Special phrases in Romanian

Some usual phrases in Romanian are formed with a pronoun in the dative and the verb "to be" in the third person singular.

Play: special phrases in Romanian

Examples

Îmi este foame = mi-e foame (I am hungry)

Îmi este sete = mi-e sete (I am thirsty)

Îmi este frig = mi-e frig (I am cold)

Îmi este cald = mi-e cald (I am warm)

If we want to change the subject, only the dative pronoun "îmi" will be modified. The rest of the phrase including the verb "este" and the nouns "foame", "sete", "frig", "cald" remains in the same form.

The current / common form of these phrases includes the short form of the pronoun "mi" and the short form of the verb "to be" ("e" instead of "este"). The contraction of the pronoun "mi" and the verb "e" is mandatory ("mi-e"). In this case, the two parts of speech turn into one syllable. This type of contraction occurs in the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd person singular. In the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd person plural we use only the short form of the verb "to be": "e". As long as the two parts of speech (the pronoun and the verb) does not turn into one syllable, we cannot talk about a contraction ("ne e", "vă e", "le e" are not contractions).

Îmi este foame / sete Mi-e foame / sete (I am hungry / thirsty)	Ne este foame /sete Ne e foame /sete (We are hungry / thirsty)
Îți este foame / sete Ți-e foame / sete (You are hungry / thirsty)	Vă este foame /sete Vă e foame /sete. (You are hungry / thirsty)
Îi este foame / sete I-e foame / sete (He / she is hungry / thirsty)	Le este foame /sete Le e foame /sete (They are hungry /thirsty)

Meaning and grammar do not always go together. Not all phrases or verbs can be preceded by the normal subject ("eu", "tu", "el / ea" etc.). An important grammatical feature of this type of phrases is that it is not possible to express the subject "eu", "tu", "el / ea" etc. in front of them. A structure like "eu îmi este foame" is incorrect.

Romanian uses a double dative structure. If we want to emphasize the subject of this type of phrase, the subject is in the dative as well. The dative forms of the pronouns used in this case are: "mie" (in the 1^st person singular), "ție" (in the 2^nd person singular), "lui / ei" (in the 3^rd person singular; "lui" is for masculine, "ei" is for feminine), "nouă" (in the 1^st person plural), "vouă" (in the 2^nd person plural), "lor" (in the 3^rd person plural). The full form of these phrases is:

Mie îmi este foame / sete Mie mi-e foame / sete (I am hungry / thirsty)	Nouă ne este foame / sete Nouă ne e foame / sete (We are hungry / thirsty)
Ție îți este foame / sete Ție ți-e foame / sete (You are hungry / thirsty)	Vouă vă este foame / sete Vouă vă e foame / sete. (You are hungry / thirsty)
Lui / ei îi este foame / sete Lui / ei i-e foame / sete (He / she is hungry / thirsty)	Lor le este foame / sete Lor le e foame / sete (They are hungry /thirsty)

If we don't want to emphasize the subject, it's enough to say: "îmi este foame" or "mi-e foame".The optional forms of the dative pronouns are only: "mie", "ție", "lui / ei", "nouă", "vouă", "lor".

"(Mie) îmi este foame" - "mie" is optional

"Îmi este foame" - "îmi" is mandatory

The negative form

In the negative, the particle "nu" must be added in front of the pronouns in the dative.

Nu îmi este foame / sete Nu mi-e foame / sete (I am not hungry / thirsty)	Nu ne este foame / sete Nu ne e foame / sete (We are not hungry / thirsty)
Nu îți este foame / sete Nu ți-e foame / sete (You are not hungry / thirsty)	Nu vă este foame / sete Nu vă e foame / sete. (You are not hungry / thirsty)
Nu îi este foame / sete Nu i-e foame / sete (He / she is not hungry / thirsty)	Nu le este foame / sete Nu le e foame / sete (They are not hungry /thirsty)

When we express the double dative, the particle "nu" remains in front of the second pronoun in the dative.

Mienuîmi este foame / sete Mienumi-e foame / sete (I am not hungry / thirsty)	Nouănune este foame / sete Nouănu ne e foame / sete (We are not hungry / thirsty)
Țienuîți este foame / sete Țienuți-e foame / sete (You are not hungry / thirsty)	Vouănuvă este foame / sete Vouănuvă e foame / sete. (You are not hungry / thirsty)
Lui / ei nuîi este foame / sete Lui / ei nui-e foame / sete (He / she is not hungry / thirsty)	Lornule este foame / sete Lornu le e foame / sete (They are not hungry /thirsty)

Other Romanian phrases having the same structure are:

Îmi pare bine de cunoștință = Nice to meet you

Îmi pare rău = I am sorry

Îmi este bine = I am fine

Îmi este rău = I am sick

The short form including the contraction of the pronouns in the dative and the verb is possible only when the structure includes the verb "to be".

Îmi este bine = Mi-e bine = I am fine

Îmi este rău = Mi-e rău = I am sick

If the structure includes the verb "a părea" (to seem), a short form does not exist.

Îmi pare bine de cunoștință = Nice to meet you

Îmi pare rău = I am sorry

are the only possible constructions.

Mona Moldoveanu Pologea, PhD Linguist

ROLANG School Managing Director