O să invităm familia la cină diseară.

We are going to invite the family to dinner tonight.

Breakdown of O să invităm familia la cină diseară.

• la: to
• diseară: tonight
• cina: the dinner
• familia: the family
• o să invităm: to be going to invite

Questions & Answers about O să invităm familia la cină diseară.

What does o să mean, and how does it form the future tense?

O să is a very common way to talk about the future in Romanian. It’s followed by a verb in the present tense but together they express future time.

Structure:

• o să
  • present tense → future meaning

In this sentence:

• o să
  • invităm = we will invite

It’s similar in function to English “going to” (as in “We’re going to invite…”), though it’s even more general in Romanian and used extremely often in speech.

Why is the verb invităm (present tense form) used after o să, instead of a special future form?

After o să, Romanian always uses the present indicative form of the verb, not the synthetic future.

• invităm on its own = we invite / we are inviting
• o să invităm = we will invite / we’re going to invite

So the future meaning comes from the combination o să + present, not from a separate future ending on the verb in this construction.

Is o in o să the same as the word for the feminine numeral “one”?

No, in this context o is not the numeral “one”.

• o as a numeral: o carte = one book
• o in o să: a particle used in a future construction, not carrying the meaning “one”

Historically, o să developed from older forms involving a verb meaning “to want”, but for a learner it’s best just to treat o să as a fixed future marker that doesn’t literally mean “one”.

Is O să invităm different in meaning or tone from Vom invita?

Both mean “we will invite”, but there are differences in style and frequency:

• O să invităm familia la cină diseară.
  – Very common in everyday speech
  – Neutral and natural in conversation
  – Roughly comparable to English “We’re going to invite…”

• Vom invita familia la cină diseară.
  – Uses the “synthetic” future (vom + infinitive)
  – Often sounds a bit more formal, bookish, or planned/official in modern usage
  – More common in writing, in formal announcements, or careful speech

In everyday spoken Romanian, o să invităm is usually the default choice.

Why don’t we say Noi o să invităm? Is leaving out noi always okay?

Romanian usually drops subject pronouns (it’s a “pro‑drop” language) because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

• invităm clearly marks 1st person plural (we), so noi is not needed.
• O să invităm familia… already means “We will invite the family…”.

You add noi only when you want to:

• emphasize who is doing the action:
  Noi o să invităm familia, nu ei. = We will invite the family, not them.
• contrast with another person or group.

So:

• O să invităm… = normal, neutral
• Noi o să invităm… = we (as opposed to someone else) will invite…

What is the difference between familie and familia here?

Romanian marks definiteness with an ending on the noun (a suffixed article), not with a separate word like “the”.

• familie = a family (indefinite)
• familia = the family (definite)

In the sentence, familia means “the family” (probably “our family” or a specific family that both speaker and listener know about).

So:

• O să invităm familie la cină… → incorrect here
• O să invităm familia la cină… → We will invite the family to dinner…

Why is there no preposition pe before familia?

In Romanian, pe is often used before definite, usually animate direct objects, especially when they are people:

• Văd familia. / Văd familia pe stradă.
• Often also: Văd pe familia.

But with a invita in this type of sentence, the construction “invite X to Y” is usually:

• a invita [direct object] la [event]

So:

• O să invităm familia la cină.
  (direct object without pe, then a prepositional phrase la cină)

You can sometimes hear O să invităm pe familia la cină, but in standard, neutral usage here, pe is not necessary and many speakers will omit it.

Why is it la cină and not something like pentru cină?

Here la corresponds to English “to” or “for” in the sense of “invite (someone) to dinner”:

• a invita pe cineva la cină = to invite someone to dinner

Pentru cină would sound more like “for dinner” in a purpose or reason sense and would not be the usual way to express this invitation pattern. The standard structure with a invita is:

• invita pe X la [eveniment / masă / petrecere]
  e.g. invita prietenii la petrecere – invite the friends to the party

Why is it cină and not cina in this sentence?

Again this is about definiteness and also about how meals are usually talked about.

• cină (indefinite) = dinner in a general sense
• cina (definite) = the dinner (a specific, identified dinner)

In expressions like “invite someone to dinner”, Romanian normally uses the indefinite form:

• la cină = to dinner (in general)

You’d use cina if you’re talking about a specific dinner that’s already clearly defined, for example:

• Cina de Crăciun = the Christmas dinner
• La cina de ieri = at yesterday’s dinner

In your sentence, it’s just “to (have) dinner” this evening in a general way, so la cină is correct.

What does diseară literally mean, and how is it different from în seara asta or astă seară?

Diseară is an adverb meaning “this evening / tonight (in the evening)”.

Literally, it historically comes from de + seară (roughly “of/evening”), but for you it’s easiest to treat it as a single word diseară = this evening.

Comparison:

• diseară
  – Very common, neutral
  – Sounds natural in everyday speech
  – Best default choice for “this evening / tonight” when you mean the evening part of the day

• în seara asta
  – Literally “in this evening”
  – Also very common and natural in speech
  – Slightly more informal/colloquial; often used exactly like “tonight”

• astă seară (sometimes astă‑seară)
  – A bit more formal or literary / careful
  – You’ll meet it in writing, on TV, in more elevated or stylized language

In everyday conversation, diseară and în seara asta are both very frequent, with diseară maybe a bit more concise and neutral.

Can the word order change? For example, can I say Diseară o să invităm familia la cină?

Yes, Romanian word order is quite flexible, especially with time adverbs like diseară.

All of these are grammatically correct:

• O să invităm familia la cină diseară.
• Diseară o să invităm familia la cină.
• O să invităm diseară familia la cină. (less common, but possible)

Most natural:

• Time expressions often go at the beginning or end of the sentence:
  • Diseară o să invităm familia la cină.
  • O să invităm familia la cină diseară.

Starting with Diseară puts a bit more emphasis on when it happens.

How do you pronounce cină, invităm, and diseară?

Approximate pronunciation (with stress marked by bold):

• cină → CÎ‑nă

  • IPA: /ˈt͡ʃinə/
  • ci = like English “chee”, but shorter
  • î = a central vowel (something like the French “u” in “tu”, but not exactly); it’s the same sound as in â
  • ă = a very short, relaxed vowel, like the a in “sofa”

• invităm → in‑vi‑TĂM

  • IPA: /inviˈtəm/
  • Stress on the last syllable ‑tăm
  • ă again is the short schwa‑like sound

• diseară → di‑SE‑a‑rə

  • IPA: /diˈse̯arə/
  • Stress on ‑se‑
  • There is a glide ea = like saying “eh‑ah” quickly together
  • Final ă again is the short, unstressed vowel

Spoken smoothly, the whole sentence sounds roughly like:

• O să invităm familia la cină diseară.
  /o sə inviˈtəm ˈfamilja la ˈt͡ʃinə diˈse̯arə/

Is O să invităm familia la cină diseară polite and natural, or should I use a different form in formal situations?

The sentence is polite and very natural in everyday Romanian.

• In normal conversation, this is exactly what people would say.
• In more formal or very official contexts (e.g. written invitations, speeches), you might see the more formal future:
  • Vom invita familia la cină în această seară.

But even in many semi‑formal settings, O să invităm familia la cină diseară is perfectly acceptable. The difference is more about style than about politeness.