How to ask questions in Romanian - Interrogatives
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Are you an inquisitive person? Then it is very likely that you will need to ask questions in Romanian such as: Where is the bus stop? What do you recommend for lunch? Which one should I take?
This lesson helps you ask questions and lists many useful interrogative Romanian words. At the end of this lesson you will be able to build your own questions in several ways.
Exercises are included!
This lesson will teach you:
- A first and very easy way of asking questions in Romanian: Intonation
- A second way of constructing an interrogative sentence in Romanian: Inversion
- All the Romanian question words: what, where, when...
- Tag questions in Romanian
- To practice what you've learned with the help of many Romanian language exercises
In Romanian you can simply change the tone of a normal affirmative sentence and turn it into an interrogative sentence. It is important to note that the two sentences (declarative and interrogative) are identical from a grammatical point of view, the only difference is made by the intonation. The pitch rises towards the end of such a question. These are yes or no questions.
| English | Romanian translation |
Audio | Phonetic Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
Do I have money? (you are literally saying: I have money ? ) | Eu am bani? | ||
Are you at home? You are literally saying: You are at home?, where "you" is referring to one person | Tu eşti acasă? | ||
Does he drink wine? (you are literally saying: He drinks wine ? ) | El bea vin? | ||
Does Maria eat at the restaurant? (you are literally saying: Maria eats/is eating at the restaurant ? ) | Maria mănâncă la restaurant? | ||
Are we tired? (you are literally saying We are tired?) | Noi suntem obosiţi? | ||
Do you have time? (you are literally saying: You have time ? where "you" is the plural form thus referring to more than one person) | Voi aveţi timp? | ||
Are you impatient? you are literally saying You are impatient? where "Dumneavostră" is the polite and formal way of addressing somebody, in this case a man judging by the form of the adjective: nerăbdător. | Dumneavoastră sunteţi nerăbdător? | ||
Are they reading now? You are literally saying They are reading now? where "they" is referring to two or more men | Ei citesc acum? | ||
Do they dance often? you are literally saying: They dance often? where "they" is referring to two or more women | Ele dansează des? |
Another way of asking a question in Romanian is to place the verb at the beginning of the sentence.
| English | Romanian translation |
Audio | Phonetic Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
Do I have money? (you are literally saying: Have I money? ) | Am eu bani? | ||
Are you at home? | Eşti tu acasă? | ||
Does he drink wine? (you are literally saying: Drinks he wine ? ) | Bea el vin? | ||
Does Maria eat at the restaurant? (you are literally saying: Eats Maria at the restaurant? ) | Mănâncă Maria la restaurant? | ||
Are we tired? | Suntem noi obosiţi? | ||
Do you have time? (you are literally saying: Have you time? where "you" is the plural form thus referring to more than one person) | Aveţi voi timp? | ||
Are you impatient? (the polite and formal way of addressing somebody, in this case a man judging by the form of the adjective: nerăbdător) | Sunteţi dumneavoastră nerăbdător? | ||
Are they reading now? (where "they" is referring to more than one man) | Citesc ei acum? | ||
Do they dance often? (you are literally saying: Dance they often? where "they" is referring to more than one woman) | Dansează ele des? |
Unlike English, Romanian does not need the helper words: "do", "does", "did" to ask a question. As seen above you just need to take an declarative sentence and place the verb at the beginning followed by the subject and the rest.The subject can be omitted
A variation of the inversion type of question that we've seen above is the inversion (verb placed first) but leaving out the subject. Especially in spoken Romanian the subject is omitted not only in questions but also in affirmative sentences. This is perfectly fine because the conjugation of the verb already implies the subject (I,you,he)...
For example let's assume that two friends are speaking on the phone. It is normal to hear this type of question: "Eşti acasă acum?" which is translated "Are [you] at home now?". In English the subject must be present, however Romanian grammar allows the subject to be omitted because the form of the verb "Eşti" can only be used to refer to "you" (singular). So the one receiving this question would immediately understand that the the question is actually about him/her being at home at the time of the conversation.
