Who sells what
An aprozar is the neighborhood greengrocer's, for fruit and vegetables. Bread comes from the brutar (the baker — the person; his shop is a brutărie). Romanian has two kinds of pastry shop: a patiserie sells pies, pretzels and savory pastries (plăcinte, covrigi), while the cofetărie you already know sells cakes and sweets.
| I buy vegetables at the greengrocer's. | Cumpăr legume de la aprozar. |
| The baker makes fresh bread every day. | Brutarul face pâine proaspătă în fiecare zi. |
| In the morning I grab a pie from the pastry shop. | Dimineața iau o plăcintă de la patiserie. |
Standing in line
Coada is literally the tail. When you wait your turn, you stai la coadă (stand in line). The plural is cozi.
| I stood in line for an hour. | Am stat o oră la coadă. |
| The dog is wagging its tail. | Câinele dă din coadă. |
Complaints and warranties
When a product breaks, keep the chitanța and the certificatul de garanție, and if the shop will not help, faci o reclamație (you file a complaint). Conform and datorită take the dative, so the -ie nouns change their ending:
| the … | dative (after conform, datorită) | plural |
|---|---|---|
| garanția | conform garanției | garanții |
| reclamația | datorită reclamației | reclamații |
| Under the warranty, the store has to repair it. | Conform garanției, magazinul trebuie să-l repare. |
| Thanks to the warranty, I didn't pay anything. | Datorită garanției, nu am plătit nimic. |
| I want to file a complaint. | Vreau să fac o reclamație. |
Free, commercial, dissatisfied
Gratuit means free of charge; liber is free as in not taken or not busy. A centru comercial is a shopping mall. Nemulțumit is mulțumit (satisfied) with the negative prefix ne-, and it takes de: nemulțumit de ceva. All three agree like regular adjectives:
| masculine | feminine | masc. plural | fem. plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| gratuit | gratuită | gratuiți | gratuite |
| nemulțumit | nemulțumită | nemulțumiți | nemulțumite |
| comercial | comercială | comerciali | comerciale |
| Shipping is free. | Transportul este gratuit. |
| We're going to the mall on Saturday. | Mergem la centrul comercial sâmbătă. |
| I'm dissatisfied with the quality of the product. | Sunt nemulțumit de calitatea produsului. |
Two set phrases
Learn these as units: a face o reclamație (to file a complaint) and a sta la coadă (to stand in line).
| I filed a complaint with the store. | Am făcut o reclamație la magazin. |
| Everyone is standing in line. | Toată lumea stă la coadă. |
