Learn Romanian: Ea vizitează o mătușă a lor.

Ea vizitează o mătușă a lor.

She visits an aunt of theirs.

Breakdown of Ea vizitează o mătușă a lor.

Questions & Answers about Ea vizitează o mătușă a lor.

Why do we need the word a before lor?

Because mătușă (aunt) uses the indefinite article o (an). When you want to say "an aunt of theirs", Romanian requires a linking word to connect the noun and the possessive. Since mătușă is a feminine singular noun, the linking word is a.

Why use lor here?

lor means "their" or "theirs". It shows that the aunt belongs to a group of people, not just to the woman visiting (ea). If she were visiting her own aunt, it would be o mătușă a ei.

Does the word lor change if she visits an uncle instead?

The word lor (theirs) never changes form. But the linking article a does change to match the noun. Since uncle (unchi) is masculine, "an uncle of theirs" would be un unchi al lor.

Do I always need a linking article like a when using lor?

You only need it if the noun is indefinite (uses "a/an" or no article). If you wanted to say "their aunt" using the definite article "the" attached to the end of the noun (mătușa), you drop the linking word completely and just say mătușa lor.