Expressing "The One Who"
When dealing with wills, inheritances, and assigning ownership, you frequently need to express who something belongs to ("of the one who") or who receives something ("to the one who").
In Romanian, you do this by combining the genitive/dative form of a demonstrative pronoun with the relative pronoun care (who/which).
Here are the forms you will use based on the gender and number of the person or object you are pointing out:
| Gender & Number | Genitive/Dative Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine & Neuter Singular | celui | of/to the one |
| Feminine Singular | celei | of/to the one |
| Plural (All Genders) | celor | of/to those |
Masculine and Neuter Singular ("celui care")
When referring to a male or a masculine/neuter noun, use celui care.
When indicating possession (the Genitive case), it translates to "of the one who". Notice how it connects the will to the deceased in the following sentence:
| The notary is reading the will of the one who died yesterday. | Notarul citește testamentul celui care a murit ieri. |
When indicating the recipient of an action (the Dative case)—like explaining a succession to someone—it translates to "to the one who".
| We must explain the succession to the one who is the first heir. | Trebuie să explicăm succesiunea celui care este primul moștenitor. |
Feminine Singular ("celei care")
When referring to a female or a feminine noun, use celei care. Verbs like a aparține (to belong to) and a oferi (to offer) require the Dative case, so celei effectively points out the recipient.
| The wealth belongs to the one (f) who inherits the house. | Averea aparține celei care moștenește casa. |
| The notary offered the document to the one (f) who accepted the succession. | Notarul i-a oferit documentul celei care a acceptat succesiunea. |
Plural ("celor care")
Regardless of gender, use celor care ("of those who" or "to those who") when referring to multiple people, such as a group of heirs.
| The money of the deceased belongs to those who were here. | Banii defunctului aparțin celor care au fost aici. |
Prepositions like cu excepția (with the exception of) require the Genitive case, meaning the following noun or pronoun will show possession. Here, celor is used to mean "of those".
| Nobody inherits the wealth, with the exception of those who are in the will. | Nimeni nu moștenește averea, cu excepția celor care sunt în testament. |
Finally, here is a complex sentence putting these concepts together to describe an illicit land sale. Because the land was sold to someone, we use the Dative celor.
| Without asking the notary, the brother of the deceased sold the land to those who inherit it now. | Fără să întrebe notarul, fratele defunctului a vândut terenul celor care îl moștenesc acum. |
