Le dau apă.

I give them water.

Breakdown of Le dau apă.

• apa: the water
• le: them
• a da: to give

Questions & Answers about Le dau apă.

What does le represent in this sentence?

It’s the third-person plural dative clitic pronoun, meaning “to them.” It marks the indirect object of dau.

Why is le placed before dau and not after?

In Romanian simple tenses (present, imperfect, etc.), clitic pronouns are proclitic, i.e. they come before the verb. Enclitic placement (after the verb) occurs only in certain moods or compound tenses.

What’s the difference between le and îi?

îi is the third-person singular dative pronoun (“to him/her”), while le is the third-person plural dative pronoun (“to them”).

Why doesn't this sentence use a preposition like “to”?

Romanian uses the dative case (expressed by pronouns like le) instead of a separate preposition. So Le dau apă literally means “I give (to) them water.”

Why is there no article before apă?

Here apă is an uncountable noun meaning “water” in general, so it doesn’t take the indefinite article. (You would use o apă only if you meant “a glass of water” or “a bottle of water.”)