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Azi am o zi liberă și vreau să vizitez familia mea.

Azi am o zi liberă și vreau să vizitez familia mea.
Today I have a day off and I want to visit my family.

Breakdown of Azi am o zi liberă și vreau să vizitez familia mea.

a avea
to have
azi
today
o
a
mea
my
a vrea
to want
și
and
liber
free
familia
the family
ziua
the day
a vizita
to visit
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Questions & Answers about Azi am o zi liberă și vreau să vizitez familia mea.

Why does the sentence start with Azi? Could I also say Astăzi?

Both azi and astăzi mean today.

  • Azi is shorter and more informal, very common in everyday speech.
  • Astăzi is slightly more formal or neutral; you’ll hear it in news, writing, or careful speech.

In this sentence you can use either:

  • Azi am o zi liberă...
  • Astăzi am o zi liberă...

Both are correct and mean the same thing.

Why is it am o zi liberă and not something like sunt liber?

Both structures exist, but they’re not identical in meaning.

  • Am o zi liberă = I have a day off
    Literally: I have a free day.
    Focus: you are talking about a specific day that is free (e.g., from work or school).

  • Sunt liber / Sunt liberă = I am free
    Focus: your current state (you’re not busy), not necessarily that this is an officially free day.

In the context of planning to visit family, am o zi liberă sounds natural because you’re referring to a particular day off.

Why is it o zi liberă and not un zi liber?

In Romanian, articles and adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun.

  • zi (day) is feminine singular.
  • The indefinite article for feminine singular is o (not un).
  • The adjective liber must also be feminine singular: liberă.

So:

  • o zi liberă = a free day
    (o = fem. article, zi = fem. noun, liberă = fem. adjective)

If the noun were masculine, it would be:

  • un băiat liber (a free boy)
Why is the verb am used here, and what verb is it from?

Am is the 1st person singular (I) form of the verb a avea (to have) in the present tense.

  • a avea = to have
    • eu am = I have
    • tu ai = you have
    • el/ea are = he/she has
    • noi avem = we have
    • voi aveți = you (pl.) have
    • ei/ele au = they have

So Azi am o zi liberă = Today I have a free day / a day off.

Why do we say vreau să vizitez instead of using an infinitive like English “I want to visit”?

Romanian does not usually use the bare infinitive after vreau (I want).
Instead, it uses the subjunctive with să:

  • vreau să vizitez = I want to visit
  • literally: I want that I (should) visit

Patterns:

  • vreau să merg = I want to go
  • vreau să mănânc = I want to eat
  • vreau să citesc = I want to read

So after vreau, the natural structure is vreau să + [verb in 1st person singular subjunctive], not an infinitive like a vizita.

What form is vizitez, and how is it different from a vizita?
  • a vizita = to visit (the infinitive)
  • vizitez = 1st person singular, present tense (I visit)

In the sentence:

  • vreau să vizitez = I want to visit

Here, vizitez is the present tense form used with să (subjunctive), but it looks the same as the normal present indicative 1st person singular.

Conjugation of a vizita (to visit), present tense:

  • eu vizitez = I visit
  • tu vizitezi = you visit
  • el/ea vizitează = he/she visits
  • noi vizităm = we visit
  • voi vizitați = you (pl.) visit
  • ei/ele vizitează = they visit
Why is it familia mea and not just familia or familie mea?

Several things are happening here:

  1. familie (family) is the base noun (feminine).
  2. With the definite article, it becomes familia = the family.
  3. The possessive mea = my, feminine singular.

In Romanian, the normal way to say my family is:

  • familia mea = the family of mine → my family

Not:

  • familie mea → incorrect (the noun needs its article here)
  • familia alone would mean the family, without specifying my.

So vreau să vizitez familia mea = I want to visit my family.

Why is the possessive mea and not meu?

The form of my depends on the gender and number of the noun it modifies.

For singular nouns:

  • Masculine/neuter: meu
  • Feminine: mea

Since familia (family) is feminine singular, you must use mea:

  • familia mea = my family

Examples:

  • fratele meu (my brother – masculine)
  • sora mea (my sister – feminine)
  • telefonul meu (my phone – masculine)
  • mașina mea (my car – feminine)
Could I say vreau să-mi vizitez familia instead of vreau să vizitez familia mea?

Yes, that’s very natural and actually more common in everyday speech:

  • Vreau să-mi vizitez familia.
    Literally: I want to visit my family
    Here, mi is a clitic pronoun meaning my, attached to vizitez.

Both are correct:

  • vreau să vizitez familia mea – a bit more explicit, slightly more formal or emphatic on my.
  • vreau să-mi vizitez familia – very idiomatic, smooth Romanian.
How would word order flexibility work here? Can I move words around?

Romanian has some flexibility, but not all orders sound natural. Some acceptable variants:

  • Azi am o zi liberă și vreau să-mi vizitez familia.
  • Astăzi am o zi liberă și vreau să vizitez familia mea.
  • Am azi o zi liberă și vreau să vizitez familia mea. (still okay; slight emphasis on azi)

Less natural or wrong:

  • Azi o zi liberă am și vreau să vizitez familia mea. (awkward)
  • Vreau să vizitez mea familia. (incorrect order; the possessive follows the noun and usually its article)

The original word order is the default, most natural version.