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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].
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"
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?
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)
"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...
"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.
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
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.
"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).
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?
Edit: disregard what I said, dictionaries all disagree with me. Still, I swear I’ve used astă-seară to mean ‘last evening’ all my life. Your textbook is right.
Tot omul sounds somewhat folksy or informal. The usage of tot with countable singular nouns to mean ‘every’ is archaic and fossilised here.
Also, lume has the meaning of ‘people’ in the expression toată lumea. More examples of this usage:multă/puțină lume ‘a lot of/few people’, plin de lume ‘full of people’.
_Marfă_—merchandise (things that are sold), _bunuri_—goods.
You might be aware of the colloquial adjectival use of marfă to mean ‘cool’ (it seems to be one of the first things Romanian learners find out). Don’t use it, it is dated and artificial.
Maybe I should have asked in this thread first. What is the correct way to punctuate the name Dragos? Is it Dragos' or Dragos's? For example: "Dragos' chair was empty?" Or is it "Dragos's chair was empty?"
It's, uh, a rough one. The main issue is that you cannot pronounce a consonant by itself (well maybe except s like a snake). So, you need to add a vowel to them, like in English (you don't say b, you say bee).
There's 2 "alphabets", one adding â after each consonant, which doesn't sound great, and a more clean/formal one.
The first is the simpler variant, just add â after every consonant: A Ă Â Bâ Câ Dâ E Fâ Gâ...
For the second, you usually add e, but many have exceptions, here's the full version: A Be Ce De E eF Ge Haș I Jâ Ka eL eM eN O Pe Qu eR Se Te U Ve W (dublu Ve) X (ics) Y (i grec) Zet
But really, there's to "theory" to it. Also, they way I know them, the latter is just the English letter (no ă, â etc.)
best online eng-ro dictionary? google translate and chatgpt make tons of mistakes and its super annoying. Can also be a physical book, as I would buy it
There is a variety of Romanian-English dictionaries, but all are published in Romania and I’ve no idea how they can be obtained abroad. Otherwise, I know of no good online sources.
It’s all quite deary. Most of them are targeted at Romanian learners of English, so they do away with everything other than definitions and part of speech labels—not appropriate for learning Romanian. Even the Teora dictionary, which I had higher hopes for, is like that. As for the quality of translations and definitions, it is often less than passable.
Still, because something is better than nothing, especially when it’s free, search ‘Romanian dictionary’ on Anna’s Archive.
Pragmatically yes. Know that invitații is a homonym: it can be the definite nominative-accusative plural of invitat or the indefinite plural/indefinite genitive-dative singular of invitație.
The word pe has two meanings in spatial contexts (next to adverbs and prepositions):
An informal indication of approximation, as in your example. _Undeva pe aici_—somewhere around here; _pe la lucru_—at work, I guess; _pe unde ești?_—where are you at?
An indication of motion: _Sunt sub pod_—I’m under the bridge; _trec pe sub pod_—I’m passing under the bridge. _Avionul e desupra noastră_—the airplane is above us; _avionul trece pe deasupra noastră_—the plane is passing above us.
Let me give you the sentence, because it still does not make complete sense to me:
"nici măcar nu înțeleg ce tot zice", with translation "I can't even understand what he is saying".
I would have personally said "chiar nu înțeleg ce tot zice".
Nici măcar (or, if the sentence is clear enough, nici alone) means ‘not even’ (both in a numerical and a non-numerical sense).
Chiar does mean even, but only in positive constructions. It also has the meaning of ‘really, for real, I swear’, which is how it would be understood in the sentence you made (since it tolerates positive and negative constructions equally).
Întreba is an atypical verb that can take two direct objects (but never an indirect dative object). So it’s l‑am întrebat. As for the other object: întreba is typically ditransitive only when it comes to pronouns like ceva ‘something’ or object clauses (te întreb ce faci, te întreb cum să…). When it comes to ‘asking a question’ you use the word pune (like in German: eine Frage stellen), so it’s a îi pune o întrebare—because a întreba o întrebare doesn’t sound good at all.
Also, întreba can also be reflexive, in which case it means ‘to wonder’.
First off, it’s sunt același lucru or sunt la fel, and the feminine plural of același/aceeași is aceleași anyway.
Un astfel de only means such a. (Alternative: un așa.) Asémenea is a more complex word which overlaps with the aforementioned in its pronominal adjective sense, but has separate adverbial senses.
I suppose you remember my previous comment about this construction, but keep in mind that Romanian does not use the ‘generic you’ much; poți vedea muntele is something you would only really say to an actual interlocutor.
Carnet is something which you can carry in a pocket, caiet is A5 or A4 size. Carnet can be something you jot down notes in, but it can also be an official document (carnet de note_—a school-issued booklet in which students receive their grades; _carnet de membru_—membership booklet; _carnet de partid_—party membership booklet). _Carnet is also a shorthand for ‘driver’s licence’—an anachronism, since it no longer takes that shape.
