Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

### Boiling, frying, preparing

Three kitchen verbs. **A fierbe** (to boil) belongs to the *-e* group, and its past participle is irregular: *am fiert* (I boiled). **A prăji** (to fry) and **a pregăti** (to prepare) take *-esc*. You already know the participle of *a prăji* from *cartofi prăjiți*.

| | a fierbe | a prăji | a pregăti |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | **fierb** | **prăjesc** | **pregătesc** |
| tu | **fierbi** | **prăjești** | **pregătești** |
| el, ea | **fierbe** | **prăjește** | **pregătește** |
| noi | **fierbem** | **prăjim** | **pregătim** |
| past | **am fiert** | **am prăjit** | **am pregătit** |

{{item:1138807}}

{{item:1138808}}

{{item:1138810}}

**A pregăti** needs an object: *pregătesc cina* (I'm making dinner). Without one, the reflexive *mă pregătesc* means *I'm getting ready*.

{{item:1138814}}

### The supine in the kitchen

The supine you have just learned is everywhere in recipes: *a pune apa la fiert* (to put the water on to boil), *ușor de pregătit* (easy to make), *greu de deschis* (hard to open).

{{item:1138806}}

{{item:1138840}}

{{item:1138825}}

### Salty and spicy

**Sărat** comes from *sare* (salt). **Iute** is the burn of chili: *ardei iute* is a hot pepper, and many Romanians eat their *ciorbă* with one on the side. *Picant*, which you know, is the general word for spicy, strongly seasoned food. **Iute** also means *quick*.

{{item:1138816}}

{{item:1138818}}

{{item:1138820}}

### In the pantry

**Chifteaua** works like *cafeaua*: *o chiftea*, *chifteaua*, plural *chiftele*. **Lămâia** is *o lămâie*, plural *lămâi*. **Borcanul** and **condimentul** are neuter: *borcane*, *condimente*. **Gustarea** (*gustări*) is anything you eat between meals.

{{item:1138828}}

{{item:1138823}}

Cooking (a fierbe, a prăji, sărat)

adjective

adverb

adverbial phrase

auxiliary

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

The verb to be and definite articles (a fi, -ul, -le)

Feminine definite articles (-a, -ua)

Indefinite articles (un, o)

Negative sentences (nu)

Question words (ce, unde, cine)

The verb to have (a avea)

Masculine plural nouns (-i, -ii)

Feminine plural nouns (-e, -i, -le)

Neuter plural nouns (-uri, -e, -le)

Adjectives and agreement

Present tense of regular -a verbs

Present tense of -a verbs with suffix (-ez)

Present tense of regular -i and -î verbs

Present tense of -i and -î verbs with suffix (-esc / -ăsc)

Present tense of -ea and -e verbs

Reflexive pronouns (mă, te, se, ne, vă)

Accusative prepositions (în, la, pe, din, cu)

Likes and dislikes (îmi place)

Possessive adjectives (meu, tău, său)

Third-person possessives (lui, ei, lor)

Possessive articles (al, a, ai, ale)

Formal politeness (dumneavoastră)

Demonstrative adjectives (acest, acel)

Numbers 1 to 10

The number two (doi, două)

Numbers 11 to 20

Counting by tens to 100

Quantifying large numbers (de)

The subjunctive (să)

Third-person subjunctive (să)

Direct object pronouns (îl, o, îi, le)

Personal direct objects (pe)

Days of the week

Telling time (e ora...)

Months of the Year (January to June)

Months of the Year (July to December)

The Four Seasons

Weather Conditions

Rooms in a House

Basic Body Parts: Upper Body

Basic Body Parts: Limbs

Everyday Clothing

Basic Foods: Groceries

Fruits and Vegetables

Around Town

Getting Around

Setting the Table

A Colorful World

Common Animals

In the Wild

Jobs and Careers

Everyday Tech

Describing people (tânăr, bătrân, înalt)

Asking when and why (când, de ce, care)

Hello and goodbye (bună ziua, la revedere)

Coming and going (intra, sta, trece)

Where is it? (sub, lângă, între)

Knowing and thinking (știu că, cred că)

Sorry, welcome, congratulations (îmi pare rău, la mulți ani)

Introducing yourself (mă numesc, sunt din România)

How much and how many (puțin, prea, doar)

Can and may (pot merge, pot să merg)

If and whether (dacă)

At school and university

Irregular verbs in the present (vrea, lua, da, bea, sta)

Free time and sport

How much is it? (cât costă, câți, câte)

Before and after (înainte, după, până)

At the doctor (mă doare)

Meals of the day (micul dejun, prânzul, cina)

At the restaurant

Ability and permission (a putea să)

Obligation and necessity (trebuie să)

Desires and intentions (a vrea să)

Impersonal statements (se)

Adverbs of frequency (adesea, uneori)

Conjunctions for reasons and links (pentru că, deci)

Stressed accusative pronouns (pe mine, pe tine)

Indefinite pronouns (cineva, ceva)

Negative pronouns and double negation (nimeni, nimic)

The past tense auxiliary (am, ai, a)

The past tense (am, ai, a)

Regular past participles (-at, -it)

Regular past participles (-ut, -s, -t)

Negative past tense (nu am)

Question	Answer
to boil	fierbe
I'm putting the water on to boil.	Pun apa la fiert.
We boil the eggs for ten minutes.	Fierbem ouăle zece minute.
I boiled the potatoes for the salad.	Am fiert cartofii pentru salată.
to fry	prăji
I'm frying the onion in oil.	Prăjesc ceapa în ulei.
Don't fry the meat too long!	Nu prăji carnea prea mult!
to prepare (something)	pregăti
I'm making dinner for the whole family.	Pregătesc cina pentru toată familia.
What did you make for the party?	Ce ai pregătit pentru petrecere?
salty	sărat
The soup is too salty.	Supa este prea sărată.
spicy (hot); quick	iute
I eat ciorbă with a hot pepper.	Mănânc ciorbă cu ardei iute.
The sauce is too spicy for the kids.	Sosul e prea iute pentru copii.
This horse is young and quick.	Calul acesta este tânăr și iute.
the spice, the seasoning	condimentul
I put a lot of spices in the soup.	Pun multe condimente în supă.
Salt and pepper are seasonings.	Sarea și piperul sunt condimente.
the jar	borcanul
This jar is hard to open.	Acest borcan este greu de deschis.
Grandma puts the preserves in jars.	Bunica pune dulceața în borcane.
the lemon	lămâia
I drink tea with lemon.	Beau ceai cu lămâie.
Lemonade is made from lemons, water and sugar.	Limonada se face din lămâi, apă și zahăr.
the snack	gustarea
I prefer salty snacks.	Prefer gustările sărate.
Do you want a snack?	Vrei o gustare?
We have a snack at four o'clock.	Mâncăm o gustare la ora patru.
the pineapple	ananasul
I don't like pizza with pineapple.	Nu-mi place pizza cu ananas.
The pineapple is sweet and fresh.	Ananasul este dulce și proaspăt.
the meatball	chifteaua
Grandma makes the best meatballs.	Bunica face cele mai bune chiftele.
I fried the meatballs for lunch.	Am prăjit chiftelele pentru prânz.
Meatballs are easy to make.	Chiftelele sunt ușor de pregătit.
the stuffed peppers	ardeii umpluți
I'm making stuffed peppers with meat and rice.	Pregătesc ardei umpluți cu carne și orez.
The stuffed peppers cook for an hour in tomato sauce.	Ardeii umpluți fierb o oră în sos de roșii.
On Sunday we're having stuffed peppers at Grandma's.	Duminică mâncăm ardei umpluți la bunica.

Contributors