Breakdown of Fac o mică greșeală la exercițiu, dar profesoara mă ajută.
Questions & Answers about Fac o mică greșeală la exercițiu, dar profesoara mă ajută.
Romanian usually drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.
- fac = I do / I make (1st person singular of a face)
So Fac o mică greșeală automatically means I make a small mistake.
You only add eu for emphasis or contrast:
- Eu fac o mică greșeală, nu colegul. = I make a small mistake, not my classmate.
Both are correct, but they’re used a bit differently:
- a face o greșeală = to make a mistake
- Fac o greșeală. = I make a mistake.
- a greși = to be wrong / to make a mistake (more abstract)
- Greșesc. = I’m wrong / I’m making a mistake.
In this sentence, Fac o mică greșeală is very natural and close to English I make a small mistake.
You could also say Greșesc la exercițiu, but it feels slightly less concrete than Fac o mică greșeală la exercițiu.
- greșeală is a feminine noun.
- The feminine singular indefinite article is o (like a in English).
- mică is the feminine form of the adjective mic (small).
So:
- o greșeală = a mistake
- o mică greșeală = a small mistake
Word order: both are possible:
- o mică greșeală (article + adjective + noun)
- o greșeală mică (article + noun + adjective)
With size adjectives like mic(ă), both orders are common. O mică greșeală can sound a bit more “fixed” and natural here.
Adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they describe:
- greșeală – feminine singular
- So the adjective must also be feminine singular: mică (not mic).
Other forms of mic:
- masculine singular: mic – un băiat mic (a small boy)
- feminine singular: mică – o fată mică (a small girl)
- plural masculine/mixed: mici – băieți mici (small boys)
- plural feminine: mici – fete mici (small girls)
la is very flexible and often translates as at, in, or on, depending on context.
In school contexts, la exercițiu is the standard way to say in the exercise or on the exercise:
- Fac o greșeală la exercițiu. = I make a mistake in the exercise.
În exercițiu is possible but sounds more like physically inside something, or used in more technical/abstract contexts. For everyday classroom talk, la exercițiu is what you want.
Romanian often uses the indefinite form where English uses the:
- la exercițiu ≈ in the exercise (generic / the one we’re working on)
If you say la exercițiul, you’re talking very specifically about that particular exercise, usually already clearly identified:
- La exercițiul 5 fac o greșeală. = In exercise 5 I make a mistake.
In the given sentence, we’re speaking more generally about the exercise I’m doing now, so la exercițiu is natural.
- profesor = (a) teacher / professor, masculine, indefinite
profesorul = the (male) teacher, definite
- profesoară = (a) teacher, feminine, indefinite
- profesoara = the (female) teacher, definite
In the sentence, profesoara = the teacher (specifically a woman the speaker has in mind).
The -a at the end is the feminine definite article attached to the noun:
- casă → casa (house → the house)
- profesoară → profesoara (female teacher → the female teacher)
mă is the unstressed object pronoun for me (1st person singular).
- ajută = he/she helps
- mă ajută = he/she helps me
So profesoara mă ajută = the (female) teacher helps me.
In neutral statements, this kind of pronoun usually goes before the conjugated verb:
- mă ajută
- mă ascultă (he/she listens to me)
- mă vede (he/she sees me)
They are different forms:
- mă ajută = he/she helps me (present tense statement)
- ajută-mă = help me! (imperative command)
In the imperative, the pronoun is attached after the verb with a hyphen:
- Ajută-mă, te rog. = Help me, please.
In a normal declarative sentence, the pronoun goes before the verb:
- Mă ajută de fiecare dată. = She helps me every time.
Yes, Romanian word order is fairly flexible, especially to change emphasis:
- Neutral: Profesoara mă ajută. (The teacher helps me.)
- Emphasis on me being helped (contrast): Pe mine mă ajută profesoara.
- Emphasis on the teacher (not someone else): Mă ajută profesoara, nu colegii.
All are grammatical; the basic meaning is the same, but word order can highlight different parts of the sentence.
Romanian present tense can express:
An action happening right now:
- Fac o greșeală chiar acum. = I’m making a mistake right now.
A habit / repeated action:
- De obicei fac o mică greșeală la exercițiu. = I usually make a small mistake in the exercise.
Your sentence, without extra context, could be either. Context (like mereu, de obicei, acum) clarifies whether it’s habitual or happening now.
dar means but, and here it connects two independent clauses:
- Fac o mică greșeală la exercițiu (complete clause)
- profesoara mă ajută (complete clause)
Romanian normally puts a comma before dar when it links two full clauses, just like English often does before but in similar sentences.
In greșeală and exercițiu you see:
ș = like sh in she:
- greșeală ≈ gre-shea-lă (more precisely [greˈʃe̯alə])
ț = like ts in cats:
- exercițiu ≈ eg-zer-TSI-tyu (more precisely [egzerˈt͡sitsu])
ă = a short, neutral vowel, like the a in sofa or about:
- greșeală – the last ă is this neutral sound.
- profesoara – the final a here is more like the a in father, not ă.
These sounds are very common in Romanian, so it’s worth getting used to ș, ț, and ă early.