Learn about interjections in Romanian
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Intro |
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| Antoni: What are interjections? |
| Anna: And are they commonly used in Romanian? |
| Antoni: At RomanianPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Mara Moldoveanu has just invited Ben Lee to a party that evening. Unfortunately, he cannot join and says, |
| "I'm sorry, I can't make it today." |
| Ben Lee: Îmi pare rău, nu pot ajunge astăzi. |
| Dialogue |
| Ben Lee: Îmi pare rău, nu pot ajunge astăzi. |
| Mara Moldoveanu: Vai, ce păcat! |
| Antoni: Once more with the English translation. |
| Ben Lee: Îmi pare rău, nu pot ajunge astăzi. |
| Antoni: "I'm sorry, I can't make it today." |
| Mara Moldoveanu: Vai, ce păcat! |
| Antoni: "Oh, what a pity!" |
Lesson focus |
| Antoni: In this lesson, you will be learning about interjections in Romanian and how commonly they are used. The Romanian word for "interjection" is |
| Anna: interjecţie. |
| Antoni: Before we proceed to look at specific examples of interjections in Romanian, let's quickly discuss what interjections are exactly. A fun way to understand them is to think of them as verbal emojis. They are expressive words and, just like emojis, you can insert them into sentences in order to convey feelings, sounds, and strong sentiments such as surprise, anger, derision, or joy. Interjections don't always have to be inserted into sentences, though. They can stand on their own too, just as emojis can. |
| An example of an interjection in English is "Ew!" Like an emoji, you can put it into a sentence with other words, as in "Ew, that smells bad!!" However, it can stand alone too. Imagine someone smelling a bad smell, waving their hand in front of their nose and saying, "Ew!" In Romanian, they would say |
| Anna: Câh! |
| Antoni: Some Romanian interjections are very similar to English ones. For example, when it's cold, a Romanian person might say, |
| Anna: Brrr! |
| Antoni: And when food tastes good or something smells nice, one of the interjections Romanians use is |
| Anna: Mmm! |
| Antoni: Just like English. While these interjections are more like sounds than words, there are also words that Romanians use as interjections, which are quite universal. For instance, when a Romanian person is feeling happy or enthusiastic, you might hear them saying |
| Anna: Bravo! |
| Antoni: People from all over the world are likely to recognize that word. Other Romanian interjections border on slang. They are preferred by younger people and are used in informal situations. Consider the word |
| Anna: mișto |
| Antoni: for instance. It is the Romanian equivalent of the English word "cool" when used in a slang way to convey that something is pleasing or good. |
| Sometimes, when talking to someone, you might disagree with what they are saying. In that case, you can say, |
| Anna: Aiurea! |
| Antoni: which translates to, "Nonsense!" You can also use it if you think they are lying or misinformed. It is often used in the phrase, |
| Anna: a vorbi aiurea |
| Antoni: which means "to talk nonsense." While this next word is also colloquial, Romanians of all ages are comfortable using it. It means "good luck" and it sounds like this: |
| Anna: Baftă. |
| Antoni: Sometimes you might find yourself in a situation where you have told someone about something bad that happened to you and they use the word, |
| Anna: pățăști. |
| Antoni: If they use this word, they are being a little unsympathetic to your situation because it means something like "stuff happens" or "that's life." It is based on the verb |
| Anna: a păți |
| Antoni: which means "to happen." Let's now listen to the dialogue again in order to see how it makes use of interjections. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Antoni: Do you remember how Ben Lee says "I'm sorry, I can't make it today?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Anna as Ben Lee: Îmi pare rău, nu pot ajunge astăzi. |
| Antoni: Here, Ben has apologized by using the phrase |
| Anna: Îmi pare rău |
| Antoni: which means, "I'm sorry." While this is not an interjection, it is very close to being one. An interjection that Ben could have used to convey the same sentiment is |
| Anna: Scuze! |
| Antoni: This translates to "Sorry!" It is not the most formal way to apologize, but it is a very common way to apologize in Romanian. |
| [Recall 2] |