E “timp de” necesar când vorbesc despre timp în trecut? Am fost acolo timp de 2 săptămâni. Am învățat timp de 1 ani. Sau este prea formal și nu e folosit într-o conversație informală?
Unrelated, dar se zice un (1) an, nu ani. Ani se folosește la plural, deci de la doi în sus. De exemplu: Am studiat în străinătate timp de un an. Ori: Am studiat în străinătate timp de doi ani.
De asemenea, mie cel puțin, nu știu dacă și ceilalți ar fi de acord, propoziția originală - "Am învățat timp de 1 an", nu mi se pare completă/ corectă.
În primul rând, cred că lipsește un complement, de exemplu: ce am învățat? Am învățat să cos. Am învățat cum să mă leg la șireturi. Am învățat care sunt cele 7 continente.
În al doilea rând, (chiar dacă despre asta sunt mai puțin sigur) verbul "a învăța" îmi sună ca o acțiune terminată. În exemplul de mai sus, eu l-aș înlocui cu "a studia" (+complement): Am studiat limba română timp de un an.
Care diferența există între_—overwrought and incorrect expression. If you want to use _care you would say Care este diferența? You could also say Ce diferență există/este? (notice the indefinite noun).
Not that you asked, but this brings up an interesting aspect of the way you say ‘what is’ in Romanian: ce este and care este. I struggle to articulate the difference but I believe the example will make it clear:
Care este diferența?Care este prețul? _Care este numărul de locuitori?_—these questions ask (as is pragmatically expected) for a description or quantification of a difference, a price, a number of inhabitants.
Ce este diferența?Ce este prețul?Ce este numărul de locuitori?_—these (unlikely) questions ask for the _definitions of the notions of difference, price and population (‘what is difference?’).
I was experimenting with ce/care because I wasnt sure when the use which but this makes sense! Sort of 😂 This is really a part of romanian that is hard to translate to english but you did it😆
Also, regarding mergând cu trenul: this usage of the gerund in Romanian is completely excluded. You can instead say it as:
A merge cu trenul e mai comod: a bit clunky but a good illustration of how the infinitive is used in Romanian.
Mersul cu trenul e mai comod: the supine, a very important part of the Romanian informal language which makes a noun out of a participle.
Să mergi cu trenul e mai comod: the generic you is not as common in Romanian owing to the range of alternatives to it, but it works here.
Of course, since the gerund indicates time, you could’ve had the gerund if it really did indicate time: Mergând cu trenul mă relaxez. By generalisation, this makes for another common use of the gerund identical to the English by + gerund construction: ‘I go to work by taking the train’—Mă duc la muncă mergând cu trenul.
A practica does not have that meaning in Romanian; see Wiktionary. So it’s exersa (which, while we’re at it, also doesn’t mean to exercise). Also see the similar verb repeta.
Comod means comfortable, so it’s not a synonym of practic (‘practical’).
Funcționa is the more precise word, but merge is very common informally. Also, see the Wiktionary entry for merge, which is pretty good (if I may say so myself).
Ba is a word of several meanings; what we care about here is the juxtaposition of ba and chiar. Your intuition is correct, ba chiar meaning ‘one could even say…’.
Based on example sentences, I believe the best translation for a "crime" is "infracțiune", whereas "crimă" would refer to a very grave crime such as murder or rape. Can anybody confirm whether this is a correct interpretation?
For "to get confused" I obtain "a deveni confuz". This sounds a bit stiff and "Google translate" to me. Is this really the most natural way to say "to get confused" in Romanian?
for the concept of "wrestling", should I use the Singular "luptă" or the Plural "lupte"? I tried to find a lot of example sentences, but they were inconclusive. Any insights?
can "moștenire", beyond signifying the act of inheriting, also mean the inheritance itself, i.e. the contents of the inheritance, that what one inherits?
What is the most common name in Romanian for the suit of playing cards that in English is referred to as "diamonds"? Some sources give "caro", others "rombi", and I would just like to know which one is more frequently used.
I would say it depends on the region. In my region, (Ploiești, South of Romania) we say Inimă Roșie (hearts), Inimă Neagră (spades), Treflă (clubs) and Romb (diamonds), but I know that in other regions they call some or even all of them by other names (especially the Hungarian cards, since they have different suits).
This is a small list I found online, though I could not tell you how correct it is:
The former; the other one makes me think of 19th century military uniforms. But buton is an interesting word: it is masculine in its clothing sense (plural butoni) and neuter when it means ‘something you press on’ (plural butoane).
Actually, in my region at least, butoni is used to refer to the "elegant", "special" detachable buttons you buy separately for the fancy shirts that come without buttons already sewn on them.
