Learn how to about the usage of formal versus informal verbs
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to RomanianPod101.com. This is Absolute Beginner Season 1, Lesson 17 - Ordering a Nightcap in Romania. Becky here. |
| Mihai: Bună. I'm Mihai. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn about formal vs. informal verbs. The conversation takes place at a restaurant. |
| Mihai: It's between Masanobu and a waiter. |
| Becky: The speakers are strangers in a customer service context; therefore, they’ll speak formal Romanian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Masanobu: Nu vă supărați, puteți să îmi aduceți un pahar de vin roșu? |
| Chelner: Un pahar de vin roșu. Sigur, domnule. |
| Masanobu: Și nota, vă rog. |
| Chelner: Am înțeles. |
| Masanobu: Pot plăti cu cardul de credit? |
| Chelner: Da, puteți. |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Masanobu: Nu vă supărați, puteți să îmi aduceți un pahar de vin roșu? |
| Chelner: Un pahar de vin roșu. Sigur, domnule. |
| Masanobu: Și nota, vă rog. |
| Chelner: Am înțeles. |
| Masanobu: Pot plăti cu cardul de credit? |
| Chelner: Da, puteți. |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Masanobu: Excuse me, can you bring me a glass of red wine? |
| Waiter: A glass of red wine. Sure, sir. |
| Masanobu: And the bill, please. |
| Waiter: All right. |
| Masanobu: Can I pay by credit card? |
| Waiter: Yes, you can. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Masanobu was at a restaurant in this lesson’s dialogue. I hope he had a nice meal. |
| Mihai: I hope the wine was good too! |
| Becky: Haha, that too. We heard Masanobu flag down a waiter to get the bill. |
| Mihai: The word for “waiter” in Romanian is chelner. But, don’t call the waiter this to his or her face. |
| Becky: Is it considered rude? |
| Mihai: In recent years, it’s begun to be seen as rude. |
| Becky: How do you call for the waiter then? |
| Mihai: Make eye contact, and wait. You can also say vă rog, which is “please.” |
| Becky: Do people tip in Romania? |
| Mihai: It’s the norm, so you should give a tip if you feel the service was worth it. |
| Becky: Are there any other important things we should know about eating out? |
| Mihai: If you go to someone’s home to eat, you should wait for the host to start eating before you do. |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Mihai: a putea [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to be able |
| Mihai: a putea[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: a putea [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Mihai: a aduce [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to bring |
| Mihai: a aduce[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: a aduce [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Mihai: pahar [natural native speed] |
| Becky: glass (as a container) |
| Mihai: pahar[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: pahar [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Mihai: vin [natural native speed] |
| Becky: wine |
| Mihai: vin[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: vin [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Mihai: notă [natural native speed] |
| Becky: bill |
| Mihai: notă[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: notă [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And last... |
| Mihai: a plăti [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to pay |
| Mihai: a plăti[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: a plăti [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is... |
| Mihai: un pahar de... |
| Becky: meaning "a glass of..." Can you break this phrase down for us? |
| Mihai: Un means “one,” pahar means "glass," and de is "of." |
| Becky: So we can use it to talk about “one glass of” something. |
| Mihai: This is a handy format, because you can change pahar for something else. |
| Becky: So we can use this to say, for example, “one liter of….” |
| Mihai: Yes. That’s un litru de. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Mihai: Sure. For example, you can say, Doresc să beau un pahar de cocktail. |
| Becky: ...which means "I wish to drink a cocktail." |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Mihai: Nota, vă rog. |
| Becky: meaning "Bill, please." Can you break this down for us, too? |
| Mihai: Sure. Nota means “a written note,” but has come to mean “bill.” |
| Becky: We heard the rest of the phrase earlier in this lesson. It means “please.” |
| Mihai: This is the simplest way to ask for the bill in a restaurant or shop. |
| Becky: Is it a formal expression? |
| Mihai: It’s fairly formal. But, we’d usually use formal language in a customer service context. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this pattern? |
| Mihai: Sure. For example, you can say, Întrați, vă rog! |
| Becky: ...which means "Come in, please!" |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn about formal vs. informal verbs. |
| Becky: How do we change informal speech to formal speech? |
| Mihai: There isn’t as big a distinction between formal and informal speech in Romanian as in some other languages. |
| Becky: Okay, that makes it easier! |
| Mihai: One of the few things that does change is verbs in the second person singular. |
| Becky: How do they change? Let’s hear some examples with some common verbs. How do we say, “to have?” First, we’ll hear the informal version, then the formal one. |
| Mihai: a avea, aveți |
| Becky: And “to come.” Again, informal followed by formal, please. |
| Mihai: a veni, veniți |
| Becky: The verbs themselves don’t change that much, and they seem familiar... |
| Mihai: Yes, it’s the same as the second person plural. What makes them formal is using dumneavoastră with the verb. |
| Becky: What does that mean? |
| Mihai: It’s a polite personal pronoun that we use for both second person singular and plural. |
| Becky: Next, let’s hear an example sentence. |
| Mihai: Aveți rezervare aici? |
| Becky: “Do you have a booking here?” |
| Mihai: Dumneavoastră puteți sosi mai devreme? |
| Becky: “Can you arrive earlier, sir?” |
| Mihai: As always with Romanian, the subject is optional. |
| Becky: Finally for this lesson, let’s look at how to say “how have you been?” |
| Mihai: You can say ce mai faci in informal situations. |
| Becky: How about in formal situations? |
| Mihai: ce mai faceți. This is an idiom, so it’s a fixed phrase. All that will change is the verb, depending on how formal you want to be. |
| Becky: Let’s hear it used in a formal situation. |
| Mihai: Bună seara, ce mai faceți, domnule? |
| Becky: “Good evening, how have you been, sir?” |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Mihai: La revedere. |
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