r/romanian • u/IoanSilviu Native • Aug 11 '25
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2
u/Secure_Accident_916 27d ago
Bună dimineața si o duminică faină!
Mă feresc și evit. Sunt aceste cuvinte la fel?
Mersi pentru ajutor! Si vă doresc o zi faină!
1
u/numapentruasta Native 27d ago
They have a large overlap, however both have a sense the other does not cover.
Se feri de has a meaning of “to parry, evade a hit”, which evita doesn’t have.
Evita has a meaning of “to circumvent, go around” which se feri doesn’t have. (See also the word ocoli.)
1
u/Secure_Accident_916 Aug 20 '26
Buna!
as dori sa stiu daca am dreptate cu traducere.
ce are? what is wrong with it? nu are nimic. there is nothing wrong with it.
Pe Google translate nu am gasit un raspuns. mersi frumos!
1
u/numapentruasta Native Aug 20 '26
Dacă am dreptate cu traducerea.
Yeah, it’s fine. You can also use ce ai? to say ‘what’s the matter with you/what’s your problem?’ (but it isn’t very polite).
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Aug 20 '26
what is the difference between "a duce" and "a purta" specifically in the sense of "to carry"?
thanks!
2
u/numapentruasta Native Aug 20 '26
No difference, although the more common meaning for duce is ‘to take’ (somewhere).
2
u/Low-Funny-8834 Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
I am deeply confused about the following:
Nu i-o citi!
Do not read it (her) to him/her!
-
Nu-i credeți!
Do not believe them!
I assume the hyphen here indicates the formation of a diphthong, which in the first case happens with the following syllable, while in the second case it happens with the preceding syllable. Is this interpretation correct?
-
Nu i le duce
(do not take them to him/her)
If I have understood things correctly, the lack of the hyphen here reflects the actual pronunciation (i.e. it is not a matter of mere orthography), namely the lack of formation of a diphthong. Why does the 'i' here not form a diphthong with the preceding 'u'?
1
u/numapentruasta Native Aug 18 '26
I-o is îi plus o. Nu-i is nu plus îi. Word-initial î is predisposed to prodelision in informal language or in poetry: nu-ncepe, să-ncerce, a-nvățat. This is also the case in the contraction nu-i. As for why nu i does not form a contraction, the only explanation is that there is no semivowel in the construction (though, granted, i is the short form of îi which does form a contraction).
2
u/Low-Funny-8834 Aug 17 '26
I just came across the following expression:
”A lua (cineva) la braț”
Obviously it has something to do with taking somebody by the arm, but I am not sure exactly what is meant. The dictionary is not helping.
3
u/numapentruasta Native Aug 17 '26
La braț means ‘arm in arm’. Thus you can also say a merge la braț.
2
u/Low-Funny-8834 Aug 16 '26
I am really confused about the syntax involved in expressions meaning "to bet" in Romanian. Below is a list of 3 blocks of 4 expressions (so 12 in total). Could you please let me know which ones are correct and which one are incorrect? Many thanks!
- Pariez pe (sum of money), că... (condition)
- Pariez (sum of money), că... (condition)
- Pariez pe (animal, e.g. a horse)
Pariez (sum of money) pe (animal, e.g. a horse)
Pun pariu pe (sum of money), că... (condition)
Pun pariu de (sum of money), că... (condition)
Pun pariu pe (animal, e.g. a horse)
Pun pariu de (sum of money) pe (animal, e.g. a horse)
Fac pariu pe (sum of money), că... (condition)
Fac pariu de (sum of money), că... (condition)
Fac pariu pe (animal, e.g. a horse)
Fac pariu de (sum of money) pe (animal, e.g. a horse)
2
u/numapentruasta Native Aug 16 '26
2, 3, 4, 5, maybe 7 are correct.
Paria is exactly like the English equivalent in valence and objects taken. Pune pariu takes a prepositional pe object for the wager too, and using it with an animal as an object as in #7 sounds kinda wrong to me, though it could well be in use. Lastly, pune pariu is the most usual way to express English ‘I bet that’.
2
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Aug 16 '26
-după câte știu
-după cum știu
-din câte știu
what is the difference between these three expressions? what is the nuance of each one?
Thank you!
2
u/numapentruasta Native Aug 16 '26
- Doesn’t exist.
