În vis vorbesc română la fel de bine ca bunica.

In the dream I speak Romanian as well as Grandma.

Breakdown of În vis vorbesc română la fel de bine ca bunica.

• a vorbi: to speak
• româna: the Romanian language
• în: in
• bine: well
• bunica: the grandma
• la fel de: equally
• ca: as
• visul: the dream

Questions & Answers about În vis vorbesc română la fel de bine ca bunica.

Why does În vis use the singular vis when in English we usually say “in my dreams” (plural)?

Literally, În vis means “In (a/the) dream”.

Romanian often uses the singular for general, recurring situations where English prefers the plural:

• În vis mă plimb prin București. – In my dreams, I walk around Bucharest.
• În viață – in life (not in lives)
• La școală – at school (not at schools)

În vis is also a fixed, very natural expression meaning “in my dreams / in dreams (generally)”.

You could say:

• În vise – in dreams (more literal plural)
• În visele mele – in my dreams

…but În vis is the most idiomatic and common here, and it’s automatically understood as “in my dreams,” not just “in one specific dream.”

Why is there no article before română? Why not româna or limba română?

In vorbesc română, română is the name of the language and works like an uncountable noun (“Romanian (language)” in general).

1. No article is standard after “to speak” + language:

   • Vorbesc română. – I speak Romanian.
   • Vorbește engleză. – She/He speaks English.

   This is the most neutral, textbook pattern with a vorbi

   • language.

2. limba română is also correct, but a bit more explicit or formal:

   • Vorbesc limba română. – I speak the Romanian language. This sounds slightly more emphatic, like you’re highlighting the language itself.

3. româna (with the definite article attached) is possible in some contexts, but:

   • With a vorbi, many speakers prefer vorbesc română.
   • You are more likely to hear the definite form with verbs like:
     • Nu înțeleg româna. – I don’t understand Romanian.
     • Am uitat româna. – I have forgotten my Romanian.

So, in your sentence, vorbesc română is the most natural and common way to say it.
Vorbesc limba română is also correct but feels a bit more formal or emphatic.
Vorbesc româna is not wrong but sounds less neutral in this exact context.

Why is there no word for “I” before vorbesc? How do we know it means “I speak”?

Romanian is a pro-drop language: the subject pronoun (eu, tu, etc.) is usually omitted because the verb ending tells you who the subject is.

Conjugation of a vorbi (to speak) in the present tense:

• eu vorbesc – I speak
• tu vorbești – you (sg.) speak
• el / ea vorbește – he / she speaks
• noi vorbim – we speak
• voi vorbiți – you (pl.) speak
• ei / ele vorbesc – they speak

The form vorbesc can be:

• eu vorbesc – I speak
• ei/ele vorbesc – they speak

Here, there’s no plural subject mentioned, and the context “in dreams I speak…” very naturally points to “I”, so it’s understood as eu vorbesc.

You can add the pronoun for emphasis:

• În vis, eu vorbesc română… – In my dreams, I speak Romanian… (emphasizing I, contrasting with reality, for example)

What tense is vorbesc here, and could we use a conditional like “I would speak”?

Vorbesc is the present indicative:

• (Eu) vorbesc – I speak / I am speaking

In both English and Romanian, the present tense can express something that regularly happens in dreams:

• În vis vorbesc română… – In my dreams I speak Romanian…

If you wanted a more hypothetical “I would speak,” you’d use the present conditional:

• În vis aș vorbi română la fel de bine ca bunica.
  – In my dreams I would speak Romanian as well as my grandmother.

So:

• vorbesc = factual/habitual in that imaginary context
• aș vorbi = conditional, more explicitly hypothetical

Can I change the word order? For example, can I say Vorbesc română în vis la fel de bine ca bunica?

Romanian word order is relatively flexible, but not all permutations sound equally natural.

The original:

• În vis vorbesc română la fel de bine ca bunica.

is perfectly natural. You could also say:

• În vis, vorbesc română la fel de bine ca bunica.
  (Just adding a comma after În vis.)

Other variants:

1. Vorbesc română, în vis, la fel de bine ca bunica.
   – Acceptable; it sounds a bit more “broken up” and expressive, with în vis as an inserted remark.

2. Vorbesc română la fel de bine ca bunica în vis.
   – Grammatically possible but a bit ambiguous: it can sound like “Grandma, in dreams, speaks Romanian just as well,” because în vis might attach to bunica.

3. În vis, la fel de bine ca bunica, vorbesc română.
   – Also possible, more literary/emphatic.

The safest, most neutral versions keep În vis at the beginning and place la fel de bine ca bunica after the verb and language:

• În vis vorbesc română la fel de bine ca bunica.
• În vis vorbesc română la fel de bine ca bunica mea.

