Dacă îți este sete, cere apă rece.

the water

Breakdown of Dacă îți este sete, cere apă rece.

• a fi: to be
• dacă: if
• rece: cold

Questions & Answers about Dacă îți este sete, cere apă rece.

Why does the sentence start with Dacă?

Dacă means if. It introduces a condition:

Dacă îți este sete = If you are thirsty

So the whole sentence is built like:

If X, do Y.

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Why does Romanian say îți este sete instead of something like you are thirsty?

Romanian often expresses physical states with a structure that is closer to to someone is thirst/hunger than to English to be thirsty/hungry.

So:

• îți este sete = literally something like to you is thirst
• natural English: you are thirsty

This is a very common Romanian pattern:

• îmi este foame = I am hungry
• îmi este somn = I am sleepy
• îmi este frig = I am cold

So sete is a noun meaning thirst, not an adjective.

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What exactly does îți mean here?