Dumneavoastră plătiți cu cardul sau cu numerar?

Dumneavoastră is the polite/formal way to say you in Romanian. In this sentence, it is used because this is the kind of question a cashier, waiter, or shop employee would ask a customer politely.

A native English speaker can think of it as the Romanian equivalent of addressing someone as sir/ma’am level polite, even though English no longer has a separate formal you pronoun.

Romanian uses the 2nd person plural verb form for polite address. So even if the speaker is talking to just one person, the verb is plural when using dumneavoastră.

• dumneavoastră plătiți = you pay / are paying in a polite way
• tu plătești = you pay / are paying in an informal singular way

So the ending -ți in plătiți shows either:

• you all pay, or
• you addressed formally

Yes. Romanian often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the person.

So all of these are possible:

• Dumneavoastră plătiți cu cardul sau cu numerar?
• Plătiți cu cardul sau cu numerar?

The second version is very common in everyday speech. Adding dumneavoastră makes the sentence a bit more explicit or more formal.

In Romanian, yes/no questions often keep the same word order as statements. The sentence is understood as a question mainly through:

• intonation in speech
• the question mark in writing
• the context

So Romanian does not need auxiliary verbs like English do:

• English: Do you pay by card or cash?
• Romanian: Plătiți cu cardul sau cu numerar?

This is completely normal.

Cu cardul is the normal idiomatic way to say by card / with a card in Romanian.

The noun cardul is card + the. Romanian often uses the definite article in expressions with instruments or means, especially in everyday speech:

• scriu cu pixul = I write with a pen
• vin cu trenul = I come by train
• plătesc cu cardul = I pay by card

So although it may look like with the card, it is best understood as the natural Romanian way to express the method of payment.

Because numerar means cash as a general payment method, and here it behaves like an uncountable or abstract noun.

So Romanian normally says:

• cu numerar = in cash / with cash

This is different from cardul, which is treated as a concrete instrument and commonly appears with the definite article in this expression.

So the contrast is normal:

• cu cardul
• cu numerar

You should learn both as standard set phrases.

Cu usually means with, but in this sentence it is best translated as by or with, depending on natural English style.

So:

• cu cardul = by card / with a card
• cu numerar = in cash / with cash

Romanian uses cu very broadly in these kinds of expressions.

Yes. Sau is the standard everyday word for or.

So:

• cu cardul sau cu numerar = by card or in cash

You may also see ori in Romanian, which can also mean or, but sau is the most neutral and common choice here.

It can technically be either:

1. formal singular: speaking politely to one person
2. plural: speaking to more than one person

That is because dumneavoastră and plătiți can both be used for:

• polite singular
• actual plural

In a shop or restaurant, this sentence would usually be understood as polite singular, unless the speaker is clearly addressing a group.

To one friend or someone you would address with tu, you would say:

• Plătești cu cardul sau cu numerar?

The main change is the verb:

• plătiți = formal / plural
• plătești = informal singular

A rough pronunciation guide is:

• Dumneavoastră ≈ doom-neh-ah-VOAS-truh
• plătiți ≈ pluh-TEETS
• cardul ≈ KAR-dool
• numerar ≈ noo-meh-RAR

A few useful sound notes:

• ă is a short central vowel, somewhat like the a in about
• ț is pronounced ts, like in cats
• plătiți has the stress on the ti

So plătiți sounds approximately like pluh-TEETS.

Yes, it is completely natural. It is a standard service-context question in Romanian.

You might hear:

• Plătiți cu cardul sau cu numerar?
• Dumneavoastră plătiți cu cardul sau cu numerar?

The shorter version is probably more common in fast everyday speech, but both are correct and natural.