Pe Andrei îl văd la cântar cu un kilogram de carne.

Andrei

Breakdown of Pe Andrei îl văd la cântar cu un kilogram de carne.

• un: a
• cu: with
• la: at

Questions & Answers about Pe Andrei îl văd la cântar cu un kilogram de carne.

Why is pe used before Andrei?

In Romanian, pe often marks a direct object when it refers to a person or a specific/definite being.

So in Pe Andrei îl văd..., Andrei is the person being seen, so Romanian uses pe.

Compare:

• Văd o casă. = I see a house.
• Îl văd pe Andrei. = I see Andrei.

English does not do this, so it can feel unusual at first.

Why is îl there if Andrei is already mentioned?

This is a very common Romanian pattern called clitic doubling.

Even though Andrei is already named, Romanian often also uses a short object pronoun:

• Pe Andrei îl văd.

Here:

• Pe Andrei = the full direct object
• îl = a short pronoun referring back to Andrei

This is especially common when the object is a person and is introduced with pe. In many contexts, it sounds more natural with the clitic than without it.

What exactly does îl mean here?