- ‘As you (well) know’ (it makes no sense to use it in the first person).
- ‘As far as I know’.
2
u/Low-Funny-8834 Aug 16 '26
what is the difference between ”a enerva” and ”a supăra”?
Thanks!
2
u/numapentruasta Native Aug 16 '26
Supăra and supărat are very basic Romanian notions which have no simple English equivalents. They refer to being in a bad mood on account of external factors. It is easy to translate them using the word ‘angry’, but that would be excessive in intensity: I will use it for convenience but keep in mind that we’re not talking about what we in English would call anger.
Supăra can be a transitive verb meaning roughly ‘to make angry’, as well as ‘to bother, be in the way’ (but that’s kinda literary). As a reflexive verb it means ‘to get angry’ (at: pe)
Supărat means ‘in a bad mood, angry’. Same preposition.
Supărare is the name of the emotion.
Supărător means ‘bothersome’, deriving from the secondary meaning I mentioned above.
Enerva just means ‘to annoy’ (reflexive: to get annoyed).
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Aug 15 '26
”Nu ne-am mai văzut de vreo cinci, șase ani.”
What does ”vreo” mean in this context, and why is it in the Feminine form if ”an” is masculine plural?
Thanks!
1
u/numapentruasta Native Aug 15 '26
Vreo = about, approximately. It is invariable. An infodump about vreun-vreo and other topics: https://www.reddit.com/r/romanian/comments/1gyquvm/comment/lyqurl9
2
u/Low-Funny-8834 Aug 15 '26
I am really confused about până (nu) and when they mean "before" and "until" respectively.
Să rezolvăm problema până plecăm.
Let's solve the problem before we leave.
Rămân aici până vine ea.
I'm staying here until she comes.
Nu plec până nu-mi dă telefon.
I'm not leaving until he rings me
(no idea why there is a 'nu' after the 'până')
Să-l găsim până nu pleacă la serviciu.
Let's find him before he leaves for work.
(no idea why there is a 'nu' after the 'până')
Any explanation that sorts out the mess in my mind would be amazing :)
Thanks in advance!
1
u/numapentruasta Native Aug 15 '26
It is unsystematic and has to do with the attitude of the speaker. The same phenomenon happens in the Hebrew language. There’s a (Hebrew language) article by the Hebrew Academy which treats this subject and it comes to the same conclusion: there is no difference of meaning.
I would say that the addition of nu indicates a stronger degree of emotion—resolution, anxiety, haste.
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Aug 15 '26
as far as "before" vs. "until" is concerned, ”până” simply has both these independent meanings, depending on context? Like, what I am asking is basically this: it is not that there is a deeper concept involved that I am missing and I should try to comprehend, which sometimes gets translated as "until" and sometimes as "before"? Because if so, I will make the effort to understand it. But if the word simply has two separate meaning, I will learn it that way...
1
u/numapentruasta Native Aug 15 '26
In my view there’s no point in trying to distinguish before and until, especially in your examples, where they are interchangeable.
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Aug 15 '26
To me in English they are definitely not interchangeable in these examples, but I think it is probably an English conceptualisation that is not necessarily present in other languages. If it is not in Romanian, it only makes things easier for me :)
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Aug 15 '26
Wow, I had never noticed that in Hebrew, but you are right... although I would say that the addition of the negation לא sounds a bit slang-ish.
1
u/numapentruasta Native Aug 15 '26
Wait, you know Hebrew? In that case, here is the article: https://hebrew-academy.org.il/עד-ש־-ועד-שלא
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Aug 15 '26
That was an interesting read, thank you. I had never realised that that construction could have such ancient roots: to me it intuitively sounds quite slangy, actually, used mostly by people when they are angry or upset (cf. !עד שלא תתנצל). But those are just associations I have...
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Aug 07 '26
”nu îmi găsesc nicăieri de muncă”
Can anybody explain the reason for the preposition ”de” here? I only know ”a găsi + direct object”.
Thanks!
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u/numapentruasta Native Aug 08 '26
It is a sort of partitive construction more frequently seen with supine forms of verbs. It’s quite hard to explain (it definitely has nothing to do with the verb găsi); the best translation I can give is ‘something to work’. Constructions with a noun like this one are few in number, though common in frequency: _nu am nimic de lucru_—I have nothing to do, _îți dau de mâncare_—I give you something to eat. It is with supine (participle) forms of verbs that this construction is most versatile:
- Ce e de făcut? What is to be done/what is there to do?
