Question 1

Why is there an Îl at the beginning of the sentence?

Accepted Answer

Îl is a short word meaning "him". In Romanian, when the direct object of a verb is a specific person (like "the lawyer"), you often have to "double" it with a pronoun placed before the verb. Literally, this sentence is saying "Him I know the lawyer."

Question 2

Doesn't pe usually mean "on"? What is it doing here?

Accepted Answer

Yes, pe normally means "on". But here, it acts as a special marker. Whenever an action is done directly to a specific person (like seeing, calling, or knowing them), you must put pe right before their name or title.

Question 3

The translation says "the lawyer", but the word is just avocat. Why isn't it avocatul?

Accepted Answer

Great catch! Normally, "the lawyer" is avocatul (with the -ul added to the end for "the"). However, there is a special rule: when you use the marker pe before a noun that stands all by itself, the "the" ending is dropped. Even without the ending, it still means "the lawyer".

Question 4

Why use cunosc for "I know"? Can I use știu?

Accepted Answer

You cannot use știu here. Romanian has two different verbs for "to know". Use a cunoaște (which becomes cunosc here) when you mean knowing people, or being familiar with places. Use a ști (știu) only when you are talking about knowing facts, information, or how to do a skill.

Îl cunosc pe avocat.

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