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Eu mănânc salată la prânz.

Eu mănânc salată la prânz.
I eat salad at lunch.
FromLesson 5inHardcore Romanian

Breakdown of Eu mănânc salată la prânz.

eu
I
a mânca
to eat
la
at
prânzul
the lunch
salata
the salad

Questions & Answers about Eu mănânc salată la prânz.

What’s the function of Eu in this sentence? Can it be omitted?
Eu is the first-person singular pronoun (equivalent to I). In Romanian you often drop the subject pronoun because the verb ending already tells you who’s doing the action. So Mănânc salată la prânz still means “I eat salad at lunch.” Including Eu just adds emphasis or clarity.
What does mănânc mean, and how is it formed?

mănânc is the present-tense, first-person singular form of the verb a mânca (“to eat”). The full present-tense conjugation is:
• Eu mănânc
• Tu mănânci
• El/Ea mănâncă
• Noi mâncăm
• Voi mâncați
• Ei/Ele mănâncă

How do you pronounce the letters ă in mănânc and â in prânz? Where does the stress fall?

• ă (in mănânc) is the mid-central “schwa” sound, like the ‘a’ in English “sofa.”
• â (in prânz) is also a central vowel, slightly more closed, but often described as a “hard” schwa.
Stress falls on the only syllable in prânz (it’s monosyllabic), and on the first syllable of mănânc (MĂN-ănc).

Why is salată used without an article, and how would you say “the salad” or “a salad”?

In Romanian you can use a feminine noun bare (no article) to mean an unspecified amount or type.
• To say a salad, you add the indefinite article o before the noun: o salată.
• To say the salad, you attach the definite article -a to the noun: salata.
So:
• “I eat a salad at lunch” → Eu mănânc o salată la prânz.
• “I eat the salad at lunch” → Eu mănânc salata la prânz.

What does la prânz mean, and why is la used here?
la prânz literally means “at lunch.” la is the preposition for “at” or “in” when talking about meals or times of day. It turns prânz (“lunch”) into an adverbial phrase specifying when the action happens.
How would you say “I don’t eat salad at lunch”?

Simply place nu before the verb:
Nu mănânc salată la prânz.

How would you say “We eat salads at lunch”?

Change both subject and nouns to plural:
Noi mâncăm salate la prânz.
– Noi = we
– mâncăm = present-tense, first-person plural of a mânca
– salate = plural of salată

Why not say pentru prânz instead of la prânz?
pentru prânz would translate as “for lunch” in the sense of “intended for lunch” (e.g. “a sandwich for lunch”). But when you want to say “at lunchtime” as the moment you eat, you use la prânz.

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