Questions & Answers about Privirea ei este tristă.
What is the basic dictionary form of privirea, and why does it end in -a here?
The dictionary form is privire, meaning look, gaze, or expression depending on context.
Privirea is the definite singular form, so it means the gaze / the look. Romanian usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.
So:
- privire = a gaze / gaze
- privirea = the gaze
Why is it privirea ei instead of just privire ei?
Because Romanian normally uses the definite form of the noun in this kind of possessive expression.
So privirea ei is literally something like the gaze of her, which corresponds to English her gaze.
This is very common in Romanian:
- cartea ei = her book
- mama lui = his mother
- privirea ei = her gaze
English does not use the here, but Romanian often does.
Why does ei come after the noun?