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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
1st, 2nd and 3rd person singular. In
the 1st, 2nd and 3rd 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 logical 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 logical subject is in the dative as well. The dative forms of the
pronouns used in this case are: "mie"
(in the 1st person singular), "ție"
(in the 2nd person singular), "lui
/ ei" (in the 3rd person
singular; "lui" is for masculine,
"ei" is for feminine), "nouă"
(in the 1st person plural), "vouă"
(in the 2nd person plural), "lor"
(in the 3rd 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 logical subject, it is 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.
-
|
Mie nu îmi
este foame / sete
Mie nu mi-e
foame / sete
(I am not hungry / thirsty) |
Nouă nu ne
este foame / sete
Nouă nu
ne
e foame / sete
(We are not hungry / thirsty) |
|
Ție nu îți
este foame / sete
Ție nu ți-e
foame / sete
(You are not hungry / thirsty) |
Vouă nu vă
este foame / sete
Vouă nu vă
e foame / sete.
(You are not hungry / thirsty) |
|
Lui
/ ei nu îi
este foame / sete
Lui
/ ei nu i-e
foame / sete
(He / she is not hungry / thirsty) |
Lor nu le
este foame / sete
Lor nu
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, Ph.D. Linguist
ROLANG School Managing Director | 
