Breakdown of Andrei se alătură echipei în loc să joace.
Andrei
Andrei
a juca
to play
a se alătura
to join
echipa
the team
Questions & Answers about Andrei se alătură echipei în loc să joace.
What is the dictionary form of se alătură, and what tense/person is it?
The dictionary form is a se alătura, meaning to join.
In this sentence, se alătură is:
- 3rd person singular
- present tense
So Andrei se alătură means Andrei joins or Andrei is joining. Romanian present tense can often cover both ideas, depending on context.
Why is se there? Does it mean himself?
Not necessarily. Here, se is part of the verb a se alătura. It is a pronominal/reflexive-type verb, but in English you usually do not translate se literally.
So:
- a se alătura = to join
- you normally cannot just drop se in this meaning
In fact, a alătura without se is a different verb, more like to place/add something next to something else.
Why is it echipei instead of echipa?
Because a se alătura usually takes the dative case: a se alătura cuiva = to join someone/something.
So:
- echipa = the team as a basic subject/direct-object form
- echipei = to the team
That is why the sentence has se alătură echipei.