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Questions & Answers about Eu rămân acasă diseară.
What is rămân and what is its literal meaning?
- Rămân is the 1st person singular present indicative of the verb a rămâne (“to stay” / “to remain”).
- Literally, it means “I stay”, although with a time adverb like diseară it carries the sense “I will stay”.
Why is the verb in the present tense if it refers to a future action?
- In Romanian, the present tense can express a planned or scheduled action in the near future when accompanied by a clear time expression (e.g. diseară).
- If you want to make the future form explicit, you can use the periphrastic future: Voi rămâne acasă diseară (literally “I will stay at home this evening”).
Do I have to include Eu at the start of the sentence?
- No. Romanian is a pro-drop (null-subject) language: the verb ending -n in rămân already marks 1st person singular.
- Eu is only necessary for emphasis or contrast. Saying Rămân acasă diseară is perfectly complete.
What is the difference between diseară and azi seară?
- Diseară is a single-word adverb meaning “this evening”.
- Azi seară literally means “today evening” and is fully synonymous; it’s just a two-word alternative.
- Diseară is more concise and very common in spoken Romanian.
What part of speech is acasă and why isn’t there a preposition before it?
- Acasă is an adverb meaning “at home.”
- Adverbs of place do not require a preposition in Romanian, so you never say la acasă.
- If you tried Rămân la acasă, it would sound ungrammatical.
Can I change the word order? What effect does that have?
- Yes. Romanian word order is relatively flexible for emphasis:
- Diseară rămân acasă emphasizes when you stay.
- Acasă rămân diseară emphasizes where (less common, stylistic).
- The basic meaning remains the same; you’re just shifting focus.
Could I use stau instead of rămân here? Is there a difference in nuance?
- Yes. A sta (“to stay” / “to be situated”) in the 1st person singular is stau.
- Stau acasă diseară also means “I’m staying at home this evening.”
- Subtle nuance: rămân often implies a decision or continuation from elsewhere, whereas stau focuses more on the state of being.
How is the letter ă pronounced in rămân and acasă?
- Ă represents the schwa sound [ə], similar to the “a” in English about or the “u” in supply.
- Phonetic approximations:
- rămân → rə-MĬN
- acasă → ə-KA-sə
- Listening to native speakers will help you nail the exact quality of the vowel.
What difference does diseară make, and what happens if I omit it?
- Diseară specifically pins the action to this evening (near future).
- Without it, Rămân acasă reads as a general or habitual statement: “I stay at home” or “I’m staying home [right now].”
- To express a future without diseară, you’d need voi or another future marker: Voi rămâne acasă.
What’s the difference between diseară and seara?
- Seara (with no “di-”) is the noun “the evening” or adverb “in the evening” (habitual).
- Diseară (from de seară) is the fused adverb meaning “this evening/tonight.”
- So Rămân acasă seara means “I stay home in the evenings,” while Rămân acasă diseară means “I’ll stay home tonight.”