Breakdown of O să scriu un mesaj unui coleg mâine.
un
a
mâine
tomorrow
colegul
the colleague
mesajul
the message
unui
a
o să scriu
to be going to write
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Questions & Answers about O să scriu un mesaj unui coleg mâine.
Why is the future expressed with o să scriu rather than using the simple present or another future form?
Romanian has two main ways to form the future:
- The periphrastic construction o să
- subjunctive (here scriu), which is very common in speech.
- The synthetic future voi
- infinitive (e.g. voi scrie), which is more formal or written.
The simple present (scriu) usually expresses habitual actions or scheduled events, not a true future plan.
- infinitive (e.g. voi scrie), which is more formal or written.
Why is the verb scriu used after o să, given that it looks like the present tense?
After o să, you must use the subjunctive mood. For the verb a scrie, the subjunctive in first-person singular happens to look exactly like the present indicative: scriu.
What role does unui coleg play in the sentence, and why is it in that form?
unui coleg is the indirect object (“to a colleague”) and is in the dative case. In Romanian, the indefinite article un changes to unui in the singular dative (and genitive).
Why isn't there a preposition like la or pentru before unui coleg?
In Romanian, the dative case itself marks “to” or “for.” When you use the proper dative form (unui coleg), you don’t need an extra preposition.
Where can the time adverb mâine be placed? Does moving it change the meaning?
The adverb mâine (tomorrow) is quite flexible. You can say:
- Mâine o să scriu un mesaj unui coleg.
- O să scriu mâine un mesaj unui coleg.
The core meaning stays the same; only the emphasis shifts slightly depending on its position.
Is the word order fixed for the objects un mesaj and unui coleg, or can they be swapped?
Romanian word order is relatively flexible. The neutral pattern is Verb + Direct Object + Indirect Object, but you can swap them for emphasis:
- O să scriu unui coleg un mesaj mâine.
Can you use Voi scrie instead of O să scriu here, and is there any nuance?
Yes. Voi scrie un mesaj unui coleg mâine is grammatically correct and tends to sound more formal or bookish. O să scriu is the everyday colloquial way.
What exactly is the o in o să? It seems like a pronoun or something else.
The o in o să is a fossilized remnant of the verb a voi (“to want”) or historically va să. Today it has no separate meaning and exists solely as part of the periphrastic future marker.