Learn Hardcore Romanian: Dă-mi lapte pentru cafea.

Dă-mi means “give me.” It’s made of the second-person singular affirmative imperative of a da (which is dă) plus the enclitic pronoun mi (to me), joined with a hyphen.

Why is the pronoun mi attached to the verb with a hyphen?

In Romanian affirmative imperatives, object pronouns must attach to the verb (enclisis) and are written with a hyphen: dă-mi, spune-mi, arată-mi.

Why is it mi instead of îmi?

Before the verb in enclitic position, the full form îmi loses its initial vowel and becomes mi. The same happens with îţi → ţi, îl → l, etc.

Why isn’t there an article before lapte?

Lapte here means “some milk” in general. If you wanted “the milk,” you would use the definite form laptele.

Why isn’t cafea definite? Shouldn’t it be cafeaua?

Again, it’s indefinite (“coffee” in general), so no article. Use cafeaua only if you mean “the coffee” (a specific one you already mentioned).

What’s the difference between pentru cafea and la cafea?

pentru expresses purpose (“for coffee,” i.e. to put in your coffee). la cafea indicates context or accompaniment (like “at coffee time” or “with coffee”)—a slightly different nuance.

Is lapte the direct object? What role does mi play?

Yes, lapte is the direct object (what is given). mi is the indirect-object pronoun in the dative (“to me”).

How would I make this sentence more polite or formal?

Use the polite/formal imperative: Dați-mi lapte pentru cafea, vă rog. Informally you can add te rog: Dă-mi lapte pentru cafea, te rog.

How do you say “Don’t give me milk for coffee”?

In negative imperatives, you put nu before the verb and the pronoun becomes proclitic: Nu-mi da lapte pentru cafea.