How does the structure la fel de bine ca work? What does each part mean?

la fel de bine ca = “as well as”

Breakdown:

• la fel – “the same” / “equally”
• de – linker used in comparisons
• bine – “well” (adverb)
• ca – “as / like”

Pattern:

la fel de + adjective/adverb + ca + noun/pronoun

Examples:

• Vorbește la fel de repede ca tine.
  – He/She speaks as fast as you.

• E la fel de înalt ca fratele lui.
  – He is as tall as his brother.

• Scriu la fel de clar ca profesorul.
  – I write as clearly as the teacher.

You can add și after ca for emphasis (very common in speech):

• La fel de bine ca și bunica.
  – Feels a bit more emphatic: “just as well as grandma (does).”

Why is it ca bunica and not something like ca bunicii or ca bunica mea?

1. Case and form

   • bunica is the nominative singular: “the grandmother”.
   • bunicii can be:
     • genitive/dative singular (of/to the grandmother), or
     • nominative/accusative plural (the grandfathers / the grandmothers depending on context).

   After ca in a simple comparison, you use the same form you’d use for a subject:

   • ca bunica – as (my) grandmother (does)
   • ca tine, ca el, ca ea – as you, as he, as she

2. Whose grandmother?
   In conversation, bunica usually defaults to “my grandmother” if you are talking about your own family and there is no other reference:

   • Mă duc la bunica. – I’m going to grandma (my grandma).
   • Gătește ca bunica. – She cooks like (my) grandma.

   If you want to be explicit, you can say:

   • ca bunica mea – like my grandmother

Both are fine in your sentence:

• …la fel de bine ca bunica. (implied “my grandma”)
• …la fel de bine ca bunica mea. (explicit “my grandma”)

Could I say românește instead of română? What’s the difference between vorbesc română and vorbesc românește?

Yes, you can. Both are common, with a small nuance:

1. vorbesc română

   • Literally: “I speak Romanian (language).”
   • Focuses on the language as a noun.
   • Used especially when talking about knowing a language.

2. vorbesc românește

   • Literally: “I speak Romanian-ly / in Romanian.”
   • românește is an adverb, meaning “in Romanian.”
   • Focuses more on the manner/medium of speaking.

Your sentence would be fully natural as:

• În vis vorbesc românește la fel de bine ca bunica.

In many everyday contexts, vorbesc română and vorbesc românește are practically interchangeable.
If anything, românește slightly emphasizes the way you’re speaking (that you’re using Romanian), while română slightly emphasizes the language you know.

Why is bine not changing form? Shouldn’t it agree with română or bunica?

Bine here is an adverb (“well”), not an adjective, so it does not agree in gender or number with anything.

In Romanian:

• Adjectives change:
  • bun (m. sg.), bună (f. sg.), buni (m. pl.), bune (f. pl.)
• Adverbs are invariable:
  • bine – well
  • frumos – nicely
  • repede – quickly

So:

• o fată bună – a good girl (adjective agrees)
• vorbește bine – speaks well (adverb doesn’t change)

In your sentence, la fel de bine modifies vorbesc (the verb), not română or bunica, so bine stays the same.

Could we say În vise vorbesc română… instead of În vis…? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can say În vise vorbesc română la fel de bine ca bunica.

Nuance:

• În vis – idiomatic, the usual way to say “in my dreams,” referring to the dream world in general. It’s understood as a general, recurring situation.
• În vise – literally “in (my) dreams,” plural. It can feel a bit more like several distinct dreams, or like you’re closer to the English phrasing.

Both are correct; În vis is simply the more common set expression and sounds a little more idiomatic.

How do you pronounce the whole sentence, especially the letters î and ă?

Sentence: În vis vorbesc română la fel de bine ca bunica.

Approximate IPA:

• În – /ɨn/
• vis – /vis/
• vorbesc – /vorˈbesk/
• română – /roˈmɨnə/
• la – /la/
• fel – /fel/
• de – /de/
• bine – /ˈbine/
• ca – /ka/
• bunica – /buˈnika/

Put together (one possible transcription):
/ɨn vis vorˈbesk roˈmɨnə la fel de ˈbine ka buˈnika/

For an English ear, you can think of:

• În – like “uhn” but with the tongue further back (Romanian î / â = a central, tense sound /ɨ/)
• română – roughly “ro-MUH-nuh”
• bunica – “boo-NEE-ka”

Special letters in this sentence:

• î (in În, română) – /ɨ/, central vowel, not exactly “i” or “u”
• ă (in română) – /ə/, like the a in sofa or about

Why is În capitalized and not the other words? Are there any special capitalization rules here?

Capitalization follows standard sentence rules:

• În is capitalized because it’s the first word of the sentence.
• All other words (vis, vorbesc, română, la, fel, de, bine, ca, bunica) are lowercase because:
  • They are common nouns, verbs, prepositions, adverbs, etc.
  • Language names like română are written with a lowercase letter in Romanian (unlike English, which capitalizes “Romanian,” “English,” etc.).

So the capitalization in În vis vorbesc română la fel de bine ca bunica. is exactly what you’d expect in correct Romanian.