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Imagine you are working at a security desk and someone hands you a lost ID card. To find out who it belongs to, or who to give it to, you need the interrogative word **cui**.

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**Cui** is the Genitive/Dative form of *cine* (who). It translates to either "to whom" or "whose", depending on how it is used.

### Asking "To whom?" (Dative)

When asking who is receiving an object or an action, use *cui* on its own. Because it acts as an indirect object, it usually triggers a matching Dative pronoun copy (like *îi* or *i-*) right before the verb.

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To answer this kind of question, you place the recipient in the Dative case:

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### Asking "Whose?" (Genitive)

When asking who owns an item, *cui* translates to "whose". In this case, it cannot stand alone! It must always be preceded by a **possessive linking article**.

Just as we saw in the previous lesson, this article must perfectly match the gender and number of the **object being owned**, not the person you are asking about.

| Object Gender | Singular | Plural |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Masculine** | al cui | ai cui |
| **Feminine** | a cui | ale cui |
| **Neuter** | al cui | ale cui |

Because *umbrela* (the umbrella) is feminine singular, the question must use **a**:

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Because *fular* (the scarf) and *buletin* (the ID card) are both neuter singular, they use **al**:

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### At the Security Desk

Now let's put it all together with a few common actions used to manage lost and found items, like *a preda* (to turn in / hand over) and *a recupera* (to get back).

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Whose / to whom (cui)

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
whose / to whom	cui
to turn in / to hand over	preda
the object / the item	obiectul
To whom do we turn in this item?	Cui îi predăm acest obiect?
the umbrella	umbrela
the reception / the front desk	recepția
Whose umbrella is at the reception?	A cui este umbrela de la recepție?
the scarf	fularul
Whose is this blue scarf?	Al cui este acest fular albastru?
the ID card	buletinul
We do not know whose ID card this is.	Nu știm al cui este acest buletin.
the card	cardul
to recover / to get back	recupera
To whom did the client leave the card? He must recover it.	Cui i-a lăsat clientul cardul? El trebuie să îl recupereze.
the guard / the agent	agentul
The guard turned in a lost ID card.	Agentul a predat un buletin pierdut.
We hand over all the objects to the guard.	Noi îi predăm agentului toate obiectele.
The girl recovered the scarf from the front desk.	Fata a recuperat fularul de la recepție.
The agent found a black umbrella and a card.	Agentul a găsit o umbrelă neagră și un card.
Please leave the ID card at the reception.	Vă rog să lăsați buletinul la recepție.

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