Learn Hardcore Romanian: Dacă ai nevoie de ajutor, spune-mi.

ai is the 2nd person singular present of the verb a avea (“to have”). Literally, Dacă ai nevoie... means “If you have need...,” which is how Romanian expresses “if you need...”.

Why is nevoie followed by de ajutor and not used like a direct object?

In Romanian, the noun nevoie (“need”) requires the preposition de before what’s needed. So you say ai nevoie de ceva (“you have a need of something”). Omitting de (e.g. ai nevoie ajutor) is ungrammatical.

Why isn’t there an article before ajutor (for example, un ajutor)?

Here ajutor is an uncountable noun meaning “help” in general. Romanian doesn’t use the indefinite article when talking about non-specific or abstract quantities. Adding un (“a”) would imply a single unit or a helper, changing the meaning.

What does spune-mi mean and why is the pronoun attached?

Spune-mi combines the imperative spune (“say/tell”) with the enclitic pronoun mi (“to me”). In affirmative imperatives, unstressed object or indirect‐object pronouns attach directly to the verb, so spune-mi = “tell me.”

Which person and number is spune in ? How would you make it formal or plural?