Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

Hello, my name is Larisa and today, we are going to learn the Top 25 Most Useful Phrases in Romanian. Are you ready? Here we go.
1. Bună.
“Hello.”
Bună.
2. Bună dimineaţa.
“Good morning.”
Bună dimineaţa. We usually say Bună dimineaţa in a very formal way. So I would say Bună dimineaţa to my parents when I wake up or when I get to school to my professors. It’s quite formal but if I would say it to my cousins or brothers or sisters or friends, I can be friendly and say, 'Neața!
3. Bună ziua.
“Good afternoon.”
The next one is Good afternoon.
Bună ziua.
So if I see my professor, Bună ziua.
Bună ziua.
First, we did “hello” as in Bună. So we use Bună and then we add the time of the day. Bună ziua.
4. Bună seara.
“Good evening.”
Good evening, we say,
Bună seara.
Good evening
Bună seara.
We learned how to say good morning, good afternoon and good evening.
“Good morning”
Bună dimineaţa.
“Good afternoon.”
Bună ziua.
And “Good evening”
Bună seara.
5. Cum vă numiți?
“What's your name?”
When we meet someone and they don’t introduce themselves, we might want to ask them their name. So, if they are about the same age, and you want to say it casual, you say,
Cum te cheamă? Or Cum te numești?
For example, if I see a little girl and I want to ask her her name,
Cum te cheamă? Or Cum te numești?
However, if I address an older person, I would say,
Cum vă numiți? Or Cum vă cheamă?
The polite way in Romanian to address someone is usually to put it in the plural form. Even if it’s only one person, we address that person as if they are more people. It’s funny because in English, you have “you” for one person or for many people but in Romanian, you can address to one person as if you are addressing more people and that is polite.
6. Mă numesc (Eva).
“My name is [Eva].”
Let’s say we ask the little girl,
Cum te cheamă?
“What's your name?”
And she might reply something like,
Sunt (Eva). Or Mă numesc (Eva).
Most of the times in Romania, we like to say I. So in Romanian, “I” is Eu.
That’s why Eu mă numesc Larisa.
Or Numele meu “my name.”
Numele meu este Larisa.
7. Încântat cunoştiinţă and Încântat de cunoştiinţă
“Nice to meet you.”
We have learned each other’s names and I feel nice to meet you. I feel that I am happy to meet you. So I would say,
Încântat de cunoştiinţă
I am a girl and I would put ă at the end of the word, Încântată.
Încântată de cunoştiinţă
If I were a guy, I would say Încântat. So I would end it with a t. Încântat.
8. Ce mai faci?
“How are you?”
Usually when we meet someone in Romania, we say,
“hi, how are you?”
Bună! Ce faci?
“hi, how are you?”
Bună! Ce faci?
Without Bună! Just Ce mai faci?
It’s more like, “how have you been?”
Ce mai faci?
How have you been? How are things going with you? How has it been going with you?”
Bună! Ce mai faci? Or Bună! Ce faci?
And the conversation would be very fast.
Exchanging salutes would be Bună! Ce faci?
Bine! Tu?
Bine, mulțumesc!
“Hi, how are you?”
“Fine, thank you. And you?”
“Great. Thanks.”
9. Sunt bine, mulțumesc. Și tu?
“I'm fine, thanks. And you?”
If a professor would ask you, “hi, how are you?” They would say,
Bună ziua! Ce mai faci?
And I would say,
Mulțumesc, bine. Dumneavoastră?
So “I am good, thank you! And you?”
I use Dumneavoastră? Because it’s the polite way to say “you” in Romania. If I say “you” for one person, I would say Tu. If I say “you” for and address it formally, I would say Dumneavoastră?
It’s a bit long but it’s a useful word. I just want to mention one thing about Mulțumesc. Just like in the “you” - for “you”, it’s Tu and Dumneavoastră? So short word Tu and longer word Dumneavoastră? Informal/formal. Mulțumesc is the Romanian – 100% Romanian word for thank you but if we say thank you between friends, we might just say Mersi! Which sounds like French. So it might be easier to remember for some people who study other European languages but again, the most polite way to say is Mulțumesc. And if you are between friends, Mersi! Mersi!
10. Vă rog.
“Please.”
So one example for - very useful when we use please. Like,
“Could you please help me?”
