Am chef de cafea.

I feel like having coffee.

Breakdown of Am chef de cafea.

• cafeaua: the coffee
• de: for
• a avea chef: to feel like it

Questions & Answers about Am chef de cafea.

What does chef mean here? Is it the same as English chef or Romanian șef?

No. Chef in this sentence is a different word.

• chef = mood, desire, feeling like something
• șef = boss
• English chef = cook

So Am chef de cafea uses chef in the sense of I feel like / I’m in the mood for.

A very important detail:

• chef is pronounced with k at the start
• șef is pronounced with sh

Why does the sentence start with Am?

Because Romanian uses the expression a avea chef de — literally to have desire/mood for.

So:

• am = I have
• chef de = feel like / be in the mood for

This is different from English, which usually says I feel like coffee, not I have mood for coffee.

Why is there de before cafea?