One could leave out the subject in Romanian once it has been mentioned once or several times. For example if a boyfriend tells his girlfriend that George will come later on to visit them, he could simply ask: "Bea vin?" ("Is [he] drinking wine?").
Here is the list of all questions with the subject being left out:
| English | Romanian translation |
Audio | Phonetic Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
Do [I] have money? | Am bani? | ||
Are [you] at home? ("you" is referring to one person) | Eşti acasă? | ||
Does [he] drink wine? | Bea vin? | ||
Does [Maria] eat at the restaurant? | Mănâncă la restaurant? | ||
Are [we] tired? | Suntem obosiţi? | ||
Do [you] have time? | Aveţi timp? | ||
Are [you] impatient? | Sunteţi nerăbdător? | ||
Are [they] reading now? | Citesc acum? | ||
Do [they] dance often? | Dansează des? |
A very simple way to build a question in Romanian is to use a question word such as "the five wh" also known as 5W1H: who, what, why, how, where, when, with what.
In the table below you will find the most frequently used question words in Romanian:
Question words: Who, What, Where... (interrogative words)
| English | Romanian translation |
Audio | Phonetic Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
Who | Cine | ||
What | Ce | ||
Where | Unde | ||
When? | Când | ||
To whom or Whom ... to or Who... to | Cui | ||
How | Cum | ||
Which (one) | Care | ||
How to ask why in Romanian? | De ce? | ||
How many or How much | Cât |
While asking a question the usage of “Care” vs “Ce” is the same as “Which” vs “What”. So guide yourself based on your native instinct and you will be fine. As in English “Care” (which) involves the notion of selection out of a set of possible choices.
Let's look at a few examples on how an actual question would sound like in Romanian?
Romanian questions using the "wh" words
| English | Romanian translation |
Audio | Phonetic Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
Who is he? | Cine este el? | ||
What do [you] want? | Ce vrei? | ||
Where are [you] going? | Unde mergi? | ||
When are [you] coming? | Când vii? | ||
How do [you] prefer your coffee? | Cum preferaţi cafeaua? | ||
To whom did [you] give the book? | Cui i-ai dat cartea? | ||
Which is your car? | Care e maşina ta? | ||
Why are [you] crying? | De ce plângi? |
To form a tag question one needs to say a normal affirmative sentence and add at the end a few words (always the same): ",nu-i așa?" (isn't it).
The declarative sentence is pronounced normally, while the tag "nu-i așa" follows a raising intonation.
| English | Romanian translation |
Audio | Phonetic Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
I have money, don't I? | Eu am bani, nu-i așa? | ||
You are at home, aren't you? ("you" is referring to one person) | Tu eşti acasă, nu-i așa? | ||
He drinks wine, doesn't he? | El bea vin, nu-i așa? | ||
Maria eats/is eating at the restaurant, isn't so? | Maria mănâncă la restaurant, nu-i așa? | ||
We are tired, aren't we? | Noi suntem obosiţi, nu-i așa? | ||
You have time, don't you? ("you" is the plural form thus referring to more than one person) | Voi aveţi timp, nu-i așa? | ||
You are impatient, ins't it? (this is a polite and formal way of addressing somebody, in this case a man judging by the form of the adjective: nerăbdător.) | Dumneavoastră sunteţi nerăbdător, nu-i așa? | ||
They are reading now, aren't they? ("they" refers to more than one man) | Ei citesc acum, nu-i așa? | ||
They dance often, don't they? ("they" refers to more than one woman) | Ele dansează des, nu-i așa? |
Tag Questions in Romanian ... right?
Another form of tag questions is the one where only "... ,yes?" is added at the end of the declarative sentence. "Yes" added at the end of the sentence to denote a question is unnatural in English, that uses instead the ending "... right?".
| English | Romanian translation |
Audio | Phonetic Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
I have money, right? | Eu am bani, da? | ||
You are at home, right? | Tu eşti acasă, da? |
Do you think you know how to build a Romanian question?
Just try out more exercises on the next pages. This will help you remember the new Romanian terms.
After you would have done the exercises we recommend that you start the Advanced Level lesson on the same topic: Asking questions in Romanian.
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