What is the most common way in Romanian to say "a miracle"? I come across two words that on the surface seem synonymous: "miracol" and "minune"... Is one perhaps more common than the other?
What is the most common way in Romanian to say "a prophet"? I come across two words that on the surface seem synonymous: "profet" and "proroc"... Is one perhaps more common than the other?
What is the standard word for a (political) demonstration, is it "manifestație", i.e. following French, or "demonstrație", i.e. following English? Wikipedia uses manifestație exclusively, but Reverso prefers demonstrație, hence my doubt...
I seem to have made a mistake in assuming "soldat" is the correct translation for soldier; the more I read about it the more it seems that actually "soldat" refers only to the lowest rank of soldier, i.e. those who have nobody below them. "Militar" seems to be the neutral term for all types of soldiers. Am I right in this conclusion?
I am trying to find the right way to say "translator, interpreter" in Romanian. "Translator" has two translations: "translator" and "traducător"; I cannot find any difference in meaning or in frequency of use. "Interpreter" gives "interpret", "translator" and "traducător".
My questions are the following:
1. Many languages do not distinguish - at least not in common, non-technical speech - between a translator and an interpreter, where the first refers to converting written texts and the second to oral speech; in Romanian, is the distinction usually made in common speech, or is it overly technical to use the word "interpret"?
2. Between "translator" and "traducător", which one should I remember and use? Or are there they both equally in common use?
Translator, interpret_—interpreter, _traducător_—translator. For verbs there is only the word _traduce. Interpret is actually most often used to mean ‘musical performer’. There exists an old-fashioned word, tălmăci, which also means ‘to translate’ or ‘to interpret’ and is related via Slavic to the German word Dolmetscher.
Burghiu is properly the drill bit itself, but I have no reason to doubt burghiu electric being a thing people say. But the latter two are the ones I’ve actually heard. (Bormașină, by the way, comes from German and its first half is analogous to English bore.)
Does Romanian have an expression for "to stand somebody up", i.e. not to show up to a pre-arranged meeting? I cannot find it in the dictionary, and online sources give really strange translations.
Oh, of course! Both 1 and 2 are great equivalents. A lăsa baltă is a little more versatile—its meaning is ‘to callously abandon’, so you could use it, for example, of your friends going off to do something without you—and you can also use it as an equivalent of English ‘forget it, let’s stop discussing the topic’: las-o baltă.
My intuition, based on example sentences, is that "entuziast" denotes a character trait, whereas "entuziasmat" denotes a state of mind. Is that correct or am I totally off?
I am having difficulty figuring out the exact Romanian translation of two specific terms (there seem to be many translations with overlapping meanings or perhaps simply synonyms). These two are:
-confession/to confess (in the religious sense, i.e. your sins to a priest)
-murder
It would be great if somebody could point me to the standard terms.
which is the preposition that goes together with "condemnat", i.e. "convicted OF corruption, murder, espionage etc."? Based example sentence, I am doubting between "pentru" and "de".
That strategy does not work, the problem being that I get multiple translations. Here specifically my doubt is between "topor" and "secure". I read the wiktionary and the wikipedia pages of both respectively, consulted Reverso, and also looked at pictures of both on Google. I then looked at their definition on dexoline. None of this cleared things up.
I could rephrase the question asking what the difference is between these two words. I purposefully didn't do that, because I was interested to see which word would come up in the mind of a native speaker as the most direct translation of the concept of an "axe" in English. If I ask for the difference between the two we might get entangled in discussions about their respective dimensions, shapes etc., whereas the answer would be far more straightforward (at least assuming there is one word that constitutes the clear-cut translation of English "axe").
I apologise if my question comes off as lazy, but it really isn't. If I post something like this here, I have exhausted all other ways to come to a conclusion.
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].
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"
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?
Pretty much, yes.
is there any phonetic difference between the forms "aceea" and "aceia"?
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
what is the difference between "viitor" and "următor" in the sense of "next"?
_Viitor_—future, coming. (Curiously, both the English and the Romanian terms can describe both an adjective and a noun.)
how do you say “engagement” in Romanian? as in two people getting engaged to one another for marriage
Logodnă.
translating the word "just" in the sense of "I have just arrived", "I have just finished": are "tocmai", "abia" and "adineauri" interchangeable?
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)
Abia and tocmai are interchangeable, but adineauri is a purely temporal adverb that simply means ‘moments ago’.
"dar cu toții își dau seamă că..."
what is the function of the word "cu" in this context?
There is no function to it anymore, it’s a fossilised expression.
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)
"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...
"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.
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.
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
What is the difference in usage or nuance between "a se decide" and "a decide"?
Thanks
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.
"eu mă bucur odată cu ei"
what is the meaning of "odată" here? the meaning of "once" does not make sense in this context...
