Liking and feeling · Romanian grammar A1

Contents · A1

English “I like” is turned round in Romanian: the thing liked is the subject of a-i plăcea, and the person who likes is in the dative, as in English “it pleases me”. Hunger, thirst, sleepiness and fear are expressed in the same way, with the dative and e: mi-e foame (“I’m hungry”).

The dative pronouns: îmi, îți, îi, ne, vă, le#

Formation

The dative pronouns are placed before the verb. At A1, they are used with a-i plăcea and with the expressions of state, in the present.

	Singular	Plural
first person	îmi (to me)	ne (to us)
second person	îți (to you, tu)	vă (to you, voi or dumneavoastră)
third person	îi (to him, to her)	le (to them)

Use

Îi is used for a man and for a woman. After nu, îmi and îți are usually joined to it as nu-mi and nu-ți; before e, they become mi-e and ți-e, as explained in “Hungry, thirsty, sleepy and afraid: mi-e foame, mi-e sete”.

Îmi place orașul.I like the town.
Vă place muzica?Do you like the music?
Le e foame.They’re hungry.

Difference from English

English “me”, “him” and “us” come after the verb; Romanian îmi, îi and ne come before it, and they are not the subject.

Common mistake

~~El place muzica.~~ → Îi place muzica.The person who likes is in the dative: îi.

Practise

“Liking and feeling: îmi place, mi-e foame”, Saying what you like: îmi place, îți place “Liking and feeling: îmi place, mi-e foame”, Saying what others like: îi place, ne place, le place “Liking and feeling: îmi place, mi-e foame”, Hungry, thirsty, sleepy, afraid: mi-e foame, ți-e sete

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Liking: îmi place, îmi plac#

Formation

The verb a-i plăcea agrees with the thing liked: place for one thing, plac for several, whoever likes it. The thing liked comes after the verb and takes its definite article: îmi place cafeaua, îmi plac merele. In the negative, nu comes first: nu-mi place, nu le plac. A short answer is the pronoun and the verb: Da, îmi place.

Use

With a name, the person who likes is in the genitive-dative, as explained in “The owner’s name: lui Vlad, Mariei”, comes first and is repeated by îi: Lui Vlad îi place ceaiul, Mariei îi plac merele. A verb after îmi place is introduced by să: îmi place să merg pe jos, as explained in “The subjunctive with să: vreau să merg, vrei să mergi”.

Îmi place cafeaua cu lapte.I like coffee with milk.
Îți plac câinii?Do you like dogs?
Nu-mi plac filmele vechi.I don’t like old films.
Lui Andrei îi plac mașinile rapide.Andrei likes fast cars.
Ioanei îi place orașul nostru.Ioana likes our town.

Difference from English

In English the person who likes is the subject (“I like”, “Maria likes”); in Romanian the thing liked is the subject, and the verb agrees with it: îmi plac prăjiturile. English “I like coffee” has no article; Romanian îmi place cafeaua has one.

Common mistakes

~~Îmi place cafea.~~ → Îmi place cafeaua.The thing liked takes its definite article.
~~Îmi place merele.~~ → Îmi plac merele.With several things liked, the verb is plac.
~~Maria îi place ceaiul.~~ → Mariei îi place ceaiul.The person who likes is in the genitive-dative: Mariei.

→ See also: The owner’s name: lui Vlad, Mariei (A1)

Practise

“Liking and feeling: îmi place, mi-e foame”, Saying what you like: îmi place, îți place “Liking and feeling: îmi place, mi-e foame”, Liking several things: îmi plac “Liking and feeling: îmi place, mi-e foame”, Saying what others like: îi place, ne place, le place

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Hungry, thirsty, sleepy and afraid: mi-e foame, mi-e sete#

Formation

Hunger, thirst and sleepiness are expressed with the dative pronoun, e (the short form of este) and a noun: foame (hunger), sete (thirst), somn (sleep). Mi-e rău means “I feel sick”, mi-e frică de “I’m afraid of”, with de before the noun, which takes no article.

	Spoken form	Full form
me	mi-e	îmi e, îmi este
you (tu)	ți-e	îți e, îți este
him, her	îi e, also written i-e	îi este
us	ne e	ne este
you (voi)	vă e	vă este
them	le e	le este

Use

In the negative, nu comes first: nu mi-e foame, nu le e frică. Sunt flămând (“I’m hungry”) is also correct, but mi-e foame is the usual expression.

Mi-e foame. Mâncăm acum?I’m hungry. Shall we eat now?
Ți-e sete? Vrei apă?Are you thirsty? Would you like some water?
Ne e somn, e târziu.We’re sleepy, it’s late.
Le e frică de apă.They’re afraid of water.
Mi-e rău, nu merg la școală.I feel sick, I’m not going to school.

Difference from English

In English, hunger is expressed with “to be” and an adjective (“I am hungry”); in Romanian, with the dative, e and a noun, literally “to me is hunger”.

Common mistakes

~~Sunt foame.~~ → Mi-e foame.Hunger is expressed with the dative and e.
~~Ți-e frică câini?~~ → Ți-e frică de câini?Frică is followed by de.

In short

Point	Form	Example
dative pronouns	îmi, îți, îi, ne, vă, le	Îmi place.
one thing liked	place + noun with its article	îmi place cafeaua
several things liked	plac	îmi plac merele
the negative	nu-mi, nu le	nu-mi place
with a name	lui Vlad îi, Mariei îi	Mariei îi place ceaiul.
states	dative + e + noun	mi-e foame, ți-e sete
fear	mi-e frică de	le e frică de apă

Practise

“Liking and feeling: îmi place, mi-e foame”, Hungry, thirsty, sleepy, afraid: mi-e foame, ți-e sete

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