Learning Romanian language

Thanks!
One more question:

i should have specified, but is it better in some cases to use infinitives than conjunctives, or vice versa? Because I have had people correct me when I use one, and they tell me to use the other.

Originally Posted by dragonfly93

Thanks!
One more question:

i should have specified, but is it better in some cases to use infinitives than conjunctives, or vice versa? Because I have had people correct me when I use one, and they tell me to use the other.

Almost always you'll use verbs in 'conjugated' forms rather than the infinitive form. And one of those 'conjugated' forms is the 'conjunctive', or some people call it the 'subjunctive' mood. The only common situations that arise where you have your 'pick' of the two forms that I can think of is when following the verb a putea, or 'to have the ability to' and in future tense forms..

Pot vorbi and pot să vorbesc have the same meaning, and you can take your pick. You will see and hear both.


Voi vorbi and O să vorbesc/Am să vorbesc again are different forms for the same meaning, and you will hear both forms used.

But speaking in present tense, and not following a putea, you'll always conjugate the verbs, and won't use the infinitive form.


Can you be more specific with your question, citing an example perhaps?

dave

No, that's all I was just wondering about the more common usage Mulțumesc foarte mult, Dave!

Originally Posted by dragonfly93

No, that's all I was just wondering about the more common usage Mulțumesc foarte mult, Dave!

well, most commonly verbs are used in conjugated forms. Meaning, if you wanted to use a verb, like "to read" for example, or "a citi", you are going to conjugate it when you use it.

And these conjugated forms change both who is doing the action, and also the tense of the action.

Citesc is I read.

Citeam is I was reading

Am citit is I read

etc..

The only times you'd weave a 'non-conjugated' form into speech is in examples like:

Pot citi. I can read.

Voi citi. I will read

Nu citi! (you) Don't read!

And even these three examples can be very well represented with other 'conjugated' versions..

Pot citi= pot să citesc

Voi citi= o să citesc or am să citesc

Nu citi!= Să nu citeşti.



So really there is no escaping learning all the proper conjugation forms of the language, which are complicated compared to english, because you cannot simply insert the infinitive form into speech and have people understand which person and which tense you're referring to..


Take this example from a common romanian song.

In english, it is " Come! Only don't come as you usually come (usually empty handed).
In romanian Vino! Dar numai nu veni cum vii tu, (de obicei cu mână goală)


Notice that in english, you have Come! come and come.

In romanian you have Vino! veni and vii. All different forms of a veni


You have to learn to conjugate and use the different forms..


Hope this helps

dave

Yes, don't worry, I know how to conjugate I was just interested because English doesn't have that form of infinitive replacement. Instead, we tend to use the infinitive or the gerund, you know Thanks again!

Originally Posted by dragonfly93

Thanks!
One more question:

i should have specified, but is it better in some cases to use infinitives than conjunctives, or vice versa? Because I have had people correct me when I use one, and they tell me to use the other.

dragonfly, are u asking here about using infinitive like "a vorbi" in mid-sentence as opposed to "să vorbeste" for instance?

if so, this confuses the heck out of me. A friend helped me translate a blog text which had used this and i didn't understand why the infinitive was used??? I think when listing actions??? I'm not sure?

Here's a sentence with 3 of them from the translation.

Atunci când pui pasiune, primeşti aripi. A te juca, a te implica în mod total în ceva înseamnă a te accelera pe tine însuţi.

http://www.adrianciubotaru.ro/cat-de-mult-te-joci/

Yes, precisely what I was wondering!! I'm always unsure of what to use and when!

Can anyone help me find videos/audio of the Romanian accent when speaking English?

you want video/audio of romanians speaking english?

Yeah. In a Romanian accent.

I hope that this is what you search)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkUhKCmfU9A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0S0H...eature=related

Stevo, if you sign on to Livemocha, there are plenty of Romanians learning English that you can hear.

Originally Posted by NNA for life

I hope that this is what you search)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkUhKCmfU9A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0S0H...eature=related

Yeah, I found them already. I was hoping for some other ones and that Illiescu was just a one off. - Funny "dracula" accent though. LOL

Thanks anyways.

Originally Posted by dragonfly93

Stevo, if you sign on to Livemocha, there are plenty of Romanians learning English that you can hear.

Mersi. I think I might give it a try sometime.

Originally Posted by dragonfly93

Yes, don't worry, I know how to conjugate I was just interested because English doesn't have that form of infinitive replacement. Instead, we tend to use the infinitive or the gerund, you know Thanks again!

I do now completely understand your question. But unfortunately I don't know the answer myself, and actually have the same question..


But in english we do use the infinitive as well..

To do a job right, you must have patience.

To be or not to be? That is the question..

To make an omelette, you have to break some eggs..

To make, to do, to be.. All infinitive forms in english..


dave

Originally Posted by rudaire

I do now completely understand your question. But unfortunately I don't know the answer myself, and actually have the same question..


But in english we do use the infinitive as well..

To do a job right, you must have patience.

To be or not to be? That is the question..

To make an omelette, you have to break some eggs..

To make, to do, to be.. All infinitive forms in english..


dave

Yeah, I know, I meant we don't have the conjugated infinitive equivalent to să + conjugation.

Originally Posted by smfc_stevo_smfc

Yeah. In a Romanian accent.

Hey, if you're still interested...

Here's Dan Bălan, speaking in a Moldovan-Romanian accent (his Moldovan accent is really only evident in speaking Romanian, but sounds like a Romanian accent when speaking English).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoFLvaoauZ4

And another Moldovan, Arsenie Toderaș (some say he sounds Russian...??? ):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyFHs...ext=1&index=11

Multumesc foarte mult, Dragonfly.

Just before I read this post, I found a video on Youtube of one of my subscriptions who is Romanian and does videos in English. - Talk about being right under my nose. LOL

I just watched that Rumadai video. I like the song. It reminds me of Dragostea Din Tei a little bit.
Speaking of Dragostea Din Tei... My friend randomly started singing it in McDonalds the other day and I cringed at his butchering of the song. The pronounciation wasn't even close. It just sounded like blah blah blah. LOL

Hahaha, I do things like that all the time... LOL, overlooking stuff xD

Originally Posted by smfc_stevo_smfc

Can anyone help me find videos/audio of the Romanian accent when speaking English?

here's one...she's actually pretty good, and accents of romanians speaking english vary according to how knowledgeable they are and how frequent they use it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmHN3JtyUXg

Could someone please tell me the uses of the prepositions la, pe, din and de? I was trying to explain how they translate to someone who speaks no English... But they don't have perfect translations

Mulțumesc