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Facem exerciții în grupuri mici la fiecare lecție.

Facem exerciții în grupuri mici la fiecare lecție.
We do exercises in small groups at every lesson.

Breakdown of Facem exerciții în grupuri mici la fiecare lecție.

mic
small
în
in
la
at
fiecare
every
lecția
the lesson
exercițiul
the exercise
a face
to do
grupul
the group
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Questions & Answers about Facem exerciții în grupuri mici la fiecare lecție.

What does facem tell me about the subject and the tense? How would I say I do or they do?

Facem is the present tense, 1st person plural (we) of the verb a face (to do, to make).

  • eu fac – I do / I make
  • tu faci – you (singular, informal) do
  • el / ea face – he / she does
  • noi facem – we do
  • voi faceți – you (plural) do
  • ei / ele fac – they do

In this sentence, facem means we do / we are doing, and in context it usually expresses a habitual action: something that happens regularly.

Is facem exerciții more like we do exercises or we are doing exercises in English?

Romanian present tense covers both:

  • we do exercises (in general, habitually)
  • we are doing exercises (right now)

Here, because of la fiecare lecție (at every lesson), the meaning is habitual:
We do exercises in small groups in every lesson.

If you needed to stress right now, you’d add a time expression like acum (now):
Acum facem exerciții în grupuri mici. – Now we are doing exercises in small groups.

Why is there no article in exerciții? Why not exercițiile?

Romanian adds the definite article to the end of the noun:

  • exercițiu – exercise (singular, indefinite)
  • exercițiul – the exercise
  • exerciții – exercises
  • exercițiile – the exercises

In facem exerciții, we are talking about exercises in general, not specific ones, so we use the indefinite plural: exerciții.

If you say:

  • Facem exercițiile în grupuri mici. – We do the exercises in small groups.

you mean some specific, already known exercises (for example the ones in the book, or the ones the teacher already mentioned).

Why is it în grupuri mici and not something like la grupuri mici?

The preposition în literally means in, and it is used for being inside something or as part of a grouping:

  • în grupuri mici – in small groups
  • în clasă – in class
  • în oraș – in the city

Using la here would be incorrect; la is more like at / to, not in. You can’t say la grupuri mici in this context.

So facem exerciții în grupuri mici = we do exercises in small groups (we are divided into small groups).

Why is the adjective after the noun in grupuri mici? Can it also come before?

The neutral pattern in Romanian is noun + adjective:

  • grupuri mici – small groups
  • exerciții interesante – interesting exercises
  • lecție lungă – long lesson

Adjectives normally follow the noun. They can come before the noun in special cases (poetic style, strong emphasis, or idioms), but for a learner you should treat noun + adjective as the standard rule.

Also note the agreement:

  • grup (singular) – mic (singular) → grup mic – a small group
  • grupuri (plural) – mici (plural) → grupuri mici – small groups
What are the singular and plural forms of grup and mic?

Noun: grup (group)

  • singular: un grup – a group
  • plural: două grupuri – two groups
  • with definite article:
    • grupul – the group
    • grupurile – the groups

Adjective: mic (small)
It agrees in gender and number with the noun:

  • masculine singular: mic – un grup mic (a small group)
  • feminine singular: mică – o casă mică (a small house)
  • plural (masc. & fem.): mici – grupuri mici, case mici (small groups, small houses)
Why is it la fiecare lecție and not în fiecare lecție? Both mean at every lesson, right?

Both la and în can appear with fiecare lecție, but they feel different:

  • la fiecare lecție – the natural, idiomatic way to say
    at every lesson / in every class, in the sense of during each class session.
  • în fiecare lecție – literally in each lesson; it can be used, but it sounds more like inside the content of each lesson (for example, in textbooks: “in each lesson there is a grammar section”).

For how often something happens in class, you almost always say:

  • Facem exerciții în grupuri mici la fiecare lecție.
    We do exercises in small groups in every class / at every lesson.
What does fiecare mean, and does it change for gender or number?

Fiecare means each / every.

Important points:

  • It is invariable: it doesn’t change for masculine/feminine or singular/plural.

  • It is normally used with a singular noun:

    • fiecare lecție – each/every lesson
    • fiecare student – each/every student

So you don’t say fiecare lecții; you keep fiecare and the noun in singular: fiecare lecție.

Could I change the word order and say La fiecare lecție facem exerciții în grupuri mici?

Yes, that word order is perfectly correct and very natural:

  • Facem exerciții în grupuri mici la fiecare lecție.
  • La fiecare lecție facem exerciții în grupuri mici.

Romanian word order is fairly flexible. Moving la fiecare lecție to the beginning adds a bit of emphasis on at every lesson.

Both versions mean the same thing in everyday speech.

How do you pronounce exerciții and lecție, especially the ț and ție parts?

Key points:

  • ț = like ts in cats
  • ci before a vowel often sounds like chee

exerciții: roughly eg-zer-TSYEE

  • ex – like ex
  • er – like air but shorter, with rolled/flapped r
  • ci – tchee
  • i at the end – a short ee sound blending with the previous one → -țîi / -tsii

lecție: roughly LEK-tsyeh

  • lec – like lek
  • ți – tsee
  • e – short eh, but here it blends with i so it sounds like tsye

So:

  • exerciții → [eg-zer-TSYEE]
  • lecție → [LEK-tsyeh]