| Antoni: Now let's take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Mara Moldoveanu says, "Oh, what a pity?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Anna as Mara Moldoveanu: Vai, ce păcat! |
| Antoni: In order to express her disappointment, Mara has used the interjection |
| Anna: Vai! |
| Antoni: This is a common interjection, used to express emotional pain such as disappointment and dismay, but it can be used in reaction to physical pain as well. People also shout, |
| Anna: Vai-vai! |
| Antoni: or |
| Anna: Vai de mine! |
| Antoni: when reacting to physical pain. |
| Before we look at other types of interjections, let's quickly review what you have learned thus far. |
| [Summary] |
| Antoni: In this lesson, you learned that interjections are words that are used to express feelings, sounds, and strong sentiments. In Romanian, they are used quite often and can be inserted into sentences or can stand on their own. |
| Expansion/Contrast (Optional) |
| Antoni: Next, we'll look at some interjections that are specifically used for communication. You can use them to get people's attention, tell them to do something, or encourage them. Some of them can even be used with animals. If you're in a situation where you want to get someone's attention, you can use an interjection like |
| Anna: Hei! |
| Antoni: or you could use |
| Anna: Mă! |
| Antoni: Perhaps you wanted to get their attention because you plan to encourage them or call them to action. In that case, you could use an interjection like |
| Anna: Hai! |
| Antoni: or you could use |
| Anna: Haide! |
| Antoni: On the other hand, if you wanted to get their attention because you are in a library, for instance, and they are being annoying, you could then proceed to say |
| Anna: Ssst! |
| Antoni: or |
| Anna: Şşş! |
| Antoni: Do be careful with these though. It is never polite to tell someone else to shut up or be quiet. You want to be sure your interjection is justified. |
| Another rather impolite interjection is |
| Anna: Valea! |
| Antoni: People in Romania use this when they want to chase someone away. They use different interjections to chase animals away, though. If they are chasing a dog away, they will say |
| Anna: Marş! |
| Antoni: and, if it's a cat, they will use |
| Anna: Zât! |
| Antoni: There are also specific shooing-away words for chickens! You could shout |
| Anna: Hâş! |
| Antoni: or |
| Anna: Huş! |
| Antoni: If, on the other hand, you want to call a chicken, you would say |
| Anna: Pui-pui-pui! |
| Antoni: Again, that is specific to chickens and you would have to use a different interjection to call a cat, for instance. The correct interjection for calling a cat is: |
| Anna: Pis-pis! |
| Antoni: There's also a different interjection to use when calling a dog, and it sounds like this: |
| Anna: Cuţu-cuţu! |
| Antoni: Many of the interjections we've used can barely be classified as words. They are closer to sounds or noises. Let's now look at some examples of interjections that really are noises, in a sense. |
| Cultural Insight/Expansion (Optional) |
| Antoni: Many interjections are imitative in that they imitate noises and the sounds that things make. For instance, the interjection |
| Anna: Pac! |
| Antoni: is an imitation of the sound of a hit or a shot, and if a Romanian person wants to imitate the sound of something heavy falling, they will say, |
| Anna: Buf! |
| Antoni: You might also hear someone say |
| Anna: Bum! |
| Antoni: which would mean that they are imitating the sound of an explosion or a cannon going off. Sometimes, the sounds that are being imitated belong to machines or instruments that we use. This one is quite similar to the English imitation of the same sound: |
| Anna: Tic-tac! |
| Antoni: It refers to the sound of the second hand moving across the face of a clock, of course. Sometimes, the noise being imitated is a very loud one. If, for example, you hear someone in Romania say, |
| Anna: Bum-bum, |
| Antoni: then they are imitating the sound of a drum. This too is quite similar to the English "Boom! Boom!" Not surprising really. It's not like drums sound different in different languages. |
| Congratulations! You now have learned quite a few Romanian interjections, and this will help you to sound a bit more natural when conversing in Romanian. |
Outro |
| Antoni: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Anna: La revedere. |
| Antoni: See you soon! |
| Credits: Anna (Romanian, Romania), Antoni (English, synthetic voice) |
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