Ele vorbesc puțin engleză.

to speak

Breakdown of Ele vorbesc puțin engleză.

• ele: they
• puțin: a little
• engleza: the English language

Questions & Answers about Ele vorbesc puțin engleză.

What does ele mean, and why is it used here?

Ele is the third-person plural pronoun for an all-female or non-masculine group in Romanian. It means “they” when referring to a group of women (or feminine nouns). In this sentence it simply marks the subject “they.”

Why is the verb vorbesc and not vorbește?

Romanian verbs agree in number and person with their subject. Since ele is third-person plural, you use vorbesc (they speak). Vorbește is third-person singular (he/she speaks).

What is the role of puțin in this sentence?

Here puțin is a quantifier meaning “a little” or “a bit of.” It tells you how much English they speak. It modifies the noun engleză, indicating a small amount.

Why is there no article before engleză?

When naming languages as direct objects in Romanian, you do not use an article. So you say vorbesc engleză (“they speak English”), not vorbesc o engleză or vorbesc engleza.

What grammatical case is engleză in?