Hi there everyone, and greetings from sunny and hot Cyprus 🙂
This week I am away, but missing my lessons, so I thought of sharing a bit more. My first thought was sharing how to pronounce some letter groups in Romanian, but since I don’t quite have the means to shoot a proper video in here, here’s something at least equally useful: the personal pronouns, and the verb “to be”.
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Romanian pronouns |
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English pronouns |
Regular | Polite form |
Informal |
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I |
eu | – |
io |
|
you |
tu |
dumneavoastrăshort: dv., dvs. |
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he |
el | – | – |
|
she |
ea | – |
– |
|
it |
there is no neuter pronoun in Romanian; however, we do have neuter nouns. Neuter nouns behave like masculine ones in singular, and like feminine ones in plural. |
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we |
noi |
– | – |
|
you |
voi |
dumneavoastră short: dv., dvs. |
– |
|
they – masculine |
ei |
– |
– |
| they – feminine | ele | – |
– |
As you can see, there are a few differences on how the English and the Romanian languages approach pronouns:
- the word for “I” (eu) is not spelled with a capital letter;
- there is a cute informal version of “eu”, which is “io” (just like the Italian word for “I”!);
- we have both a regular and a polite way of saying you, just like many other languages (see French “vous” or German “Sie”): “tu” is used for people you know well/are the same age/have the same social standing, for example friends, family, colleagues, while “dumneavoastră” is reserved for more formal relationships, such as approaching the lady at the counter, a teacher or generally a stranger. I also call my grandpa and my in-laws “dumneavoastră”, but not everybody does that 🙂 If you see “dv.” or “dvs.” written down somewhere, you should know it’s short for “dumneavoastră”. This strange word has formed as a contraction of “domnia voastră”, which originally meant something like “your highness”. Don’t worry, it sounds much less pompous today!;
- we distinguish between they-feminine and they-masculine; if you have a group of people or objects which are masculine in gender, you say “ei”; if they are feminine, you say “ele”. But what happens if they are mixed? Well…here comes old patriarchy to solve the issue :D: if you have just one masculine element in a feminine crowd, it will be “ei“.
- if you have a group of neuter objects, they behave like feminine ones in plural, so it’ll be “ele“. Again, if there is only one masculine object in the crowd, it turns to “ei”.
Now here is some info on how to conjugate the verb “to be” in the Present Simple:
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To be |
A fi |
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Regular | Polite | Informal |
Contracted informal |
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I am |
eu sunt |
io îs |
io-s |
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you are |
tu ești |
dumneavoastră suntețidv./dvs. sunteți |
– |
– |
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he is |
el este/ el e | – | el îi |
– |
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she is |
ea este/ ea e | – | ea îi |
ea-i |
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we are |
noi suntem | – |
– |
– |
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you are |
voi sunteți |
dumneavoastră sunteți |
– |
– |
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they are |
ei, ele sunt | – | ei, ele îs |
– |
By the way, it seems that my only YouTube video from 3+ years ago has really taken off (83K views, omg!). You can watch it here for more clarity on pronunciation:
Some remarks:
- the regular and the informal versions of the same verb are quite different: “sunt” vs. “îs”, “este/e” vs. “îi”;
- Romanians like to use contractions wherever they can, so even the informal versions can be contracted! And so, “io sunt” becomes “io-s” and “ea îi” becomes “ea-i”.
- He/she is can be translated both as “el/ea este”, and as “el/ea e”. They are both equally formal and there is no difference in meaning.
- As you’ve probably noticed, the polite “dumneavoastră” is always conjugated as a plural (dumneavoastră sunteți), whether you’re addressing one or more people.
Let’s practice:
Eu sunt Claudia! Tu cine ești? ( I am Claudia! Who are you?)
Or the more informal version: Io-s Claudia și ea-i Adriana. (I’m Claudia and she’s Adriana.)
Noi suntem în vacanță în Cipru! Voi unde sunteți? (We are on holiday in Cyprus! Where are you (guys)?)
Enjoy studying and feel free to comment and ask any questions 🙂
Claudia
Learn Romanian 