"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).
Is there any difference between
-astă-seară
-deseară
-în seara aceasta
(this evening, as an adverbial expression)?
Thanks!
Quite a big difference: astă-seară_—last evening, _deseară/_diseară_—the coming evening.
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?
Yes to both.
Edit: disregard what I said, dictionaries all disagree with me. Still, I swear I’ve used astă-seară to mean ‘last evening’ all my life. Your textbook is right.
Is there any difference in meaning between "tot omul" and "toată lumea"?
Tot omul sounds somewhat folksy or informal. The usage of tot with countable singular nouns to mean ‘every’ is archaic and fossilised here.
Also, lume has the meaning of ‘people’ in the expression toată lumea. More examples of this usage:multă/puțină lume ‘a lot of/few people’, plin de lume ‘full of people’.
Bună ziua am văzut că există 2 cuvinte pentru “goods” marfă și bunuri? Habar n-am care e diferența😅
_Marfă_—merchandise (things that are sold), _bunuri_—goods.
You might be aware of the colloquial adjectival use of marfă to mean ‘cool’ (it seems to be one of the first things Romanian learners find out). Don’t use it, it is dated and artificial.
Yes I knew marfă had some slang like cool, drugs and sexy I belief
Wow ce marfă/ Vând marfă/ ea este marfă
Thanks!
What is the difference between "în altă parte" and "altundeva"?
Thanks :)
There is none.
[deleted]
You must be kidding.
Maybe I should have asked in this thread first. What is the correct way to punctuate the name Dragos? Is it Dragos' or Dragos's? For example: "Dragos' chair was empty?" Or is it "Dragos's chair was empty?"
This isn’t a Romanian language question.
Soacra mea nu e niciuna. Is this slang for my mother in law is unique?
Definitely not.
What is the difference between a dulap and a șifonier? Thanks :)
_Dulap_—cupboard/closet, _șifonier_—wardrobe (but nobody uses that)
Another question about my last post that I want to put here for the last clarification. Thanks alot😄
Would you say that nu am ce să is emotional?
Nu am ce să mănânc (when you are hungry) nu am nimic de mâncare (when you have an empty fridge but not hungry)
Nu am nimic de făcut (when you are bored) nu am ce să fac ( when you are emotional about having nothing to do)
Nah.
i have been trying to learn alphabat.
in yt i found that there seems to be 3 ways to pronounce them.
what or why it that? do i learn all 3 way ?
It's, uh, a rough one. The main issue is that you cannot pronounce a consonant by itself (well maybe except s like a snake). So, you need to add a vowel to them, like in English (you don't say b, you say bee).
There's 2 "alphabets", one adding â after each consonant, which doesn't sound great, and a more clean/formal one.
The first is the simpler variant, just add â after every consonant: A Ă Â Bâ Câ Dâ E Fâ Gâ...
For the second, you usually add e, but many have exceptions, here's the full version: A Be Ce De E eF Ge Haș I Jâ Ka eL eM eN O Pe Qu eR Se Te U Ve W (dublu Ve) X (ics) Y (i grec) Zet
But really, there's to "theory" to it. Also, they way I know them, the latter is just the English letter (no ă, â etc.)
best online eng-ro dictionary? google translate and chatgpt make tons of mistakes and its super annoying. Can also be a physical book, as I would buy it
There is a variety of Romanian-English dictionaries, but all are published in Romania and I’ve no idea how they can be obtained abroad. Otherwise, I know of no good online sources.
I see a few on amazon. Can you give me the title of what you consider a good one? Maybe it will be there
It’s all quite deary. Most of them are targeted at Romanian learners of English, so they do away with everything other than definitions and part of speech labels—not appropriate for learning Romanian. Even the Teora dictionary, which I had higher hopes for, is like that. As for the quality of translations and definitions, it is often less than passable.
Still, because something is better than nothing, especially when it’s free, search ‘Romanian dictionary’ on Anna’s Archive.
"la ce ora vin invitații?"
is invitații a synonym of oaspeții and musafiri?
Pragmatically yes. Know that invitații is a homonym: it can be the definite nominative-accusative plural of invitat or the indefinite plural/indefinite genitive-dative singular of invitație.
"pe unde ești?"
what does the word "pe" add to the meaning of a simple "unde ești?"
Is it perhaps less (or more) defined?
The word pe has two meanings in spatial contexts (next to adverbs and prepositions):
what's the difference between "măcar" and "chiar" in the sense of "even"?
Măcar că is an antiquated way of saying ‘even though’. Now we say chiar dacă or deși.
Chiar și means ‘even’, as in ‘even us’, ‘even here’, ‘even then’.
Thanks for the reply!
Let me give you the sentence, because it still does not make complete sense to me:
"nici măcar nu înțeleg ce tot zice", with translation "I can't even understand what he is saying".
