Question 1

Where is the formal 'you' (dumneavoastră) in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

It is represented by the word vă. The word vă is a short pronoun meaning 'you' or 'to you'. Romanian uses vă as the short form for both the plural 'you' (a group of people) and the formal 'you' (dumneavoastră). Even though the full long word isn't there, vă is the correct polite short form to use here.

Question 2

Why does the verb say mulțumește instead of mulțumesc?

Accepted Answer

The verb must match the person doing the action. The familiar word mulțumesc means 'I thank' (or 'they thank'). Since the teacher (profesorul) is a 'he', we must use the 'he/she' form of the verb, which is mulțumește.

Question 3

Why does vă come before the verb instead of after it?

Accepted Answer

In English we say 'thanks you', putting 'you' after the action. But in Romanian, short pronouns like vă almost always jump right in front of the verb. So literally, the sentence order is 'The teacher you thanks'.

Question 4

I remember the word profesor, but why does it end in -ul here?

Accepted Answer

The -ul at the end of profesorul is the Romanian way of saying 'the' for masculine nouns. Instead of putting a separate word in front like in English, you attach the 'the' directly to the end of the noun.

Profesorul vă mulțumește.

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