Learning Romanian language

I would like this to be the thread where everybody who wants to learn Romanian to ask their questions about the language.

This way, all the explanations will be in one place and it will be easy for those who want to learn(or to revise what they learnt) to find everything in here.

My suggestion is not to post songs in this thread because the translations will be difficult to find by other members. It's better to open a new thread for every song you want to have translated. This way, everybody will see it and we won't bump into situations when someone asks for the translation of a song that was already translated.

I could start this thread by giving you a few usual words/expressions, but you have to help me with your questions for the rest.

Romanian grammar is not exactly an easy one and I don't know if it's a good idea to start writing everything about it in here.

Maybe you'll find it more useful to just ask what you want to know, and according to your questions I will present the respective issue on the whole

For those of you who are still at the very beggining, I want to tell you about the letters/sounds we have in Romanian but which are not to be found in English, for example. You'll bump into this letters/sounds really frequently and maybe you want to know how to pronounce them

ă-- this sound is pronounced as "e" in mother, father. It's also known as the sound one makes when he/she doesn't know the answer to a question

î/â- these two letters are the representation of the same sound. î is found (in writing) only as the very first or the very last letter in a word. If it is in the middle of the word, it's written â Quite difficult to explain its pronounciation: imagine you have to pronounce uh in english as if you see something you don't like. Now cut the "h" sound out of that and you'll remain with something close to the actual pronounciation of the word in Romanian.

ș--- these is pronounced like the group of letters sh in mushroom.

ț-- this sound does not exist in English. For those of you familiar with Greek language, it is to be read as tz. For those who are not familiar with Greek: try to proonounce T+Z very quickly as to make it one sound. You'll get pretty close of the actual pronounciation.

Now that you know the rules, listen to some Romanian songs and try to ideantify these sounds as they are pronounced by the singers.

One negative aspect is that many times you'll find texts written without the diacritics so you'll find a, i, s, t instead of ă, î, ș ,ț . But in time, once you get used to the language, you'll be able to tell which is which even if they are written the same

First words to know:

Bună- Hi/Hello
Salut-Hi/ Hello
Bună dimineața- Good morning
Bună ziua- Good day
Bună seara- Good evening
Noapte Bună- Good night
La revedere- Good bye
Pa- Bye( informal)

Te rog- please
Mulțumesc- Thank you
Cu plăcere- You're welcome

Cine- Who
Ce- what
Unde- Where
Când- When
De ce- Why
Cum- How

Waw ! Good job Dya .
Well, it's a wonderful idea to start teaching the people Romanian (all those who want); but I still think If we shouldn't let them to decide If they want us to post here lessons or questions ? But... Maybe some of them don't have from where to learn, so I say the bouth options.
Good Luck Dya ! You'll need it ; 'cause our language is a little or more difficult. And of course to those who'll help Dya (I make part too )
I'll start to post, but to see what
Kisses. / Pupici.

That's exactly what I said: those who want to learn should post their questions in here. It's far easier and useful for everybody to approach things this way.

What I wrote in the last two posts with dicritics and most common words/expressions was meant to be easily found by everybody because it is written on the first page of the thread. This way everybody opening this thread will find these things right away.

Thank you for the offer for help. I'll remember that!

Dya, din cate stiam eu, "sh-ul" romanesc este ilustrat in limba greaca prin "TS", iar grecescul "TZ" apare in limba romana ca "Dz". Ma insel ? :-s

Neata
ș-ul nostru nu apare in limba greaca, ei nu au sunete tari. Apare in dialectul cipriot, unde spre exemplu Anna Vissi se citeste oarecum Ana Viși.

Cu TZ ai dreptate, dar pentru cine invata romana si habar n-are cum se pronunta ț-ul, este totusi un inceput. Ulterior, ascultand diverse cantece or sa "prinda" pronunctia corecta.

Dya, vroiam sa zic "Tz-ul rominesc". Imi cer scuze... M-a luatpe moment o durere de cao insuportabila. Am uitat sa imi iau antibioticele...
merci mult pt cantec. :*
Ma duc sa ma culc... de abia mai vad... :-< sarumina inca o data ><

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Proverbs


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* Bine faci, bine gasesti.
= You do good, you find good.


* Cand pisica nu-i acasa,joaca soarecii pe masa.
= When the cat isn't at home, the mice dance on the table.

* Nu iese fum fara foc.
= There's no smoke without fire.

* Cine alearga dupa doi iepuri nu prinde nici unul.
= Who runs after two rabbits doesn't catch any.

* Cine rade la urma rade mai bine.
= Who laughs last, laughs better.

* Intreaba si ti se va raspunde.
= Ask and you will be answered

* Mai bine mai tarziu decat niciodata.
= Better later than never.

* Nu lasa pe maine ce poti face astazi.
= Don't leave for tomorrow what you can do today.

* Pe-o ureche intra si pe alta iese.
= It enters through one ear and it exits through the other.

