Learn Romanian: Iau farfuria și o pun pe masă. - I take the plate and I put it on the table.

Iau farfuria și o pun pe masă.

I take the plate and I put it on the table.

Breakdown of Iau farfuria și o pun pe masă.

Questions & Answers about Iau farfuria și o pun pe masă.

Why is the word for 'it' translated as o here?

In Romanian, the word for 'it' changes depending on the gender of the noun you are replacing. Because farfuria (the plate) is a feminine noun, you must use the feminine singular direct object pronoun o.

Why does o come before the verb pun?

These short pronouns (called clitic pronouns) almost always go immediately before the verb. So instead of saying 'I put it' like in English, Romanian puts the pronoun first: 'I it put' (o pun).

How do we get farfuria from the base dictionary word for plate?

The base word is farfurie (plate). For feminine nouns ending in -ie, you attach the word 'the' to the end by replacing the final -e with -a, making it farfuria.

Why does the sentence use pe masă instead of pe masa for 'on the table'?

When a noun immediately follows a simple preposition like pe (on), it usually drops its definite article (the 'the' ending). That is why we use the base form masă rather than masa.

What verb does iau come from, and why does it look so different?