The Focus of This Lesson is Grammar to Introduce Yourself

1. Bună, mă numesc Masanobu.
   "Hi, my name is Masanobu."
2. Bună, eu sunt Andreea.
   "Hi, I'm Andreea."
3. Să mergem să vedem orașul!
   "Let's go see the city!"

In this lesson, we will learn how to:

1. Say "to call, to name" in the reflexive form to mean "my name is"

2. Use "to be"

3. Make sentences with "let's!"

1. How to say "to call, to name" in the reflexive form to mean "my name is"

In Romanian, the phrase commonly used to express "my name is" is mă numesc and it literally means "I name myself." Also, in Romanian the pronoun is usually omitted, therefore we have only two words. "I" is Eu as we will see in the chart below. Mă means "myself" and is a reflexive pronoun, while numesc is a numi ("to name"/"to call") conjugated in the singular 1st person. You can use mă numesc to mean "my name is" in just about any situation where you want to introduce yourself. Below we can see the conjugation chart for each of the reflexive pronouns and for the verb a numi ("to name"/"to call").

Reflexive pronouns conjugation chart

Verb a numi = "to name"/"to call" conjugation chart (present tense)

Sentence Structures

reflexive pronoun (conjugated) + verb (conjugated)

For example:

1. mă numesc  / lit. "(I) name myself"

Let's see some example sentences using this phrase:

1. Bună, eu mă numesc Mike.
   "Hi, my name is Mike."
2. Tu cum te numești?
   "What is your name?"
3. Mă numesc Andrei.
   "My name is Andrei."

2. How to use "to be"

As in many languages, in Romanian too the verb "to be" is one of the most frequently used and important verbs. In Romanian it is a fi. The a is the infinitive particle of the verb and fi is the verb itself in the infinitive (original) form. Just like in English, it can mean "to exist" or "to be something" (indicating occupation, qualities etc.). In this latter case it has the function of copula.

Let's take a look at the conjugation chart of the verb a fi in present tense below:

Now let's take a look at how the verb can be used in some actual examples.

1. Ei sunt aici.
   "They are here."
2. Eu sunt american.
   "I am American."
3. Noi suntem fericiți.
   "We are happy."

3. How to make sentences with "let's!"

In Romanian, the incentive phrase "let's" is expressed using the verb tense called conjunctiv, equivalent to the English "conjunctive." In Romanian, it is marked by the conjunction

să. It usually means "to" (as in "to eat"), but in this case it carries the meaning of "let's."

Now let's see how to actually make a sentence using să.

To actually say "let's do something," you attach the conjunctive particle să before the present tense of the verb. Because this expression refers to the 1st person in its plural form (i.e. noi, "we"), the verb is conjugated to the plural 1st person.

Sentence Structures

să + present tense of the verb (conjugated in 1st person plural)

Now let's see some examples that use the phrase pattern we just learned:

1. Să mergem în România!
   "Let's go to Romania!"
2. Să vorbim!
   "Let's talk!"
3. Să scriem în română!
   "Let's write Romanian." (Lit. "Let's write in Romanian.")

Examples from the Dialogue:

1. Bună, eu sunt Andreea. Bine ai venit în România!
   "Hi, I'm Andreea. Welcome to Romania!"
2. Și eu sunt încântată de cunoștință. Să mergem să vedem orașul!
   "I'm pleased to meet you as well. Let's go see the city!"

Sample Sentences

1. El se numește Masanobu.
   "His name is Masanobu."
2. Eu mă numesc Andreea și sunt din România.
   "My name is Andreea and I'm from Romania."
3. Să mâncăm!
   "Let's eat!"

Bună!
"Hi!"

This is one of the most basic greeting expressions. It literally means "good" (from "good day").

The closest translation in English is "hi," so it is used in rather casual situations, such as when greeting peers or friends. However, in formal situations, such as when greeting people older than you, your teachers, supervisors etc., the longer version—bună ziua, "hello"—is usually used. In this case, we have the full, literal expression "good day."

Why is this expression only "usually" used? Because there are exceptions. Even if the person you're addressing is older than you or is higher in rank/your teacher/supervisor, you can use the casual bună, "hi." If he or she has previously let you, it is ok to do so.

For example:

1. Bună, sunt Masanobu.
   "Hi, I'm Masanobu."

Încântat (ă) de cunoștință
"Pleased to meet you"

This phrase is made out of încântat, which is an adjective meaning "delighted" or "pleased," and the noun cunoștință, "acquaintance."

It can be used in virtually any situation when meeting someone for the first time, regardless of the person.

Încântat is used for male speakers and încântată for female speakers. Also, like in English, you can omit sunt "I am." So you can just say încântat de cunoștință, which would be the equivalent of "pleased to meet you."

For example:

1. Încântat de cunoștință, Andreea.
   "Pleased to meet you, Andreea."

Cu drag
"Gladly"

The word drag can be an adjective or a noun. When it is an adjective, it means "dear"—it means "pleasure" when it's a noun. However, the expression cu drag means "gladly," which in English is an adverb. To understand why this is, let's break the phrase down to see its literal meaning: cu means "with," and drag is in this case a noun, so it means "pleasure." Therefore the phrase would sound something like "with pleasure," hence its adverbial property.

This is used in formal situations as well as informal ones, but mostly when you mean to convey that it's a pleasure to do something. This is a phrase you'd rather use in an informal context, between friends, family etc., so it would sound unnatural in a business context.

For example:

1. Te ajut cu drag.
   "I will gladly help you."

Meeting someone for the first time in Romania

When meeting someone for the first time in Romania, you should generally use formal speech. However, when you are in a non-business situation and if you can tell the person is in the same age group as you, it's ok to use informal language.

Also, physical contact usually only takes the form of a firm handshake if it is between males. Lighter handshakes are also ok in rather formal situations between men and women. Romanian culture used to also include the greeting where a man would lightly kiss a woman's hand. However, this has become rather uncommon in the past years and should be avoided.

Making frequent eye contact is also good for a positive first impression, but no longer than 3-4 seconds at a time. However, if you grew up in a culture which typically has less eye contact, less should not cause any significant hindrance in your communication with whom you're becoming acquainted.

Useful expression:

1. a da noroc
   "to say cheers"