If you’re learning Romanian, you’ll soon find out that there are a metric ton of strange and confusing grammar rules. The vocabulary and verb conjugations are relatively easy, but understanding noun cases is pretty tricky. And probably one of the most difficult things to learn is when and how to use the genitive “a”. If you remember my post The Case of the Frustrating Cases, … Continue reading Hey, Hey, It’s the Genitive A!
If your native language is English, you’re almost hopelessly fucked when it comes to learning a foreign language. Basic English grammar is very simple, with no genders, no need for adjective/adverb matching, simple verbs, and no cases. At one time in the distant past, English was far more complex but was then simplified into its modern form. Most other languages, however, still use these archaic … Continue reading The Case of the Frustrating Cases
As you trip down the interesting highways and byways of the Romanian language, you come across some words that bisect in unusual ways with English and other languages. An excellent example of this is the Romanian word coajă (kwah-zha), which refers to the “skin” of any plant. In English, this “skin” on a fruit is usually called the “peel” while for trees it is usually … Continue reading Words of the Day: Coaja – Piele
Whew mercy, that’s a handful isn’t it? Just the title alone gives me the shivers. What am I talking about? I’m talking about phrases like Mi-e foame (I am hungry) versus Eu sunt mai român decât tine (I am more Romanian than you). Please understand that what follows isn’t comprehensive, that is to say, it doesn’t cover all situations of similar usage (the dative case … Continue reading The Impersonal Construction With the Dative Indicating a State of Being
I was listening to manele (as I am wont to do hehe) this morning while cleaning the house and heard this “word” aoleu and it made me laugh as I’ve heard my neighbors use it a million times. It’s an interjection, which means it’s something people suddenly exclaim and is never “conjugated” or modified in any way (grammatically). There are about a million variants of … Continue reading Slang Word of the Day: Aoleu!
All Things Romania 