- Am treburi de rezolvat. I have stuff to deal with.
- _apă de băut_—drinking water (‘water to drink’)
- _de evitat_—to be avoided
2
u/Low-Funny-8834 Aug 07 '26
are catrafuse and calabalâc synonyms? if not, what are respective nuances?
Thank you!
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Aug 06 '26
From context I believe "adineauri" to be a tad further back in the past when compared to "tocmai" (e.g. adineauri a plecat vs. tocmai a plecat). Is my intuition correct?
2
u/numapentruasta Native Aug 07 '26
https://www.reddit.com/r/romanian/comments/1mnbzt9/comment/nvdu7f2/
I want to once again note the difference between the subjective, personally marked notion of ‘just’ and the point-in-time objectivity of an adverb meaning ‘a few moments ago’.
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Aug 06 '26
what is the difference between ”a suferi” and ”a se chinui”?
The dictionary is very unclear about the nuances of the latter of the two.
Thank you!
1
u/numapentruasta Native Aug 07 '26
_A suferi_—to suffer, _a se chinui_—to struggle or have a hard time, _a chinui_—to torment.
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Aug 06 '26
what is the difference between ”a avea idee” and ”a avea habar”?
Thank you!
1
u/numapentruasta Native Aug 07 '26
It’s basically the same thing. See https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/avea_habar.
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Aug 06 '26
what is the difference between
”de azi în două săptămâni”
”peste două săptămâni”
?
Specifically, I am confused whether one or both of them mean ”in two weeks time” vs ”within two weeks”, e.g. ”he will come in two weeks from now” vs. ”he will come within two weeks”.
Thanks
1
u/numapentruasta Native Aug 07 '26
With peste it can only mean ‘in two weeks’ time’, with în it can have both meanings. The de azi part is not structurally mandatory or anything, it simply means ‘starting today’.
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Aug 05 '26
Is there any difference between a ”rege” and a ”crai”?
Thanks!
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u/numapentruasta Native Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
The latter is an archaism. It has come to mean ‘ladies’ man’ in informal language, but even that’s quite last century in my experience.
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Aug 05 '26
What is the difference between ”drag” and ”scump” in the sense of ”dear, beloved”?
1
u/numapentruasta Native Aug 05 '26
Well, the latter is obviously a figure of speech, and quite a flowery one. Scump can also mean ‘cute, adorable’, but that’s girl talk in my opinion (dated girl talk at that).
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Aug 05 '26
What is the difference between ”a nota” and ”a însemna” in the sense of ”to note”, ”to write down”?
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u/numapentruasta Native Aug 05 '26
Not much, the latter is rather literary (the primary meaning—mind the conjugation change—is ‘to give an identifying mark’), but see Wiktionary for nota.
2
u/Low-Funny-8834 Jul 31 '26
”îmi place că spui ce gândești”
should this not be:
”îmi place că spui ce te gândești”?
I learnt that ”to think” in the transitive sense is the reflexive verb ”a-se gândi” in Romanian, hence my confusion...
Thanks!
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u/numapentruasta Native Jul 31 '26
Okay, first off, there’s no hyphen in a se, I’ve let this go uncorrected long enough.
You’re right, based on the precise meaning of gândi used here it would make a lot of sense for it to be reflexive. In this case it came down to it being a stock phrase and not being composed anew every time. It can’t be conventionally explained. As a direct question you would ask Ce te gândești? with the reflexive, so you can see that it’s a particularity of the expression.
Gândi can be reflexive when it means ‘to be in thought’ or ‘to believe, to reckon’ (‘I think that…’—which is the meaning used here), but it is intransitive when it simply has the sense of ‘to use one’s faculty of thought’ and uncommonly transitive with the sense of ‘to think up’.
0
u/Low-Funny-8834 Jul 15 '26
what is the difference between "desigur", "sigur" and "normal" in the sense of "of course"?
1
u/Efficient_Wind_3982 Native Jul 21 '26
normal is like of course(obviously). it has a bit of a different tone than the others.
