Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Romanian grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Andrei are un prieten bun.
What does are mean in this sentence? Is it the same as the English are?
In Andrei are un prieten bun, are is not the English plural of “to be.” It’s the third-person singular present of a avea (to have), so it means he has. The Romanian verb “to be” (a fi) uses forms like sunt, ești, este, etc. (“You are” = tu ești, not tu are.)
Why is the indefinite article un used here instead of o?
Romanian articles agree in gender. Prieten is a masculine noun, so it takes the masculine indefinite article un. Feminine nouns take o (e.g. o fată – a girl).
Why is the adjective bun placed after the noun prieten?
The normal word order in Romanian is noun + adjective, the reverse of English. So you say prieten bun (literally “friend good”). Placing the adjective before the noun (e.g. un bun prieten) is possible for emphasis or style, but the default is un prieten bun.
Why doesn’t Andrei have an article in front of it?
Proper names in Romanian don’t take an article, just like in English you don’t say “the John.” You simply say Andrei. (In very colloquial speech you might hear enclitic articles, but standard usage omits them.)
Can I use este instead of are and say Andrei este un prieten bun?
They mean different things.
- Andrei are un prieten bun = “Andrei has a good friend.”
- Andrei este un prieten bun = “Andrei is a good friend” (to someone).
Use a avea for “to have” and a fi for “to be.”
How would I say “Andrei has two good friends”?
Masculine plural uses doi + prieteni + buni (adjective in plural masculine):
Andrei are doi prieteni buni.
How do I change the sentence to “Andrei has a good girlfriend”?
A female friend is prietenă, so you need the feminine article o and feminine adjective bună:
Andrei are o prietenă bună.
If you mean “romantic girlfriend,” you might use iubită instead of prietenă:
Andrei are o iubită bună.
Where does very go if I want to say “Andrei has a very good friend”?
The adverb foarte goes before the adjective:
Andrei are un prieten foarte bun.