I would have personally said "chiar nu înțeleg ce tot zice".
Nici măcar (or, if the sentence is clear enough, nici alone) means ‘not even’ (both in a numerical and a non-numerical sense).
Chiar does mean even, but only in positive constructions. It also has the meaning of ‘really, for real, I swear’, which is how it would be understood in the sentence you made (since it tolerates positive and negative constructions equally).
thanks!
"a întreba"
Does this verb take a direct object or indirect object in terms of the person who is asked the question?
How would you say "I asked him"? "i-am întrebat" or "l-am întrebat"?
What about when I add the words "a question": "I asked him a question"? "i-am întrebat o întrebare" or "l-am întrebat o întrebare"?
Thank you!
Întreba is an atypical verb that can take two direct objects (but never an indirect dative object). So it’s l‑am întrebat. As for the other object: întreba is typically ditransitive only when it comes to pronouns like ceva ‘something’ or object clauses (te întreb ce faci, te întreb cum să…). When it comes to ‘asking a question’ you use the word pune (like in German: eine Frage stellen), so it’s a îi pune o întrebare—because a întreba o întrebare doesn’t sound good at all.
Also, întreba can also be reflexive, in which case it means ‘to wonder’.
Am o întrebare mai complicată cred eu😅
Sunt “asemenea” și “un/o astfel de” aceeași?
Pe google translate îmi dă aceeași traducere.
First off, it’s sunt același lucru or sunt la fel, and the feminine plural of același/aceeași is aceleași anyway.
Un astfel de only means such a. (Alternative: un așa.) Asémenea is a more complex word which overlaps with the aforementioned in its pronominal adjective sense, but has separate adverbial senses.
Bună seara.
Cum spun români: it is not so
Nu e așa ! Așa nu e !
Care propoziție e folosit mai mult (informal) întră prieteni sau ceva.
Mulțumesc anticipat!
100% the former. (Sorry for getting back to you so late—I thought I had activated comment alerts.)
Also, nu-i așa? is also used to mean ‘isn’t it?’.
Bună ziua
Poți vedea muntele și se vede muntele. Care propoziții este mai bună dacă subiectul este despre un munte?
I suppose you remember my previous comment about this construction, but keep in mind that Romanian does not use the ‘generic you’ much; poți vedea muntele is something you would only really say to an actual interlocutor.
Yes of course I remembered your comment 😅 Im still wrapping my head around this but it seems im starting to get there! Numai bine!
is there any meaningful difference between "cam scump" and "destul de scump" (rather expensive)?
Cam is a loaded word; it always has a negative or ironic connotation. But when you use it with numerals (‘approximately’) it doesn’t have that nuance.
Hi everybody,
What is the difference between "carnet" and "caiet"?
Thanks!
Carnet is something which you can carry in a pocket, caiet is A5 or A4 size. Carnet can be something you jot down notes in, but it can also be an official document (carnet de note_—a school-issued booklet in which students receive their grades; _carnet de membru_—membership booklet; _carnet de partid_—party membership booklet). _Carnet is also a shorthand for ‘driver’s licence’—an anachronism, since it no longer takes that shape.
thanks
Neața !
E “timp de” necesar când vorbesc despre timp în trecut? Am fost acolo timp de 2 săptămâni. Am învățat timp de 1 ani. Sau este prea formal și nu e folosit într-o conversație informală?
Unrelated, dar se zice un (1) an, nu ani. Ani se folosește la plural, deci de la doi în sus. De exemplu: Am studiat în străinătate timp de un an. Ori: Am studiat în străinătate timp de doi ani.
De asemenea, mie cel puțin, nu știu dacă și ceilalți ar fi de acord, propoziția originală - "Am învățat timp de 1 an", nu mi se pare completă/ corectă.
În primul rând, cred că lipsește un complement, de exemplu: ce am învățat? Am învățat să cos. Am învățat cum să mă leg la șireturi. Am învățat care sunt cele 7 continente.
În al doilea rând, (chiar dacă despre asta sunt mai puțin sigur) verbul "a învăța" îmi sună ca o acțiune terminată. În exemplul de mai sus, eu l-aș înlocui cu "a studia" (+complement): Am studiat limba română timp de un an.
It’s not mandatory, but not formal either. You can always omit it.
Is there a difference between "ca" and "precum" (like)?
Thanks!
For precum see my comment.
Bună seara
Care diferența există între: nu este o glumă și nu este de glumă ambele mi se pare serioasă 😅
Mersi!
Care diferența există între_—overwrought and incorrect expression. If you want to use _care you would say Care este diferența? You could also say Ce diferență există/este? (notice the indefinite noun).