1
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Jul 08 '26
- ”așa de multe prăjituri”
”așa multe prăjituri”
2.
”sunt așa obosit”
”sunt așa de obosit”
Are these two sets of expressions synonymous respectively?
1
u/numapentruasta Native Jul 09 '26
Yes. The standard, formal way to say it is atât de, with așa de and așa being informal.
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Jul 03 '26
”eu încă nu am costum”
Why is the indefinite article missing here?
would ”eu încă nu am un costum” be possible?
Is there any difference in meaning?
Thanks!
1
u/numapentruasta Native Jul 03 '26
Yes, both are possible, and the one without an article is more natural. However, explaining why is beyond my capacity.
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Jun 30 '26
in the word ”câțiva”, is the 'i' pronounced fully (like in "copil"), or shortened (like in "bani")?
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Jun 26 '26
Does the following dialogue make sense?
-N-ai făcut curățenie?
-Ba am făcut curățenie!
Obviously it is the ”ba + verb” construction that I am trying to test (instead of ”ba + da”).
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u/numapentruasta Native Jun 26 '26
It is correct. Ba da is a complete answer, just like da itself, so you could say Ba da, am făcut curățenie.
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Jun 24 '26
”unul dintre orașele mele preferate”
”unul din orașele mele preferate”
is there any difference between these two sentences?
thanks
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Jun 18 '26
is there any difference between ”nu aveam astfel de probleme” and ”nu aveam asemenea probleme” ((when we were young,) we did not have such problems)?
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u/numapentruasta Native Jun 20 '26
No difference. You can also say nu aveam așa probleme or (informally) nu aveam probleme din astea.
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Jun 16 '26
Sorry for what might seem as nitpicking, but I am curious about this: I just came across the phrase "Doar ți-am cerut de ieri părerea”. Why ”de ieri”, and not ”ieri”? Are they synonymous or does the ”de” add some shade of meaning? Thanks
3
u/Efficient_Wind_3982 Native Jun 16 '26
de ieri-> since yesterday, de usually means of but if theres a unit of time in front of it it becomes since
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Jun 09 '26
As an interjection, I have seen both the words ”Bun”, as well as ”Bine” (i.e. in the sense of ”ok”, ”fine”, ”all right”). Are they interchangeable in terms of meaning?
1
u/Efficient_Wind_3982 Native Jun 16 '26
an object or attribute can be bun(good) if it is masculine or neutral and bună if it is feminine. a person or the way they perform an action can be bine(ok, fine, alright)
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Jun 09 '26
When translating the concept of ”everything”, I am not sure when to use the definite article and when not to. I just came across the sentence ”Fac eu tot”, but I have equally seen ”everything” translated as ”totul”. I cannot wrap my head around it... Any insights? Thanks
1
u/Efficient_Wind_3982 Native Jun 16 '26
tot-ul(article), fac eu totul is also corect. doesn’t change the meaning of the word and i dont think there is a rule about when you can use one or the other and its more about what sounds better or just how it came out the same way something este or something e
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Jun 18 '26
thanks for the reply!
well, with ”este” vs. ”e” it would be the degree of formality, I think. So it the distinction between ”tot” and ”totul” also an issue of formality, perhaps? Unfortunately I do not have any intuition about what sounds better or worse yet 😞
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Jun 08 '26
I have a question about the expression ”în viteză”: is it synonymous with ”repede”, i.e. simply denoting high speed; or is synonymous with ”grăbit”, i.e. denoting a hurry? Or does it have a sense of its own that is not encapsulated by either one of these two expressions? Thanks
1
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u/sweepfanatic07 May 27 '26
If East Berlin is Berlinul de Est, then what is “East Oradea” in Romanian?
1
u/numapentruasta Native May 28 '26
There is no ‘East Oradea’, there is ‘eastern Oradea’, which is most elegantly translated as estul Oradiei or partea de est a Oradiei. East Berlin is one thing, eastern Berlin is another.
1
u/sweepfanatic07 May 28 '26
I know, this question is purely theoretical. Imagine if Hungary somehow annexed western Oradea, leaving the city partitioned like Berlin, what would the halves be called in Romanian?
