Lesson 3- Starting out with verbs

The first verb we are going to learn in Romanian is the verb "to be."

to be:  a fi  [a fee]


eu sunt   [yeh-w suhnt]  [the "u" in "sunt" rhymes with "put"]  I am
tu  ești    [too yesht(y)]  The "i" here is to mark the palatalization [t] -> [ty] and is not a syllable.  You are.
el, ea  este  [yell, ya yesteh]  he, she is

noi suntem  [noy suntem]  we are
voi sunteți  [voy sun-tets(y)]  The "i" here is to mark the palatalization [ts] - [tsy] and is not a syllable.  You all are.
ei, ele sunt   [yay, yeleh suhnt]  they are


Yes:  "da."

No:  "nu."

Bună ziua.   [Boon-uh zyew-ah] Good day-the.

The difference between ă and a is important in Romanian, with ă meanin "a" or "an" and a meaning "the."
ă is pronounced like "uh" in "up" or a silly person saying "duhhhh!" to make fun of someone
"a" is an "ahhh" sound like Spanish or French, pronounced between American English "hat" and American English "hot."


Conversation:

John:  Búnă ziúa.  Sunt John Parker.
Alina:  Búnă ziúa.  Eu sunt Alina Eminescu.  ["yeh-w"] ... [yeh-mi-nehskuu]
John:  Este o plăcere.  [Yesteh oh pluh-che-reh]
Alina:  Foarte mulțumită.  [Fwar-teh mool-tsu-meet-uh]

John:  Good day.  I'm John Parker.
Alina:  Good day.  I'm Alina Yeminescu.
John:  It's a pleasure.
Alina:  Very pleased.