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Questions & Answers about Vrei lapte mâine?
Why is there no tu at the beginning of the sentence?
In Romanian, subject pronouns like tu (“you”) are optional and often omitted because the verb ending already tells you the person and number. Here, vrei is clearly 2nd person singular, so you don’t need tu to know who you’re talking to.
What tense and person is vrei, and how does it translate?
Vrei is the present indicative, 2nd person singular form of the irregular verb a vrea (“to want”). It literally means “you want.” In this question, it’s “Do you want…?”
How would I ask politely or formally “Do you want milk tomorrow?”
For the polite (formal) 2nd person, you switch to doriți (from a dori, a more formal verb) or use the dumneavoastră form of a vrea, which is vreți. So you could say:
Vreți lapte mâine?
or even more polite:
Ați dori lapte mâine?
Why is there no article before lapte? Shouldn’t it be “the milk” or “some milk”?
When you ask “Do you want milk?” in English, you’re speaking about milk in a general/indefinite sense. Romanian handles this by simply using the bare noun lapte (“milk”). If you said laptele, that would be “the milk” (a specific batch). To explicitly say “some milk,” you could use niște lapte.
Can I move mâine to the front? What about word order differences?
Yes. Romanian word order is relatively flexible. Both of these are fine:
- Vrei lapte mâine?
- Mâine vrei lapte?
The first sounds more neutral. Putting mâine at the front can emphasize “tomorrow” a bit more.
Why is it mâine with â and not î at the start?
Romanian spelling uses î at the beginning or end of words and â in the interior. Since mâine starts with m, the vowel î would be inside the word, but by modern orthography it’s written as â. So mâine is the correct form for “tomorrow.”
How would you ask if someone else (he/she) wants milk tomorrow?
For 3rd person singular, use vrea:
- Vrea lapte mâine?
You could add a pronoun for clarity: - El/ea vrea lapte mâine?
but it’s often dropped if context is clear.
Is there a contraction or short form for vrei in spoken language?
Not really for vrei itself, but casual speech might drop the final vowel a bit: vr’ lapte mâine?. However, in writing you’d still use vrei.