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Hi everyone. I post some proverbs here. I'll soon get bigger our Romanian lessons. Take care

The numbers in Romanian Language:
1: unu
2: doi
3: trei
4: patru
5: cinci
6: şase
7: şapte
8: opt
9: nouă
10: zece
11: unsprezece
12: doisprezece / douăsprezece
13: treisprezece
14: paisprezece
15: cincisprezece
16: şaisprezece
17: şaptesprezece
18: optsprezece
19: nouăsprezece
20: douăzeci
21: douăzeci şi unu
........*
29: douăzeci şi nouă
30: treizeci
31: treizeci şi unu
.......
40: patruzeci
41atruzeci şi unu
......
50: cincizeci
....
60: şaizeci
70: şaptezeci
80: optzeci
90: nouăzeci
100: o sută
101: o sută unu
110: o sută zece
111: o sută unsprezece
200: două sute
...
1000: o mie
1001: o mie unu
1010: o mie zece
1100: o mie o sută
1111: o mie o sută unsprezece
2000: două mii
...
10.000: zece mii
100.000: o sută de mii
1.000.000: un milion

You saw there * that Romanian numerals form with the conjunction "şi". All the numerals for like that, except the numerals like 1100, 1010, like that.

Well, I saw up the alphabet written by Dya, but I guess she forgot the write some group of letters, or she thought to take you easier than me (haha). I'll write again with the groups too.
A a
Ă ă =Britanic English "first"
&#194; &#226; ="roses"
B b ="ball"
C c ="cat"
D d ="door"
E e ="merry"
F f = "flag"
G g ="goat"
H h ="house"
I i ="machine"
&#206; &#238; (i with circumflex) = e in "roses"
J j ="treasure"
K k ="like"
L l ="lamp"
M m ="mouth"
N n ="north"
O o ="floor"
P p ="post"
Q q ="kettle"
R r =(trilled r)
S s ="song"
Ş ş (s with comma) = s in "sugar"
T t ="tip"
Ţ ţ (t with comma) zz in "pizza"
U u ="group"
V v = in "vision"
W w =in "vision"
X x = in "six"
Z z =in "zipper"
-------------------------
Ce (ceramic)
Ci (chica in spanish)
Che (kept)
Chi (kimono)
Ge (Gerard)
Gi (geee man )
Ghe (get)
Ghi (give)

I like these lessons. I'm very glad to learn this beautiful language and it's a pleasure to know that I can translate some sentences. Portuguese and French help me, but I'm learning different words, too. Thanks to my romanian friends.

Can you tell us, please, about personal pronouns? I mean, nouns, possessives, object, etc.

Mulţumesc.

Personal Pronouns


Nominativ (cases)

I = Eu
You = Tu
He = El
She = Ea
It = El, Ea (pentru obiecte, lucruri neinsufletite)
We = Noi
You = Voi
They = Ei

Genitiv

Mine = Al meu
Yours = Al tau
His = Al lui
Hers= Al ei
Ours = Al nostru
Yours = Al vostru
Theirs = Al lor

Dativ

(to) me = mie
(to) you = tie
(to) him = lui
(to) her = ei
(to) it = Lui, ei (pentru obiecte, lucruri neinsufletite) (to) us = noua
(to) you = voua
(to) them = lor

Acuzativ

me = pe mine
you = pe tine
him = pe el
her = pe ea
it = pe el, pe ea (pentru obiecte, lucruri neinsufletite)
us = pe noi
you = pe voi
them = pe ei

Thank you Soso for the introduction into pronouns I'll take over from here.

SO:
In Romanian there are different forms for masculine and feminine both in plural and in sigular. Therefore:

Personal pronoun:
They:
- Ei (masculine, plural)
- Ele (feminine, plural)

The possession ( gramatically expressed with the genitive) has two "parts":
1. possesive pronouns.
2. possesive adjectives.

1. Posesive pronouns stand for themselves and don't need a noun. They are the equivalent of the english forms: mine, yours, his, hers, etc.
The difference is that in Romanian each person has 4 forms, each showing the gender and number of the object posessed:

Mine:
*Al meu - masc, sg.
*A mea- fem. sg.
*Ai mei- masc pl.
*Ale mele- fem. pl.

Yours:
*Al tău- masc. sg.
*A ta- fem.sg.
*Ai tăi- masc.pl.
*Ale tale- fem.pl.

His:
*Al lui- masc.sg.
*A lui- fem.sg.
*Ai lui- masc.pl.
*Ale lui- fem.pl.

Hers:
*Al ei-masc.sg.
*A ei- fem.sg.
*Ai ei- masc.pl.
*Ale ei- fem.pl

Ours
*Al nostru-masc.sg.
*A noastră-fem.sg.
*Ai noștri-masc.pl.
*Ale noastre-fem.pl.