Not that you asked, but this brings up an interesting aspect of the way you say ‘what is’ in Romanian: ce este and care este. I struggle to articulate the difference but I believe the example will make it clear:
Care este diferența? Care este prețul? _Care este numărul de locuitori?_—these questions ask (as is pragmatically expected) for a description or quantification of a difference, a price, a number of inhabitants.
Ce este diferența? Ce este prețul? Ce este numărul de locuitori?_—these (unlikely) questions ask for the _definitions of the notions of difference, price and population (‘what is difference?’).
Thanks!
I was experimenting with ce/care because I wasnt sure when the use which but this makes sense! Sort of 😂 This is really a part of romanian that is hard to translate to english but you did it😆
_Nu este o glumă_—it’s not a joke
_Nu este de glumă (cu…)_—it’s no joke, no laughing matter. Nice informal expression.
Bună dimineața.
Am niște propoziții și sunt curios care sunt mai bune.
Trebuie să practic/exersez română.
Mergând cu trenul e mai comod/practic (Going with the train is more convenient)
Deci mă chinui cu cuvântul practic puțin 😅
Apreciez tot.
Also, regarding mergând cu trenul: this usage of the gerund in Romanian is completely excluded. You can instead say it as:
Of course, since the gerund indicates time, you could’ve had the gerund if it really did indicate time: Mergând cu trenul mă relaxez. By generalisation, this makes for another common use of the gerund identical to the English by + gerund construction: ‘I go to work by taking the train’—Mă duc la muncă mergând cu trenul.
A practica does not have that meaning in Romanian; see Wiktionary. So it’s exersa (which, while we’re at it, also doesn’t mean to exercise). Also see the similar verb repeta.
Comod means comfortable, so it’s not a synonym of practic (‘practical’).
Bună tuturor!
Ce sune mai firesc dintr-o conversație informală?
It works thanks! merge mulțumesc! funcționează mulțumesc.
Funcționează/merge
Funcționa is the more precise word, but merge is very common informally. Also, see the Wiktionary entry for merge, which is pretty good (if I may say so myself).
Bună! Mi-ar plăcea să știu dacă folosesc BA într-un mod bun (:
Sunt obosit. Ba chiar foarte obosit.
El a plecat din restaurant fără plătești? Ba chiar!
The first is very good, the second not—it just isn’t used like that. (Also it’s fără să plătească).
So BA can only be used when you say 2 senteces after each other? Like my first example?
Sunt plin. Ba chiar plin (ceva așa)
Ba is a word of several meanings; what we care about here is the juxtaposition of ba and chiar. Your intuition is correct, ba chiar meaning ‘one could even say…’.
Also, așa ceva
Based on example sentences, I believe the best translation for a "crime" is "infracțiune", whereas "crimă" would refer to a very grave crime such as murder or rape. Can anybody confirm whether this is a correct interpretation?
Many thanks
Eh, pretty much.
Yet a "criminal" is limited to meaning a "murderer", right? not any other grave crimes?
Sorry, all of this is just a bit confusing...
The terms infracțiune/infractor are legal in origin and refer to any wrongdoing.
Thanks!
and a "criminal" (in Romanian) in practice refers exclusively to murderers? or also to other serious crimes?
You should have inferred the answer already.
what is the best translation for "to sprain", as in "I sprained my ankle"? The various dictionaries are giving very different translations.
People commonly use "a scrânti" as well. For example: I sprained my ankle - Mi-am scrântit glezna
The verb "a luxa" also exists, although I think it refers more to a dislocated bone. So I dislocated my shoulder would be Mi-am luxat/ dislocat umărul
You just say a face o entorsă.
For "to get confused" I obtain "a deveni confuz". This sounds a bit stiff and "Google translate" to me. Is this really the most natural way to say "to get confused" in Romanian?
The expression a se încurca is broad in sense and very common.
buna !
Sunt m-am ratacit si m-am pierdut aceeasi inteles?
Sau e m-am pierdut teoretic de exemplu: "m-am pierdut in viata". mersi (:
In this sense they are equivalent.
is "plângere" also used statically as the concept of a "complaint", rather the action of "complaining"?
The action noun hardly exists. Plângere means ‘complaint’.
is "încredere" also used statically as the concept of "trust", rather the action of "trusting"?
That is the main, if not the only, sense. I cannot picture a sentence that involves ‘the action of “trusting”’.
To trust is not a verb in Romanian. You can say "a avea incredere în........... "
for the concept of "wrestling", should I use the Singular "luptă" or the Plural "lupte"? I tried to find a lot of example sentences, but they were inconclusive. Any insights?
Thanks
"lupte"
can "moștenire", beyond signifying the act of inheriting, also mean the inheritance itself, i.e. the contents of the inheritance, that what one inherits?
thanks
Yes, that is the main sense.
What is the most common name in Romanian for the suit of playing cards that in English is referred to as "diamonds"? Some sources give "caro", others "rombi", and I would just like to know which one is more frequently used.