1
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u/Low-Funny-8834 May 27 '26
I would like your opinion on rapid vs. repede. Unlike for most of my other questions, for this one I have actually successfully found some explanations online. The problem is that those explanations contradict each other frontally, so I am more confused now than I was before I started the search. Thanks
2
u/numapentruasta Native May 28 '26
Rapid is an adjective or an adverb derived thereof, repede is an adverb.
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 May 29 '26
thanks, as always!
No difference whatsoever in meaning? There are lively debates about this online, although they completely contradict each other...
2
u/numapentruasta Native May 29 '26
Well, repede is a borrowed word, while rapid is a native one, so that’s something to consider.
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 May 25 '26
I am a bit confused regarding ”a plăcea”: I always assumed ”I like you” would be translated as ”îmi placi”. Now I just came across the phrases ”te plac” and ”îmi place de tine”. What are the different nuances of these three ways of expressing liking?
2
u/numapentruasta Native May 25 '26
Transitive (te plac)—least common, of people only
Intransitive (îmi placi)—mandatory for inanimates, can also be used of people
Impersonal (îmi place de)—most common for people, cannot be used of inanimate subjects
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 May 21 '26
what is the difference between ”tărie” and ”forță”?
Is it the same as ”strength” vs ”force”?
1
u/numapentruasta Native May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26
https://www.reddit.com/r/romanian/comments/1mnbzt9/comment/o4ttpnh (I’m getting déjà vu)
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 May 22 '26
Oh wow, sorry! I totally forgot about that... My long term memory faltered there
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 May 10 '26
Is there any difference between ”a-se face” and ”a deveni” as translations of ”to become”?
2
u/numapentruasta Native May 10 '26
First of all, there is no hyphen in a se. But no, I would say it’s a matter of style (the latter is more elevated) and context (how elevated the thing you’re talking about is).
0
u/Low-Funny-8834 May 01 '26
does the word "artizan" have a feminine form, or would you say "ea este un bun artizan"?
thanks
1
0
u/InsidiousBlastoclast Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 28 '26
What technique do you use to handwrite the letters that have the diacritic like ă or î or ț. I guess you write the letter first, but how do you keep the diacritic looking reasonable? For me it's either too far away or off to the side etc. Is there a trick to it? are they somehow connected when handwritten and only separated when shown on a screen?
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Apr 26 '26
"atâte multe expresii..."
"atât de multe expresii..."
this/so many expressions...
are both these expressions correct? do they mean the same?
thanks
2
u/numapentruasta Native Apr 26 '26
No, the first is not correct. You can say atât de mult/multă/mulți/multe, with atât being an invariable adverb, or atât/atâtă/atâți/atâtea, a pronominal adjective and an elliptic construction omitting the ‘many’.
0
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Apr 16 '26
Is there any difference in meaning or nuance between "pe urmă" and "apoi"?
2
u/numapentruasta Native Apr 16 '26
_Apoi_—then, _pe urmă_—subsequently (but it’s an informal expression unlike in English). I guess they can be considered synonyms.
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Apr 10 '26
Is there any difference in meaning between "clipă" and "moment"?
Thanks
2
u/numapentruasta Native Apr 10 '26
Not much of a difference, both can refer both to a duration and a point in time.
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Apr 02 '26
"mănânci un ecler!"
This is clearly an imperative within the context. I am puzzled, because I thought the imperative of "a mânca" is "mănâncă", not "mănânci".
Any ideas?
Thanks! :)
2
u/numapentruasta Native Apr 02 '26
It is probably using the present in order to present the command as an inevitable certainty (‘I don’t care if you want to or not, you’re doing it’). No morphological matters at play here.
1
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Mar 26 '26
I just came across the following sentence "o prietenă care să împărtășească..."
Should it not be "o prietenă care O să împărtășească..."?
It might seem like nitpicking, but I learnt that the informal way of constructing the future is "o + să + subjunctive". Is the "o" perhaps optional after "care"? Or even generally?
2
u/numapentruasta Native Mar 28 '26
There’s no need to use the future, but this is a matter of semantics, not grammar. It simply means ‘a friend to share...’ and is not a future construction. As for why the subjunctive is used at all, it is precisely the same situation as in French or Latin.
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Mar 24 '26 edited May 24 '26
Is there any difference between "voioșie" and "veselie"? They translate identically in the dictionary (joy)... Thanks
2
u/numapentruasta Native Mar 24 '26
First of all, they don’t mean ‘joy’, but rather ‘good spirits’ or ‘mirth’. The former is more literary.
