Am două mere acasă.

I have two apples at home.

Breakdown of Am două mere acasă.

• a avea: to have
• mărul: the apple
• acasă: home
• două: two

Questions & Answers about Am două mere acasă.

What does am mean here, and what is its basic form?

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

A few useful forms:

• eu am – I have
• tu ai – you have (singular, informal)
• el/ea are – he/she has
• noi avem – we have
• voi aveți – you have (plural)
• ei/ele au – they have

In the sentence Am două mere acasă, the eu is simply omitted, but am still means I have.

Where is the word for I? Why isn’t it Eu am două mere acasă?

Romanian usually drops subject pronouns like eu (I) because the verb ending already shows the person.

• Am două mere acasă. = Eu am două mere acasă. = I have two apples at home.

You normally:

• Use no pronoun (just am) in neutral statements.
• Add Eu for emphasis or contrast, e.g.
  
  • Eu am două mere acasă, dar tu nu ai. – I have two apples at home, but you don’t.

So Eu am două mere acasă is correct, just more emphatic.

Why is it două and not doi for two?

Romanian has different forms of two depending on gender:

• doi – masculine (and neuter in the singular)
• două – feminine (and neuter in the plural)

The noun măr (apple) is neuter:

• singular: un măr (behaves like masculine)
• plural: două mere (behaves like feminine)

Neuter nouns:

• Use the masculine form with one in the singular:
  
  • un măr – one apple
• Use the feminine form with two or more in the plural:
  
  • două mere – two apples

So you must say două mere, not doi mere.

Why is there no article before mere? Why not Am douăle mere acasă or something similar?

In Romanian, you do not use an article when a specific number (like două) directly modifies a noun:

• Am două mere acasă. – I have two apples at home.
  (no article)

Compare:

• Am mere acasă. – I have apples at home. (indefinite plural, no number)
• Am niște mere acasă. – I have some apples at home. (vague quantity)
• Am cele două mere acasă. – I have the two apples at home. (definite, specific apples)

So with a plain number + noun, you just say:

• două mere, trei cărți, patru scaune – no article in between.

What is the singular of mere, and what gender is it?

The singular is măr (apple).

• un măr – an apple
• două mere – two apples

Măr is neuter:

• singular behaves like masculine:
  
  • un măr – one apple
  • mărul – the apple
• plural behaves like feminine:
  
  • două mere – two apples
  • merele – the apples

So:

• Am un măr acasă. – I have an apple at home.
• Am două mere acasă. – I have two apples at home.

Can I change the word order? For example, can I say Acasă am două mere?

Yes, Romanian word order is fairly flexible, but the default, neutral order here is:

• Am două mere acasă. – I have two apples at home.

Other possible orders:

• Acasă am două mere.
  Emphasizes where: At home, I have two apples.
• Două mere am acasă.
  Emphasizes how many: It’s two apples that I have at home (not more).
• Am acasă două mere.
  Also possible, slightly emphasizing at home.

All are grammatically correct; the difference is mostly emphasis and style. For a beginner, Am două mere acasă is the most natural choice.

Why is it acasă and not la casă or la acasă?

Acasă is an adverb meaning at home, not a normal noun with a preposition.

• acasă = at home
• You do not say la acasă.

Compare:

• acasă – at home (home as a place where someone lives)
• (o) casă – a house (the building)

With casă as a noun, you can use prepositions:

• la casă – at a/the house (generic)
• în casă – in the house

Examples:

• Am două mere acasă. – I have two apples at home.
• Am două mere în casă. – I have two apples in the house. (more literal, inside the building)

So acasă is the standard way to say at home, and you don’t add la before it.

Can I say Am două mere în casă or Am două mere acasă la mine? Do they mean the same thing?

They are similar but have slightly different nuances:

• Am două mere acasă.
  Neutral: I have two apples at home.

• Am două mere în casă.
  Literally: I have two apples in the house.
  Focus is more on the interior of the building, not necessarily “home”.

• Am două mere acasă la mine.
  Literally: I have two apples at home at my place.
  Emphasizes that it’s your home (not someone else’s).

In everyday speech, Am două mere acasă is the most usual and natural way to say I have two apples at home.

How do you pronounce Am două mere acasă, especially the ă sounds?

Approximate pronunciation (with stress marked):

• Am – /am/
  Like “ahm”, short a.

• două – /ˈdowə/

  • dou- like English “doh”
  • -ă is a schwa sound, like the a in “sofa”.

• mere – /ˈmere/
  Both e like the e in “bed”; stress on me-.

• acasă – /aˈkasə/

  • a- like “a” in “father” but shorter
  • stress on -ca-
  • final ă again like the a in “sofa”

So, roughly: “Am DOH-wə MEH-re a-KAH-sə.”

The letter ă always represents that schwa sound (like unstressed a in English sofa).

Why don’t we say două de mere? When is de used after numbers?

You do not say două de mere in this simple counting context. With 2, 3, 4… up to 19 directly before a noun, you normally don’t use de:

• doi băieți – two boys
• două fete – two girls
• patru scaune – four chairs
• două mere – two apples

You use de:

1. With larger numbers (from about 20 upward and with round numbers like 100, 1000, etc.):

   • douăzeci de mere – twenty apples
   • o sută de oameni – a hundred people
   • o mie de cărți – a thousand books

2. With measure words:

   • două kilograme de mere – two kilograms of apples
   • doi litri de apă – two liters of water

In Am două mere acasă, it’s a simple number + noun, so it must be două mere, not două de mere.