I would say it depends on the region. In my region, (Ploiești, South of Romania) we say Inimă Roșie (hearts), Inimă Neagră (spades), Treflă (clubs) and Romb (diamonds), but I know that in other regions they call some or even all of them by other names (especially the Hungarian cards, since they have different suits).
This is a small list I found online, though I could not tell you how correct it is:
hearts - cupă, roșu, inimă, inimă roșie diamonds - caro, romb, tobă, dobă spades - pică, verde, negru, frunză, inimă neagră clubs - treflă, ghindă, cruce
Romb > diamond Inima rosie > heart Inima neagră/frunza > the black one that looks like a heart Treflă > the black one that looks like a cross
I have no idea.
As a translation of "button" (the fastener on a garment), what is more common "nasture" or "buton"?
Thank you
The former; the other one makes me think of 19th century military uniforms. But buton is an interesting word: it is masculine in its clothing sense (plural butoni) and neuter when it means ‘something you press on’ (plural butoane).
Actually, in my region at least, butoni is used to refer to the "elegant", "special" detachable buttons you buy separately for the fancy shirts that come without buttons already sewn on them.
For the word "sandal", what is the most commonly used form "sanda" or "sandală"?
Thanks
According to prescriptive norms, it’s sanda.
What is the most common expression in Romanian to say "your shoelaces are untied"?
Îți sunt (more informally, ți-s) dezlegate șireturile.
the word for "wrestling": should I used it in the plural (lupte) or in the singular (luptă)? The example sentences are found are inconclusive.
Thanks
What is the most common way in Romanian to say "a miracle"? I come across two words that on the surface seem synonymous: "miracol" and "minune"... Is one perhaps more common than the other?
Miracle vs. wonder. (Be aware that constructions such as ‘it’s no wonder’ are foreign to Romanian.)
What is the most common way in Romanian to say "a prophet"? I come across two words that on the surface seem synonymous: "profet" and "proroc"... Is one perhaps more common than the other?
Proroc is Slavonic-derived and has a more Orthodox feel.
thanks
are both words in common use?
As common as you can get.
What is the most common way in Romanian to say "a pearl"? perlă or mărgăritar?
Mărgăritar is a fairy tale and Christmas carol thing.
What is the most common way in Romanian to say "a second cousin"?
Thank you
Văr secundar.
What is the difference between "descendent" and "urmaș" in the meaning of "descendent"?
Thanks!
None, but urmaș is the most common in every context.
Between the words "rană" and "plagă", which is the more common word for "wound"?
Definitely, most certainly, rană. Plagă is something a WW1 soldier would get from an exploding shell.
is the word "descriere" only used for the action of describing, or is it also the correct translation of the static concept of a "description"?
Both.
What is the most apt way to say "sewer" in Romanian? The dictionary is not helping, as it gives far too many options.
Canal (countable instance), canalizare (the whole system).
What is the most common expression in Romanian to say "license plate", "number plate" (of a car)?
Thank you!
Plăcuță de înmatriculare, număr de înmatriculare.
What is the difference between "bont" and "tocit" (blunt)? Which one is more common?
Thanks!
Tocit is a participle of the verb toci, which means ‘to dull, weather’, so you can gather what the implication is.
What is the standard word for a (political) demonstration, is it "manifestație", i.e. following French, or "demonstrație", i.e. following English? Wikipedia uses manifestație exclusively, but Reverso prefers demonstrație, hence my doubt...
Both. Also take note of the fact that manifesta conjugates differently depending on the sense; see Wiktionary.
What is the best word in Romanian to use for the concept of "damage", "harm"?
Verb or noun?
the noun
There are the words avarie, stricăciune, daună. They all have quite physical, literal meanings.
For "stench", should I use "duhoare" or "putoare"? Which of the two is the more frequently used term?
Definitely the latter.
As a translation of "sail", I come across "velă", but also "pânză". Which one of the two is the standard word?
Both, but pânză (literally ‘cloth’) is always in the plural in that sense.
"blunt" as in the opposite of "sharp": should I use "bont" or "tocit"?
thanks!
I am trying to work out the most common term in Romanian for the word "enemy". The dictionary gives too many terms that are all seemingly synonyms.
The most usual word is dușman (especially if you’re a manele singer), or inamic if you’re being more stylistically careful.
I seem to have made a mistake in assuming "soldat" is the correct translation for soldier; the more I read about it the more it seems that actually "soldat" refers only to the lowest rank of soldier, i.e. those who have nobody below them. "Militar" seems to be the neutral term for all types of soldiers. Am I right in this conclusion?
Thanks
You’re correct, but this is just pedantry. I mean, you wouldn’t call a general a soldier, but still.
gotcha, but then when indicating somebody's profession, are "militar" and "soldat" interchangeable? Should I simply stick to "soldat"?