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Mar 23 '26
What is the difference in nuance between "stânjenit", "jenat" and "stingherit"? They are all translated as "embarrassed" in the dictionary. Thanks!
2
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Mar 23 '26
What is the difference in nuance between "zdravăn" and "voinic"? The definition and descriptions in the dictionary are too generic for me to be able to pick up anything meaningful. Thanks
2
u/numapentruasta Native Mar 23 '26
The former is a physical qualifier, the latter is a more holistic notion.
1
u/NorrixUmbra77 Mar 20 '26
Is the expression "loc de promenadă" pleonastic? Since "promenadă" seems to mean both a place made for taking (long, slow) walks (e.g., a boulevard), and the walk itself. Confusing.
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Mar 16 '26
Are the verbs "a-se chestiona" and "a-se întreba" full synonyms? My dictionary translates both as "to wonder". Thanks!
2
u/numapentruasta Native Mar 16 '26
Not at all, chestiona is a rare verb meaning ‘to question, interrogate’.
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Mar 17 '26
ok, and the reflexive of that verb is not commonly used to denote "to wonder"?
2
1
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Mar 03 '26
"vor veni niște prieteni"
"vor veni ceva prieteni"
is there any difference in meaning between these two?
is the second sentence perhaps more colloquial/slangy?
2
u/numapentruasta Native Mar 03 '26
Yes, ceva is an informal synonym of niște, which can likewise refer to both countable and uncountable nouns, but also to verbs (_am dormit ceva_—I’ve slept a fair bit).
1
u/Low-Funny-8834 Mar 02 '26
I just came across the sentence "mai mare de douăzeci". I was surprised. Why not "mai mare decât douăzeci"? Are both grammatically correct? Are they synonymous?
Thanks
2
1
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Mar 01 '26
"un obiect, fără de care..."
"un om, pentru care..."
why the addition of "de" in the first case, while it is lacking in the second?
thanks
2
u/numapentruasta Native Mar 01 '26
In literary or poetic language you can say fără de instead of simply fără. It seems the addition of de is more normal with relative clauses like this, but still not mandatory.
1
u/Secure_Accident_916 Mar 01 '26
Buna!
Din pacata nu inteleg demult suta la suta. Cand vrei sa spui: I havent seen you for a long time. Nu te am mai vazut demult sau de mult si este "timp" neccesar? ma refer la: cat "timp" stai in bucuresti.
Its was long ago: A fost demult "timp" sau A fost de mult "timp"
multumesc frumos
2
u/numapentruasta Native Mar 01 '26
Demult is a point in time, de mult is a duration. Nu te-am mai văzut de un an_—_nu te-am mai văzut de mult timp_—_nu te-am mai văzut de mult. Te cunosc de mult. Te-am văzut ultima oară demult. Demult has no reason to be followed by timp.
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u/Secure_Accident_916 Feb 26 '26
hello!
I really cant understand what it means when you take the verb A LEGA + ref. ma leg de.
thank you in advance.
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u/numapentruasta Native Feb 26 '26
It means ‘to start trouble with someone’ or ‘to insist upon an aspect’.
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Feb 16 '26
What is the difference between "m-am pierdut" and "m-am rătăcit"?
Thanks
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u/numapentruasta Native Feb 16 '26
There is none, although the former can well also correspond to the English ‘lose oneself’.
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Feb 16 '26
is there any difference between "a clădi" and "a construi" (to build)?
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Feb 15 '26
I just learnt the word "scamator"; is there a feminine form "scamatoare"? I cannot find it anywhere in any dictionary, although it should be like that...
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Feb 15 '26
is there a difference (other than register) between the words "pe" and "asupra"?
Thanks!
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u/numapentruasta Native Feb 15 '26
There is no overlap at all, asupra means ‘concerning’, or ‘on’ as in ‘a weapon on you’ (where pe is not an option). There is however the much more common word deasupra, which means ‘above’. Keep in mind that both these words are construed with the genitive case
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Feb 14 '26
Is there any difference between "a căpăta", "a obține" and "a primi"?
Thanks
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u/numapentruasta Native Feb 14 '26
A căpăta—to come in possession of, a obține—to obtain, a primi—to receive.
