Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Salut, and welcome to Romanian Survival Phrases, brought to you by RomanianPod101.com
This course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Romania. You'll be surprised at how far a little Romanian will go.
Now before we jump in, remember to stop by RomanianPod101.com.
There, you’ll find the accompanying PDF lesson notes and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment.
In this lesson, we’ll continue to learn more phrases that will help you with basic etiquette. Romanian people are naturally hospitable and warm, so phrases of gratitude are used quite often. Even if you don’t get the chance to use cu plăcere, which is the expression for “You're welcome”, during your trip to Romania, there’s a very big chance you'll hear it. So let’s have a closer look at it!
BODY
In Romanian the most common way of saying “You’re welcome” is
Cu plăcere.
Let's break it down:
(slow) Cu plă-ce-re.
Once more:
Cu plăcere.
Literally this means “with pleasure”
The word cu means “with”
(slow) Cu.
Cu.
Plăcere means “pleasure”.
(slow) Plă-ce-re.
Plăcere.
All together that is
(slow) Cu plă-ce-re.
Cu plăcere.
Another way of responding to someone who thanked you is pentru puţin. In English this means “for little”.
Pentru puţin
Let's break it down:
(slow) Pen-tru pu-ţin.
Once more:
Pentru puțin.
The first word, pentru, means “ for.”
(slow) Pen - tru
Pentru
The second word, puţin , means “little.”
(slow)Pu-ţin
Puţin
All together, that’s
(slow) Pen-tru pu-ţin.
Pentru puţin.
Romanians have another expression using the same word pentru – it is pentru nimic. Translated in English it means “for nothing”.
Let’s break it down:
(slow) Pen-tru ni-mic
Once more:
Pentru nimic.
This phrase starts with the word pentru meaning “for”.
Next we have nimic, meaning “nothing.”
(slow) Ni-mic.
Nimic.
Again, the whole phrase is
(slow) Pen-tru ni-mic.
Pentru nimic.
There will be occasions when you will say mulţumesc, the word for “thank you”, and the response will be Mi-a făcut plăcere să te ajut. The translation in English is “it was a pleasure to help you”.
Let’s break that phrase down:
(slow) Mi-a fă-cut plă-ce-re să te ajut.
Once more:
Mi-a făcut plăcere să te ajut.
In this phrase, the word plăcere means “pleasure” and făcut means “done”. You will understand the exact translation later when we introduce you to Romanian grammar. Now, let’s focus on pronunciation.
Again, the whole phrase is
(slow) Mi-a fă-cut plă-ce-re să te a-jut.
Mi-a făcut plăcere să te ajut.
This phrase is very polite and you can make it sound formal at the same time by replacing the word te with vă. It will sound like this: Mi-a făcut plăcere să vă ajut. This phrase can be used with older people and in situations where formality is needed, such as in a post office or a bank.
Remember:
Cu plăcere means “With pleasure” and it is the equivalent for “You are welcome.”
Pentru puţin means “For little.”
Pentru nimic means “For nothing.”
And the phrase Mi-a făcut plăcere să te ajut means “It was a pleasure to help you.”
All the expressions can be used in any situation, formal or informal, except Mi-a făcut plăcere să te ajut. But remember in order to change this phrase into a formal one, you should say vă instead of te.
REVIEW
Okay, to close out this lesson, we'd like you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for saying it aloud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so mult noroc , which means "Good luck!" in Romanian.
“You’re welcome.”
(3 sec) Cu plăcere.
(slow) Cu plă-ce-re.
Cu plăcere.
“For little.”
(3 sec) Pentru puţin.
(slow) Pen-tru pu-ţin.
Pentru puţin.
“For nothing”
(3 sec) Pentru nimic.
(slow) Pen-tru ni-mic.
Pentru nimic.
“It was a pleasure to help you”
(3 sec) Mi-a făcut plăcere să vă ajut.
(slow) Mi-a fă-cut plă-ce-re să vă a-jut.
Mi-a facut plăcere să vă ajut.

Outro

All right, that's all for this lesson!
Remember to stop by RomanianPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF lesson notes.
If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment.
Pa!

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