by dya

Now: alor written like that is to be found in contexts like:
Le-am spus alor mei ca vin la 10. --I told my folks that I come at 10.
Le-a dat alor lui niste bani.-- He gave his folks some money.

Alor is always follwed by a pronoun in Genitive.

When "alor" is always followed by a pronoun, I guess it's not possible to combine it with a noun in genitive? I can't say "Alor prietenilor mei", can I?

Originally Posted by dya

Asupra orașului--Above the city
Dedesubtul mesei--below the table.

Thanks! And another question: Is there a difference between the use of "deasupra" and "asupra"? Is it also possible to say "Deasupra oraşului"?

Originally Posted by dya

I'm sorry if I didn't manage to clarify these issues for you. I'm really tired and I may not have found the best examples. But keep asking questions and we'll find the best way to explain things for you

There's NOTHING you have to be sorry for, your explanations are fantastic... I'd be lost somewhere between all those cases, conjugations, pronounciation... without you - so thank you again! Eυχαριστώ πάρα πολύ!! Vielen Dank!!

Originally Posted by Xtapodi87

I see ... but thanks for making it clearer!! I hope that one day I'll manage to guess right whether to use the vocative or not... I'll do my best

Usually, you start to "feel" it once you begin to learn the language.

Originally Posted by Xtapodi87

When "alor" is always followed by a pronoun, I guess it's not possible to combine it with a noun in genitive? I can't say "Alor prietenilor mei", can I?

NO! That's not possible.

Now comes part 2 of the explanation. I told you about alor written like this. Now I'll tell you about a lor (two words). Different use, different meaning:

A prietenilor mei-- of my friends/my friends'
e.g. Casa aceasta este a prietenilor mei- This house is my friends'. In English it sounds...divine! LOL but this is the actual translation of the Romanian sentence.

And if you continue to speak about that house, by repeating that it belongs to them, you can say:
Da, este a lor--Yes, it's theirs.

I told you before that it's a different use, since we talk about genitive case-possesion(whose?) while alor is in Dative (to whom?)

Este a lor-- It's theirs (Whose house is it? Theirs/a lor)
Le-am spus alor mei --I told my folks (To whom I told? To my folks/alor mei)

And the plain dative case with the noun "friends" would look like this:

Le-am spus prietenilor mei-- I told my friends (To whom I told? To my friends/prietenilor mei)

Originally Posted by Xtapodi87

Thanks! And another question: Is there a difference between the use of "deasupra" and "asupra"? Is it also possible to say "Deasupra oraşului"?

Yes, it is possible and even more commonly used. Asupra and deasupra are sinonims as they both denote the idea of "above". Asupra is more...poetic and has a different shade: it reffers to more "immaterial" notions:

Asupra lui s-au abătut multe necazuri--A lot of troubles strayed/came all over him.

Deasupra mesei este o lampa -- There's a lamp above the table.

Can you see the difference?
The lamp is "physically" above the table.
The troubles are not "physically" but "metaphorically" on him.

Originally Posted by Xtapodi87

There's NOTHING you have to be sorry for, your explanations are fantastic... I'd be lost somewhere between all those cases, conjugations, pronounciation... without you - so thank you again! Eυχαριστώ πάρα πολύ!! Vielen Dank!!

Παρακαλώ

Nothing more to say except: Thank you, I understand

S'euxaristw akomh mia fora, na 'sai kala!

I'm glad I was able to help you

S'euxaristw kai egw kai na exeis mia kali vradi

Just a few, hopefully "quick" questions...

What does "de-o" mean, "of the", "from the" & when is it used?

When do you use "de-" instead of "daca"?

What's the difference between "sa stii" & "stii"?

How do you say "what are you talking about", "despre ce vorbesti"?

Mersi pentru ajutorul vostru (daca sa m-ajutati)

I'm confused by the verb a uita, and a se uita. I belive a uita to be 'to forget', and a se uita to be ' to look at'.
eu uit- I forget
eu ma uit- I look at..

so, ai uitat= you forgot
t-ai uitat (or te-ai uitat?) would be you looked at..

If what I've written above is correct, why then does the lyric in N&D vino la mine "nu pot sa cred ca mai uitat" mean I can't believe you forgot me?" I assume the 'mai' is really m-ai.. Shouldn't it be, Nu pot sa cred ca ai uitat pe mine or despre mine?

of course, that wouldn't rhyme..

dave

Originally Posted by DeBaires

What does "de-o" mean, "of the", "from the" & when is it used?

I need a context for that. Generally speaking de-o could be translated as you suggested, but it pretty much depends on the context.

Originally Posted by DeBaires

When do you use "de-" instead of "daca"?

De is simply a popular/rather old way of saying "daca". Nowadays, we mostly use "daca".

Originally Posted by DeBaires

What's the difference between "sa stii" & "stii"?

I'll write a special lesson on that. Basically it's the difference between the indicative mode (stii) and conjunctive mode (sa stii). But I'll be back with more explanations.

Originally Posted by DeBaires

How do you say "what are you talking about", "despre ce vorbesti"?

Exactly

Originally Posted by DeBaires

(daca sa m-ajutati)

* Daca ma ajutati

Esti uimitora, e adevarat!!!

The context is from 2 songs

"Arde invidia in tine de-o viata"

"Privirea ta de-o vreme, ca doua stele lumineaza cerul meu"

Originally Posted by rudaire

I'm confused by the verb a uita, and a se uita. I belive a uita to be 'to forget', and a se uita to be ' to look at'.
eu uit- I forget
eu ma uit- I look at..

so, ai uitat= you forgot
t-ai uitat (or te-ai uitat?) would be you looked at..

Exactly! You got that right Oh, and te-ai uitat is the correct form.

Originally Posted by rudaire

If what I've written above is correct, why then does the lyric in N&D vino la mine "nu pot sa cred ca mai uitat" mean I can't believe you forgot me?" I assume the 'mai' is really m-ai.. Shouldn't it be, Nu pot sa cred ca ai uitat pe mine or despre mine?

Indeed mai is actually m-ai. Formed from: m(ă) + ai, where m is one possible form of the personal pronoun in the Accusative and ai is part of the past tense (ai uitat)

The personal pronouns in accusative have two forms:
pe mine and mă.

So the form would be mă ai uitat. Due to the fact that ă and a can't be pronounced together we miss the ă in this construction.

Tomorrow I'll explain the whole thing.

Right now I have to go

Originally Posted by DeBaires

Esti uimitora, e adevarat!!!

The context is from 2 songs

"Arde invidia in tine de-o viata"

"Privirea ta de-o vreme, ca doua stele lumineaza cerul meu"

I need to go now, but later on tonight or tomorrow morning you'll have all the explanations

OK, nu te necăjeşte, te rog!!!

Esti făcând toate lucrurile de aici, ha ha.