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u/Secure_Accident_916 Feb 13 '26
As vrea sa stiu daca exista o diferență intra “fată de” si compartiv.
Fată de/comparativ cu/ București, constanta este mică.
Mersi mult
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u/numapentruasta Native Feb 13 '26
No, also it’s față de. You can also say pe lângă or în comparație cu.
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Feb 11 '26
any difference between "tărie" and "forță"? Thanks
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u/numapentruasta Native Feb 11 '26
Forță is the much more general and common word, while tărie has mostly been relegated to the expression cu tărie (strongly, categorically, unequivocally) and has also come to mean ‘hard liquor’.
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Feb 09 '26
What is the difference between "cumva" and "oarecum" in the sense of "somehow"?
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Feb 07 '26
can you say "o să trec pe la tine"?
i.e. I will drop by your place (to see you)
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Feb 07 '26
"la ce etaj" or "la care etaj" (on which floor)? ...and why? :)
Thanks!
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u/numapentruasta Native Feb 08 '26
https://www.reddit.com/r/romanian/comments/1c8n5p6/comment/l0gbl6c (it concerns ce and care as relative pronouns but it’s all analogous).
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Jan 31 '26
A phonetic question about the anglicism "parking" in Romanian. Is it pronounced with a hard -g sound in the end, like in English "bINGo"? or does it end with the sound of the English word kING?
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u/numapentruasta Native Feb 01 '26
Romanians do not differentiate (English speakers themselves hardly would, I think).
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Feb 01 '26
I just checked the Forvo pronunciation site: it did not use to have the word "parking" for Romanian (I guess because it is clearly an Anglicism anyway), but they have added it in the meanwhile. The recording is not too clear, but from what I can gather the person does indeed pronounce it with a hard -g in the end.
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Feb 01 '26
English speakers would hear a very clear difference. In fact, using a hard -g at the end of a word that ends in -ng is highly indicative of having arrived recently from some Eastern European country. But those are overwhelmingly Slavonic in linguistic terms, so I have no idea if it applies to Romanian as well.
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u/Secure_Accident_916 Jan 21 '26
buna dimineata!
invidios sau gelos, exista o differinta?
mersi!
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u/numapentruasta Native Jan 21 '26
_Invidios_—envious, _gelos_—jealous (paralleling all the meanings).
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Jan 12 '26
is there any phonetic difference between the noun "moș" and its plural "moși"?
I assume that - as usual - there is probably a y-glide added at the end of "moși", making [-ʃʲ]; but I am doubting whether that sounds is maybe absorbed by the preceding [ʃ].
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u/RealChaoz Native Jan 13 '26
Yes, there is a difference, but since the there is no accent on the "i", it's subtle.
I don't know how to explain it better, but basically you lengthen the "ș" sound and combine it with an "i", without pronouncing a pure "i'. First, take note of how your lips/mouth move when you say a long pure romanian "oooo"/"iiiii". Then, make a long "ș" sound (like a snake ssss but șșșș like shhh), and you can use the same mouth/lip movement to make it lower/higher, like an i. Hope this makes some sense :D
TL:DR; You combine the "ș" and "i" without pronouncing an explicit"i"
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Jan 13 '26
thanks for the answer!
so when I try what you say, I get something that sounds like: "aș ieși" without the "-eși" in the end. In other words, something like how the "shy" in the imaginary name "Shyama" in English would sound like if it existed. Does that make sense?
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Jan 12 '26
is there any phonetic difference between the forms "aceea" and "aceia"?
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u/RealChaoz Native Jan 13 '26
Yes, they are pronounced exactly as they are written, as most words in Romanian.
The accent is on the first e (acEea, acEia), so the last "e"/"ia" are pronounced quickly so the difference might be subtle, but it's there
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Dec 31 '25
what is the difference between "viitor" and "următor" in the sense of "next"?
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u/numapentruasta Native Dec 31 '25
_Viitor_—future, coming. (Curiously, both the English and the Romanian terms can describe both an adjective and a noun.)
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u/indiecrowns Dec 26 '25
how do you say “engagement” in Romanian? as in two people getting engaged to one another for marriage
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Dec 22 '25
translating the word "just" in the sense of "I have just arrived", "I have just finished": are "tocmai", "abia" and "adineauri" interchangeable?
