In English, you actively "dislike" a schedule or "care" about a decision. In Romanian, these experiences often happen to you. The person experiencing the feeling is the indirect object (in the Dative case), while the thing or situation causing it acts as the grammatical subject.
Suitability and Dislike
Verbs like a conveni (to suit) and a displăcea (to dislike) follow this pattern. To construct the sentence, place the Dative pronoun (e.g., îmi, vă, le) before the verb. To emphasize the experiencer, Romanian often uses a "double Dative" by adding the stressed pronoun (like lui) before the unstressed one (like îi).
| He dislikes the morning schedule. | Lui îi displace orarul de dimineață. |
| Does the availability of the new employee suit you? | Vă convine disponibilitatea noului angajat? |
When the Experiencer is a Noun
If a specific noun (like "the manager" or "the boss") is experiencing the feeling, the noun takes a Dative definite article (such as -lui for masculine/neuter, or -ei for feminine).
Crucially, even when the noun is stated, you must still include the unstressed Dative pronoun (îi for singular, le for plural) right before the verb.
| The manager dislikes the substitute for the business trip. | Managerului îi displace înlocuitorul pentru deplasare. |
| Your availability for this project does not suit the boss. | Șefei nu îi convine disponibilitatea ta pentru acest proiect. |
Missing, Caring, and Agreeing With
Other everyday verbs that strictly require a Dative experiencer include a lipsi (to miss), a-i păsa (to care), and a prii (to agree with / be good for).
Because the thing you miss acts as the grammatical subject, the verb a lipsi must agree with it. If you miss multiple things (plural), the verb becomes plural:
| My colleague misses the business trips abroad. | Colegului meu îi lipsesc deplasările în străinătate. |
For a-i păsa (to care), the verb is impersonal. It stays in the third-person singular and is often followed by a clause describing the situation:
| We do not care how these allocations are made, if they are fair. | Nu ne pasă cum se fac aceste repartizări, dacă sunt echitabile. |
Similarly, a prii uses the Dative to show who benefits from (or "agrees with") a situation, such as a schedule or a trip:
| I know that the long business trip does not agree with him. | Știu că deplasarea lungă nu îi priește. |