Possessives · Romanian grammar A1

Possessives: meu, tău, nostru, vostru, after the noun with its article#

Formation

The possessive is placed after the noun, which takes its definite article, and it agrees with that noun in gender and number, not with the owner. A neuter noun takes the masculine form in the singular and the feminine form in the plural.

	Masculine and neuter singular	Feminine singular	Masculine plural	Feminine and neuter plural
my	meu	mea	mei	mele
your (tu)	tău	ta	tăi	tale
our	nostru	noastră	noștri	noastre
your (voi)	vostru	voastră	voștri	voastre

Use

The noun is never left without its article: cartea mea, fratele meu, prietenii mei. Tată takes -l before a possessive: tatăl meu. The polite dumneavoastră is used as it is after the noun: numele dumneavoastră (“your name”). After a preposition, a noun followed by a possessive takes its article, as explained in “No article after a preposition: în parc, but în parcul mare, cu trenul”: în camera mea.

Fratele meu locuiește la Iași.My brother lives in Iași.
Unde e cartea ta?Where’s your book?
Casa noastră e mică.Our house is small.
Unde locuiesc părinții voștri?Where do your parents live?
Care e numele dumneavoastră?What’s your name?

Difference from English

English my and our come before the noun and have one form; the Romanian possessive comes after the noun, which takes its article, and agrees with the thing owned: a man and a woman both say sora mea and fratele meu.

Common mistakes

~~Mea mama e profesoară.~~ → Mama mea e profesoară.The possessive comes after the noun.
~~Carte mea e aici.~~ → Cartea mea e aici.Before a possessive, the noun takes its article.
~~Sora meu e aici.~~ → Sora mea e aici.The possessive agrees with soră, a feminine noun.

Practise

“Possessives: meu, tău, nostru, lui, ei”, Saying my and your: meu, mea, tău, ta “Possessives: meu, tău, nostru, lui, ei”, Saying our, and your to several people: nostru, vostru

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His, her and their: lui, ei, lor#

Formation

“His” is lui, “her” ei and “their” lor. They are placed after the noun with its article, like meu, but they never change: the form depends on the owner alone, lui for a man, ei for a woman, lor for several owners. In writing, său, sa, săi, sale (his or her) are also found: fratele său, sora sa. They agree with the thing owned, like meu, and at A1 they are only recognised.

Mașina lui e roșie.His car is red.
Fratele ei e student.Her brother is a student.
Copiii lor sunt mici.Their children are small.

Difference from English

As in English, lui and ei depend on the owner: “her brother” is fratele ei, “his sister” sora lui. Unlike English, they are placed after the noun.

Common mistakes

~~Sora ea e aici.~~ → Sora ei e aici.“Her” is ei, not the subject pronoun ea.
~~Lui casă e mare.~~ → Casa lui e mare.Lui comes after the noun with its article.

Practise

“Possessives: meu, tău, nostru, lui, ei”, Saying his, her and their: lui, ei, lor

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The owner’s name: lui Vlad, Mariei#

Formation

With a name, the owner comes after the thing owned, which takes its definite article. The name is in the genitive-dative. A man’s name is preceded by lui: casa lui Vlad, mașina lui Dan, fratele lui Tom. A woman’s name ending in -a changes -a to -ei: Maria, Mariei; Ana, Anei; Elena, Elenei; Ioana, Ioanei.

Use

The same forms are used for the person to whom something is given or who likes something: Lui Vlad îi place ceaiul, Mariei îi e foame, as explained in “Liking: îmi place, îmi plac”.

Mașina lui Dan e nouă.Dan’s car is new.
Fratele Ioanei e doctor.Ioana’s brother is a doctor.
Unde e casa lui Radu?Where is Radu’s house?

Difference from English

In English, ’s is added to the name, which comes first and does not change; in Romanian, the name comes after the thing and a woman’s name changes: “Ana’s sister” is sora Anei.

Common mistakes

~~Sora lui Ana e aici.~~ → Sora Anei e aici.A woman’s name in -a changes to -ei, with no lui.
~~Fratele Vladei e aici.~~ → Fratele lui Vlad e aici.A man’s name is preceded by lui and does not change.

In short

Point	Form	Example
place	after the noun with its article	cartea mea
my, your, our	agree with the thing owned	fratele meu, sora mea
his, her, their	lui, ei, lor, unchanged	sora lui, fratele ei
polite your	dumneavoastră	numele dumneavoastră
a man’s name	lui + name	casa lui Vlad
a woman’s name in -a	-a → -ei	casa Mariei

Practise

“Liking and feeling: îmi place, mi-e foame”, What someone likes, with a name: Lui Vlad îi place “Possessives: meu, tău, nostru, lui, ei”, Saying whose it is with a name: lui Vlad, Mariei

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