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Nu mai vreau țigara, pentru că prefer să fiu sănătos.

Nu mai vreau țigara, pentru că prefer să fiu sănătos.
I don't want the cigarette anymore, because I prefer to be healthy.
From Lesson 173:No longer (nu mai)·Romanian

Questions & Answers about Nu mai vreau țigara, pentru că prefer să fiu sănătos.

Why are the words nu mai placed right next to each other, while in English we say 'don't want... anymore'?
In Romanian, the negative phrase nu mai always stays together right in front of the verb. So literally, you are saying 'I no longer want' (nu mai vreau). You cannot split them up or put mai at the end of the sentence like we do with 'anymore' in English.
Why does the word for cigarette end in '-a' (țigara) here?
The base word for cigarette is țigară (ending with an ă). Because the sentence says 'the cigarette', we need the definite article 'the'. For feminine nouns ending in ă, you drop the ă and add a, making it țigara.
Why is it să fiu instead of just using the dictionary form a fi for 'to be'?
In Romanian, when you connect two verbs (like 'prefer' and 'to be'), you almost always use the connecting word să plus a conjugated form of the second verb. Fiu is the 'I' form of the verb 'to be' used after să. It literally translates closer to 'I prefer that I be healthy'.
If a woman were saying this, would any words change?
Yes! The adjective sănătos (healthy) is in the masculine singular form here, meaning a male is speaking. If a female is speaking, she would need to use the feminine form, changing the end of the sentence to să fiu sănătoasă.

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