Yours(plural)
* Al vostru- masc.sg.
*A voastră- fem.sg.
*Ai voștri- masc.pl.
*Ale voastre- fem.pl.

Theirs
*Al lor- masc.sg
*A lor- fem.sg.
*Ai lor- masc.pl.
*Ale lor- fem.pl


2. The posessive adjevtive appears only in the presence of the noun, the noun being the posessed object. This noun carries the information about gender and number and transfers it to the posessive adjective.

LUCKILY, the forms are exactly the same as the ones of the posesive pronouns but without the First word that apear in them. Basically remove al, a, ai, ale, from the forms I wrote above and you'll have the possesive adjective.

The equivalents in english are the forms: my, your, his, her, our, your, their.

Examples- we'll use the nouns: masc. băiatul(boy) and fem. fata(girl) in the position of "posessed object"
Their plural forms are: băieții and fetele

MY:
Băiatul meu
Fata mea
Băieții mei
Fetele mele


Your:
Băiatul tău
Fata ta
Băieții tăi
Fetele tale

His:
Băiatul lui
Fata lui
Băieții lui
Fetele lui

Her:
Băiatul ei
Fata ei
Băieții ei
Fetele ei

Our:
Băiatul nostru
Fata noastră
Băieții noștri
Fetele noaste

Your(pl)
Băiatul vostru
Fata voastră
Băieții voștri
Fetele voatre

Their:
Băiatul lor
Fata lor
Băieții lor
Fetele lor

Now, for those of you who learn Romanian through English, it may seem complicated the fact that one form in English has two different forms in Romanian. And I'm talking here about the Dative and Accusative forms of the pronouns.

In English we have only one form for both cases: me, you, him, her, us, you, them

Romanian has totally different forms for these two cases. Soso wrote them above.

In order for you not to mis-use them, keep in mind that the Dative case implies the question: TO WHOM?

Ex:
He told me- To whom he told? Me.
He told you- To whom he told? You
ETC.

Dative is a difficult case in Romanian because it actually splits in two forms and UNFORTUNATELY they don't exactly look the same.

Here are the forms and then I'll show you examples and explain when and how to use them:

Even worse, for some persons one of the forms modifies according to the verb tense! What I'll write now is the form for the present tense PLUS the form Soso wrote above(that form never changes)

me: &#238;mi + mie

you: &#238;ți + ție

him: &#238;i + lui

her: &#238;i + ei

us: ne+ nouă

you: vă + vouă

them: le+ lor

The first form I wrote is the one always accompanying the verb and staying IN FRONT of it. The second is used AFTER the verb and its only meaning is to emphasise the person TO WHOM the action of the verb refers to. For a "dramatical" effect this form goes on the very first position BEFORE everything else.

Examples:

We'll take the sentence: He tells me.

El &#238;mi spune.- this is the regular way of translating the sentence.

El &#238;mi spune mie- I, the speaker, want make sure everybody understands that he tells ME and not to somebody else. The sentence alone transmits the message of "he tells me something". But if we use mie too, the speaker wants to make clear the fact that "he talks to ME"

Mie &#238;mi spune- this is the "dramatical" use. The speakes leaves room for no doubts: "It's ME the one to whom he tells. ME and probably ME alone."

Time for a break, but I'll come back (later or tomorrow) with the rest of the explanation for the Dative and with the explanation for the Accusative.

I'm well aware that this seems complicated and indeed it is, but my advice is : do not try to memorize these forms as I wrote them. Use them in contexts, because it's easier to remember a form attached to an idea than to simply memorize a list of words. And again: songs will help you with this, because you'll make connections between what I wrote in here and certain lines in certain songs.

I hope at least some of the things I've written so far will prove of help for you

Oh, I hope you're not upset Dya. I'm not a good teacher
Sorry

Upset for what?

I'm more than grateful because you wrote all those forms. It was easier for me to take over from something that was already presented here.

So, no, I'm not upset. I thank you

I'll come back here later. Meanwhile: have a good day!

PS: Sper ca te simti mai bine

I never was a good teacher But anyway, thank you.
I'm fine... 15 days left until I return to my home. I miss my friends, I miss my grandparents ! well, I still have doubts to get to Otopeni from Baneasa at 6 in the morning.
Nu inteleg cum punctelea astea la reputatie... daca eu ti-am dat un punct, de ce nu ti se mareste ? Am scris in Romana pentru ca am vorbit o noapte intreaba in engleza cu Maria si mi se pare ca engleza e in cantitate mare. haha
Draga mea, am gasit melodia care ma turmenta . Nektarios Sfyrakhs -Mou to Pane .
Pe bune ca incepem pe 17 ? Ieeeeeeeee ! Plec la tara 3 zile sa mai simt pamintul stromosesc sub picioare .
Ai grija de tine !

Again: what you wrote helped me carry on with the explanation so don't be so modest

PS: Mersi pentru puncte. S-au adaugat, dupa cum vad eu

I only told you the truth