There are 3 genders in Romanian, instead of 2 like Spanish or French. However, they are (thankfully) not very complicated to learn.
The two main genders are masculine and feminine. The third gender is called the "neuter" by some linguists and "mixed" by others. I prefer "mixed" because the mixed gender behaves like the masculine in the singular and the feminine in the plural. The mixed gender has no articles of it's own, but takes the masculine ending in the singular and the feminine ending in the plural. We will wait to study the mixed gender until we learn the plural.
Masculine indefinite article: "a" "an"
un
Feminine indefinite article: "a" "an"
o
The Feminine indefinite article is o, which is confusing for Spanish and Portuguese speakers and takes some real getting used to. It is pronounced "oh." However, feminine nouns and adjectives do not end in -o, but in the familiar -ă.
o zi. a day(f)
o zi bună. a good day
o zi frumoasă. [frumw-aa-suh] a beautiful day.
un om a human (m), man(-kind)
un om bun. a good person
un om frumoș. a beautiful person.
un om puternic. [pu-ter-nik] a powerful person.
o femeie [oh femey-eh] a woman
o femeie bună. a good woman
o femeie frumoasă. [oh femey-eh frumw-aa-suh] a beautiful woman.
o fată a girl
o fată bună. a good girl
o fată deșteaptă. [oh fah-tuh dish-"tapped"-duh] an intelligent girl
o fată proastă. [oh fah-tuh prw-ast-uh (proastă rhymes with "So ask a (girl out)....") a stupid girl
un băiat [oon buy-"yacht" (sounds like the sailboat)] a boy
un băiat bun. a good boy.
un băiat prost. a dumb boy.
un băiat deștépt. an intelligent boy
The two main genders are masculine and feminine. The third gender is called the "neuter" by some linguists and "mixed" by others. I prefer "mixed" because the mixed gender behaves like the masculine in the singular and the feminine in the plural. The mixed gender has no articles of it's own, but takes the masculine ending in the singular and the feminine ending in the plural. We will wait to study the mixed gender until we learn the plural.
Masculine indefinite article: "a" "an"
un
Feminine indefinite article: "a" "an"
o
The Feminine indefinite article is o, which is confusing for Spanish and Portuguese speakers and takes some real getting used to. It is pronounced "oh." However, feminine nouns and adjectives do not end in -o, but in the familiar -ă.
o zi. a day(f)
o zi bună. a good day
o zi frumoasă. [frumw-aa-suh] a beautiful day.
un om a human (m), man(-kind)
un om bun. a good person
un om frumoș. a beautiful person.
un om puternic. [pu-ter-nik] a powerful person.
o femeie [oh femey-eh] a woman
o femeie bună. a good woman
o femeie frumoasă. [oh femey-eh frumw-aa-suh] a beautiful woman.
o fată a girl
o fată bună. a good girl
o fată deșteaptă. [oh fah-tuh dish-"tapped"-duh] an intelligent girl
o fată proastă. [oh fah-tuh prw-ast-uh (proastă rhymes with "So ask a (girl out)....") a stupid girl
un băiat [oon buy-"yacht" (sounds like the sailboat)] a boy
un băiat bun. a good boy.
un băiat prost. a dumb boy.
un băiat deștépt. an intelligent boy
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