Degrees and diplomas
Licența is the bachelor's degree. You îți iei licența (literally "take your degree") when you graduate, and the thesis you write for it is lucrarea de licență. After it come the masterat and the doctorat you already know. Diploma is the paper that proves it.
| She got her bachelor's degree last year. | Și-a luat licența anul trecut. |
| The bachelor's thesis is fifty pages long. | Lucrarea de licență are cincizeci de pagini. |
| I put the diploma on the wall. | Am pus diploma pe perete. |
Materia or materialul?
Materia is a school subject, and also the material you have to learn for an exam. Do not confuse it with materialul, the material something is made of.
| History is my favorite subject. | Istoria e materia mea preferată. |
| I have to study all the material for the exam. | Trebuie să învăț toată materia pentru examen. |
Two kinds of slujbă
Slujba is an everyday word for a job, and it is also a church service. Context tells you which one is meant. An informatician is someone who works in IT; the plural is informaticieni.
| I found a new job. | Mi-am găsit o slujbă nouă. |
| Grandma goes to church service on Sundays. | Bunica merge duminica la slujbă. |
Getting by: se descurca
A se descurca means to manage, to cope, to get by. It always keeps its reflexive pronoun:
| se descurca | |
|---|---|
| eu | mă descurc |
| tu | te descurci |
| el, ea | se descurcă |
| noi | ne descurcăm |
| voi | vă descurcați |
| ei, ele | se descurcă |
| I can manage on my own, thanks. | Mă descurc singur, mulțumesc. |
| How are you managing at the new job? | Cum te descurci la slujba nouă? |
Capable, and provided for
Capabil is followed by să and a verb. A asigura means to make sure something is there for someone: a company asigură transport, a hotel asigură breakfast. A foaie is a sheet of paper (plural foi), and a centimetru is a hundredth of a meter (plural centimetri).
| He is capable of finishing the project on his own. | Este capabil să termine proiectul singur. |
| The company provides transport for its employees. | Compania asigură transportul angajaților. |