“Could you please help me so I address someone that I don’t know?”
And I want to be polite.
Like, “Could you please help me?”
Mă puteți ajuta, vă rog?
Well, when we want to say after you, we can just say “please” as in “please go ahead” or “after you.”
We would say, vă rog?
“After you.”
vă rog?
Or if I order something at the restaurant, a salad,
O salată, vă rog.
“A salad, please.”
As in “I would like a salad.”
Just the short version “A salad please.”
O salată, vă rog. vă rog.
11. Cu plăcere.
“You're welcome.”
So when someone says mulțumesc and say,
“you are welcome”
Cu plăcere.
This is one of my favorite words because I like how pleasure sounds like in English as well and in Romania.
Romanian, plăcere.
Romanians, so we believe that the Romanian language is a very sweet language and plăcere is one of the sweetest words that I know.
12. Da.
“Yes.”
Da. Da sounds like Russian because it’s the same. Da. You’d have to be very confident. Da.
13. Nu.
“No.”
For “No”, we say Nu. I did my head like this but so for gestures, when we say Da, we nod and for Nu, we do like this.
So “do you like the Romanian language?”
“Da.”
“Is it difficult?”
“No.” Something like that.
14. Bine.
“Okay.”
Next one is, “Okay.”
Bine.
So for example, I said earlier, “Hey! How are you? I am fine!”
Bună! Ce faci? Bine!
“I am okay.”
Bine!
15. Mă scuzaţi.
“Excuse me.”
Mă scuzaţi. It’s a very polite way to say. If you address a friend of yours Mă scuzi!
If you address it formally, Mă scuzaţi.
So if I am on the bus and I mistake. I happened to step on someone’s shoes or something,
Ah Mă scuzaţi. Mă scuzaţi.
“Excuse me!”
16. Îmi pare rău.
“I'm sorry.”
So “excuse me” is Mă scuzaţi.
And “I am sorry.”
Îmi pare rău. Three words. Îmi pare rău.
17. Cât este ceasul?
“What time is it?”
“What time is it?”
Cât este ceasul? Or Cât e ceasul?
So if someone asks me, Cât este ceasul? Or Cât e ceasul?
Este 11:15 (unsprezece și un sfert)!
Mulţumesc. It's eleven fifteen!
“Thank you.”
Mulțumesc!
“You’re welcome.”
Cu plăcere!
18. Unde este toaleta?
“Where is the bathroom?”
I want to know where the bathroom is. So where’s the bathroom?
Unde este toaleta? Unde.
Unde means “where”.
Unde este toaleta?
“Where is the bathroom?”
19. Așteptați un moment.
“Wait a moment.”
“Wait a moment.”
Așteptați un moment.
If I address it formally, Așteptați. If I say it to one person informally, Așteaptă un moment! Așteaptă.
Așteaptă / Așteptați.
Singular-plural.
20. Cât costă aceasta?
“How much is this?”
“How much is this?”
Cât costă aceasta? Or Cât costă acesta?
The simple way to say “how much”
Cât costă.
If it’s a female word, aceasta? If it’s a masculine word, acesta.
Female, aceasta? Masculine, acesta?
Aceasta? acesta?
“How much?”
Cât costă
Aceasta?
Da!
21. Pot să primesc nota de plată, vă rog?
“Could I get the check please?”
The next one is a bit long.
“Could I get the check please?”
Pot să primesc nota de plată, vă rog?
The most important word is “the check”
nota de plată
If you want to say, “check please”
Nota, vă rog!
I would do something like Nota, vă rog!
Mulțumesc. Something like that.
22. Ajutor!
“Help!”
Help!
Ajutor!
23. Ne vedem mai târziu.
“See you later.”
Next one is, “see you later.”
Ne vedem mai târziu.
“See you later.”
24. La revedere.
“Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.”
La revedere.
Can you do the R? Revedere. La revedere.
We also say Pa! between friends. Pa! Pa! Pa! Or when we address children, Pa! Pa!
But La revedere is very common.
25. Nu știu.
“I don't know.”
Nu știu.
Do you know? I don’t know.
Nu știu.
So we’ve reached the end of our first lesson.
“How did you like it?”
V-a plăcut?
“How did you like it?” I hope you liked it. La revedere.
Pa! Pa! La revedere.
O zi bună!

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