"soldat" can be used to indicate the proffesion too
is there a female form for the words "clovn", "pompier", "măcelar" and "soldat"?
No.
I am trying to find the right way to say "translator, interpreter" in Romanian. "Translator" has two translations: "translator" and "traducător"; I cannot find any difference in meaning or in frequency of use. "Interpreter" gives "interpret", "translator" and "traducător".
My questions are the following:
1. Many languages do not distinguish - at least not in common, non-technical speech - between a translator and an interpreter, where the first refers to converting written texts and the second to oral speech; in Romanian, is the distinction usually made in common speech, or is it overly technical to use the word "interpret"?
2. Between "translator" and "traducător", which one should I remember and use? Or are there they both equally in common use?
Thanks!
Translator, interpret_—interpreter, _traducător_—translator. For verbs there is only the word _traduce. Interpret is actually most often used to mean ‘musical performer’. There exists an old-fashioned word, tălmăci, which also means ‘to translate’ or ‘to interpret’ and is related via Slavic to the German word Dolmetscher.
Thanks!
Between translator and interpret, which one is the most commonly used term? or are they both very common?
The answer is in the answer.
Re a "drill", the tool that makes holes in a wall:
the dictionary gives "burghiu electric", "bormașină" and "mașină de găurit".
Which of these are the commonly used ones?
Burghiu is properly the drill bit itself, but I have no reason to doubt burghiu electric being a thing people say. But the latter two are the ones I’ve actually heard. (Bormașină, by the way, comes from German and its first half is analogous to English bore.)
Does Romanian have an expression for "to stand somebody up", i.e. not to show up to a pre-arranged meeting? I cannot find it in the dictionary, and online sources give really strange translations.
Thanks
I think there isn’t one, but I’m going to need a second opinion on this.
In case it helps, the candidates I found were:
Hence none of them seem to match the English, at least as far as I can tell
Oh, of course! Both 1 and 2 are great equivalents. A lăsa baltă is a little more versatile—its meaning is ‘to callously abandon’, so you could use it, for example, of your friends going off to do something without you—and you can also use it as an equivalent of English ‘forget it, let’s stop discussing the topic’: las-o baltă.
And yes, #3 is Google Translate.
What is the best way to render the mathematical expression "equals" in Romanian?
"Doi plus doi egal patru."
or
"Doi plus doi egal cu patru."
Thanks
You can also use " Doi plus doi este patru. "
Both are used.
What is the best translation into Romanian for the term "strict", as in a "strict teacher", "strict laws" or a "strict father" etc.?
Sever, but strict works too.
"enthusiastic": entuziast vs. entuziasmat
My intuition, based on example sentences, is that "entuziast" denotes a character trait, whereas "entuziasmat" denotes a state of mind. Is that correct or am I totally off?
Yes, pretty much.
Hai să băgăm
Is this sentence meant as lets start? I heard someone say it just before eating.
Thanks !
Haha, no. Băga is an intentionally crude way of saying ‘to eat’, a shortening of băga la maț ‘to stuff one’s gut’.
I am confused about the transitive form of the verb "to freeze". My hunch is that one uses "a îngheța" for liquids, while "a congela" for food.
Does that sound right, or am I way off?
Yes. Notice that îngheța is never reflexive, even when translating the English intransitive usage.
I am having difficulty figuring out the exact Romanian translation of two specific terms (there seem to be many translations with overlapping meanings or perhaps simply synonyms). These two are:
-confession/to confess (in the religious sense, i.e. your sins to a priest)
-murder
It would be great if somebody could point me to the standard terms.
Many thanks!
To confess—se spovedi
Confession—spovedánie
Murder—omor (deverbal from omorî)
Great, thank you!
which is the preposition that goes together with "condemnat", i.e. "convicted OF corruption, murder, espionage etc."? Based example sentence, I am doubting between "pentru" and "de".
Thanks
Both go.
What is the proper translation of the word "axe" (the tool) in Romanian?
Thanks :)
Google Translate
That strategy does not work, the problem being that I get multiple translations. Here specifically my doubt is between "topor" and "secure". I read the wiktionary and the wikipedia pages of both respectively, consulted Reverso, and also looked at pictures of both on Google. I then looked at their definition on dexoline. None of this cleared things up.
I could rephrase the question asking what the difference is between these two words. I purposefully didn't do that, because I was interested to see which word would come up in the mind of a native speaker as the most direct translation of the concept of an "axe" in English. If I ask for the difference between the two we might get entangled in discussions about their respective dimensions, shapes etc., whereas the answer would be far more straightforward (at least assuming there is one word that constitutes the clear-cut translation of English "axe").
I apologise if my question comes off as lazy, but it really isn't. If I post something like this here, I have exhausted all other ways to come to a conclusion.