Breakdown of Trebuie să fii foarte atent pe stradă.
fi
to be (sunt, ești, este, suntem, sunteți, sunt)
foarte
very
pe
on
strada
the street
să
to (subjunctive marker)
trebui
to have to / to be needed (with a dative: to need)
atent
careful
Questions & Answers about Trebuie să fii foarte atent pe stradă.
Why doesn't the verb 'trebuie' change to match 'you'?
In Romanian, the verb trebuie (must) is impersonal, meaning it doesn't change endings for I, you, or they. Instead, you use trebuie să followed by the specific action. To say 'you must be', you actually structure it as 'it is necessary that you be': trebuie să fii.
Why does fii have two i's?
The verb a fi (to be) is irregular. When it follows să for the 'you' (singular) form, it is spelled with a double 'i' (să fii). The first 'i' comes from the root of the word, and the second 'i' is the ending that marks it as the 'you' form.
If I am saying this to a woman, do I still use the word atent?
Why is it pe stradă and not pe strada to mean 'on THE street'?
In Romanian, nouns typically drop their definite article (the suffix that means 'the') when they come directly after the preposition pe (on). So even though we say 'on the street' in English, in Romanian you just use the basic form without the article: pe stradă.
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