Breakdown of Îmi place cum cântă Andrei la chitară.
Questions & Answers about Îmi place cum cântă Andrei la chitară.
In Romanian, the verb a plăcea works the opposite way from English to like.
- English: I like X → I = subject, X = object.
- Romanian: Îmi place X → literally X pleases me.
- X (what you like) is the subject.
- Îmi (to me) is an indirect object (dative clitic pronoun).
So in Îmi place cum cântă Andrei la chitară:
- The subject of place is cum cântă Andrei la chitară (how Andrei plays the guitar).
- Îmi = mie (to me) – the person who experiences the pleasure.
Eu plac would mean I am pleasing (to someone), not I like.
To say I like something, you normally use Îmi place + what you like.
Îmi is the weak (clitic) dative form of the pronoun eu, and it means to me.
- Strong (stressed) form: mie = to me
- Weak (clitic) form: îmi = to me (attached to the verb)
In Romanian, subject pronouns like eu are usually omitted because the verb ending shows who the subject is.
But with a plăcea, you are not the subject; the thing that pleases you is the subject. So we don’t say eu at all.
- Îmi place muzica. = Music pleases me / I like the music.
- Nu îmi place. = I don’t like it.
You could emphasize with the strong form:
- Mie îmi place cum cântă Andrei la chitară. (To me it is pleasing…)
Here mie is just emphasis; îmi is still the pronoun that grammatically connects to the verb.
The natural, neutral word order is:
- Îmi place cum cântă Andrei la chitară.
This is: cum + verb + subject.
You can say Îmi place cum Andrei cântă la chitară, but:
- It sounds more marked, with a bit of emphasis on Andrei.
- In everyday speech, cum cântă Andrei is by far more common.
So for standard, unmarked Romanian, stick with:
- cum cântă Andrei rather than cum Andrei cântă.
After cum in this meaning (how / the way that), Romanian normally uses the indicative:
- Îmi place cum cântă Andrei la chitară.
→ describes a real, factual way in which he plays.
The subjunctive (să cânte) is used for wishes, commands, purposes, unreal situations etc., often introduced by să, not by cum:
- Vreau să cânte Andrei la chitară. = I want Andrei to play the guitar.
- Ar fi bine să cânte mai încet. = It would be good if he played more quietly.
So with cum meaning how / the way that, you use the indicative:
- cum cântă, cum vorbește, cum dansează, etc.
Yes. A cânta covers both ideas, and context (or the preposition la) tells you which one is meant.
To sing (no instrument mentioned, or with a song as object):
- Cântă frumos. = He / she sings beautifully.
- Cântă un cântec trist. = He / she sings a sad song.
To play an instrument (with la + instrument):
- Cântă la chitară. = He / she plays the guitar.
- Cântă la pian. = He / she plays the piano.
- Cântă la vioară. = He / she plays the violin.
So in cum cântă Andrei la chitară, cântă la chitară clearly means plays the guitar, not sings.
With musical instruments, Romanian normally uses a cânta la + instrument:
- cântă la chitară
- cântă la pian
- cântă la vioară
Saying cântă chitară (without la) is ungrammatical in standard Romanian.
Also, you do not use pe here:
- cântă pe chitară sounds like he is singing on top of the guitar (physically on it), not playing it.
So the natural pattern is:
a cânta la + name of instrument
Chitară is the indefinite form (a / the guitar in general).
Chitara is the definite form (the specific guitar).
When talking about someone’s ability or habit of playing an instrument in general, Romanian uses:
- la + indefinite singular:
- cântă la chitară = plays the guitar (as an activity / skill)
- cântă la pian
- cântă la vioară
You switch to the definite form only when referring to a specific instrument:
- Cântă la chitara bunicului. = He plays grandpa’s guitar.
- Cântă la chitara din colț. = He plays the guitar in the corner.
In Îmi place cum cântă Andrei la chitară, we’re talking about his guitar playing in general, so chitară (indefinite) is used.
Yes, that is perfectly correct, but the meaning changes slightly:
Îmi place cum cântă Andrei.
→ I like how Andrei sings (by default, you think of his voice).Îmi place cum cântă Andrei la chitară.
→ I like how Andrei plays the guitar.
So:
- With no complement, cânta is normally understood as to sing.
- With la + instrument, it means to play that instrument.
Both sentences are grammatical; you just choose the one that matches what you mean.
Yes, they are very close in meaning.
- Îmi place cum cântă Andrei la chitară.
- Îmi place felul în care cântă Andrei la chitară.
Both mean I like the way Andrei plays the guitar.
Nuances:
- cum is short, everyday, completely natural.
- felul în care is more explicit and can sound a bit more formal or emphatic, like the manner in which or the way in which.
In speech, cum is more common.
You might use felul în care if you want to underline the manner / style more strongly.
The preposition pe is used in Romanian mainly to mark a direct object that is a person (or person-like).
- Îl plac pe Andrei. = I like Andrei.
→ Andrei is direct object → needs pe.
But in Îmi place cum cântă Andrei la chitară:
- The verb is cântă, and the subject of cântă is Andrei.
- Andrei is subject, not object, so you do not use pe.
Structure inside cum cântă Andrei is simply:
- Subject: Andrei
- Verb: cântă
- Complement: la chitară
No pe, because no direct object is being marked.
The subject of place is not the person who likes, but the thing that is liked.
In Îmi place cum cântă Andrei la chitară:
- Verb: place
- Subject: cum cântă Andrei la chitară (the whole clause = how he plays)
- Indirect object (dative clitic): îmi = to me
So literally:
How Andrei plays the guitar pleases me.
This is why:
- We don’t say eu plac,
- We say Îmi place
- thing that pleases you.