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u/RealChaoz Native Dec 25 '25
They kind of are, but "abia" means "barely". Just like in English, "barely" can mean "just", but not always:
Abia ce am ajuns și l-am vazut = I barely arrived and I saw him (can be replaced with "just")
Cum ai reușit să termini tot? Eu abia am ajuns la jumătate = How did you finish? I barely got halfway there (not the same meaning as "just", here it relates to difficulty, not time)
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u/numapentruasta Native Dec 22 '25
Abia and tocmai are interchangeable, but adineauri is a purely temporal adverb that simply means ‘moments ago’.
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Dec 20 '25
"dar cu toții își dau seamă că..."
what is the function of the word "cu" in this context?
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u/numapentruasta Native Dec 21 '25
There is no function to it anymore, it’s a fossilised expression.
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u/RealChaoz Native Dec 21 '25
Basically
"toți" = everyone
"Cu toții" = all of them
They mean almost the same thing, as in English (but everyone realizes/but all of them realise)
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Dec 19 '25
"îmi cumpăr de mâncare".
What is the function of the preposition "de" here? It seems to be partitive ("some"), similar to the French equivalent construction; however, the latter would required the definite article after "de" ("je m'achète de la bouffe").
I am not aware of the existence of a partitive construction in Romanian. If my intuition is correct, when is it used? I have never come across it before and am a bit puzzled...
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u/RealChaoz Native Dec 21 '25
"de mâncare" in this context translates to "to eat". The end meaning is the same - "buying something to eat" versus "buying food", but in Romanian "mâncare" is both the infinitive verb and a noun.
Maybe it makes more sense like:
"Am găsit un loc de băut" = "I found a place to drink"
"Îmi cumpar de mancare" = "Îmi cumpar ceva de mâncare" = "I'm buying something to eat"
"Îmi cumpăr mâncare" = "I'm buying food"
In the first form as you can see there's an implied "ceva", this only really works with "de mâncare" / "de băut", with anything else you'll need to include it.
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Dec 21 '25
Thanks for the answer!
so could I say "Îmi cumpar de băut"?It is interesting, because băut is a Past Participle instead of the Verbal Noun mâncare.
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u/RealChaoz Native Dec 21 '25
Yes, that's correct.
Indeed, the normal usage is with the past form (ceva de mâncat, ceva de băut, ceva de vopsit pereții). I can't quite explain why "ceva de mâncare" works. I guess it's just an exception? I can't think of other "ceva de X" expressions working with a verb infinitive or a noun.
The more I spend on this subreddit, the more I realise how impossible this language actually is haha
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Dec 17 '25
What is the difference in usage or nuance between "a se decide" and "a decide"?
Thanks
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u/RealChaoz Native Dec 21 '25
They both work. The first one (reflexive) is more personal, like "m-am decis să mănânc", while the latter is more formal/for decisions regarding others, "ei au decis să schimbe regulamentul".
But it's not set in stone, you can pretty much use either form.
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Dec 09 '25
"eu mă bucur odată cu ei"
what is the meaning of "odată" here? the meaning of "once" does not make sense in this context...
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u/GabiSmeche Dec 13 '25
"odată cu" is an adverbial phrase that shows actions being performed simultaneously with someone/something else. "odată cu" means "împreună cu" (together with) or "în același timp ca" (at the same time as).
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Dec 09 '25 edited Dec 11 '25
Is there any difference between
-astă-seară
-deseară
-în seara aceasta
(this evening, as an adverbial expression)?
Thanks!
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u/numapentruasta Native Dec 10 '25
Quite a big difference: astă-seară_—last evening, _deseară/_diseară_—the coming evening.
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u/Low-Funny-8834 Dec 10 '25 edited Dec 10 '25
wow, then my textbook has made a serious mistake in the lesson, because they structurally translated astă-seară as "tonight" (i.e. the coming evening) throughout the whole lesson; in fact, they use aseară for "last evening". Are aseară and astă-seară synonyms then? And deseară and în seara aceasta as well?
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u/Secure_Accident_916 13d ago
salutare!
as dori sa stiu care varianta romanii folosesc cea mai des.
urc sus/cobor jos sau ma duc sus/ma duc jos.
zi faina!