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### Feelings as States: The Dative Experiencer

In English, we usually describe our feelings with "I am" followed by an adjective: "I am ashamed" or "I am sleepy." Romanian thinks about many deeper emotional states and physical urges a bit differently. Instead of saying *what* you are, you express that a feeling *exists to you*.

To do this, Romanian uses a **dative pronoun** (indicating "to whom" the feeling belongs) + the verb **a fi** (to be) + a noun representing the feeling. Literally, it translates to phrases like "to me is shame" or "to me is sleep."

The unstressed dative pronouns can be used with the full form of the verb (*este*), but they most commonly combine with the short form (*e*):
- **mi-e** / **îmi este** (to me is)
- **ți-e** / **îți este** (to you is)
- **îi e** / **i-e** / **îi este** (to him/her is)
- **ne e** / **ne este** (to us is)
- **vă e** / **vă este** (to you all/formal is)
- **le e** / **le este** (to them is)

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### Specifying the Cause: *de*

When you want to express what is causing the emotion—what you are ashamed *of*, or terrified *of*—add the preposition **de** immediately after the emotion noun.

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### Emphasizing "Who" is Feeling It

If you want to contrast your feelings with someone else's, or draw special attention to the experiencer, add a **stressed dative pronoun** (like **mie** or **ție**) at the beginning of the sentence.

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To specify exactly who is experiencing the feeling, you can replace the stressed pronoun with a noun in the dative case (like **băiatului** or **Mariei**).

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### Fear and Longing

Two of the most common states expressed with this grammar are **frică** (fear) and **dor** (longing).

To say "I am afraid of", use **mi-e frică de** (literally, "to me is fear of").

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To say "I miss" someone or something, Romanian uses the beautiful word **dor** (longing). The phrase **mi-e dor de** means "I miss" (literally, "to me is longing of").

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Dative emotional states (mi-e frică, mi-e dor)

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
the shame	rușinea
I am ashamed of my mistake.	Mi-e rușine de greșeala mea.
Although he made a mistake, he is not ashamed.	Deși a greșit, nu îi e rușine.
the pity	mila
I pity that poor child.	Mie mi-e milă de acel copil sărac.
Do you not pity them?	Nu ți-e milă de ei?
the sleep (mi-e somn = I'm sleepy)	somnul
Although it is late, I am not sleepy at all.	Deși e târziu, nu mi-e somn deloc.
The boy is sleepy while he reads.	Băiatului îi e somn în timp ce citește.
the laziness	lenea
Today I am too lazy to go outside.	Astăzi mi-e lene să ies afară.
Are you too lazy to clean the kitchen?	Ți-e lene să cureți bucătăria?
the terror	groaza
We are terrified of the second exam.	Ne e groază de al doilea examen.
He is terrified of the airplane flight.	I-e groază de zborul cu avionul.
the loneliness	singurătatea
The woman is afraid of loneliness.	Femeii îi este frică de singurătate.
I am not afraid of loneliness, but you are.	Mie nu mi-e frică de singurătate, dar ție îți este.
the height	înălțimea
Are you afraid of heights?	Dumneavoastră vă e frică de înălțime?
I am afraid of heights, so I am not going down.	Îmi este frică de înălțime, așa că nu cobor.
the spider	păianjenul
Maria is afraid of spiders.	Mariei îi e frică de păianjeni.
This spider is small, I am not afraid of it.	Acest păianjen e mic, nu mi-e frică de el.
the childhood	copilăria
We miss our childhood very much.	Ne e foarte dor de copilărie.
Although I am old, I miss my childhood.	Deși sunt bătrân, mi-e dor de copilăria mea.
the youth	tinerețea
My grandfather misses his youth.	Bunicului meu îi este dor de tinerețe.
While I look at the photos, I miss my youth.	În timp ce privesc pozele, mi-e dor de tinerețe.
I'm hot, open the window!	Mi-e cald, deschide fereastra!
Are you hot? Do you want cold water?	Ți-e cald? Vrei apă rece?

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