Learn Romanian: Mi-e rușine de greșeala mea.

Mi-e rușine de greșeala mea.

I am ashamed of my mistake.

Breakdown of Mi-e rușine de greșeala mea.

to be (sunt, ești, este, suntem, sunteți, sunt)

Questions & Answers about Mi-e rușine de greșeala mea.

Why is "I am ashamed" translated as Mi-e rușine instead of using a normal "I am" verb?

In Romanian, feelings like shame, fear, or hunger are expressed as things that "are to you," not things you "are." Rușine is a noun meaning "shame." The structure literally translates to "to me is shame." This is called a dative experiencer construction.

What exactly is Mi-e short for?

Mi-e is the spoken, contracted form of îmi este. Îmi is the dative pronoun for "to me," and este is "is." You will hear and see mi-e constantly in everyday Romanian when talking about feelings like mi-e rușine (I am ashamed) or mi-e foame (I am hungry).

Is de the usual preposition to say what you are ashamed "of"?

Yes! When you use these "to me is..." emotional expressions, the cause of the feeling is almost always introduced by de. You use the exact same pattern for other feelings, like mi-e frică de (I am afraid of) or mi-e dor de (I miss).

Why is it greșeala mea and not just greșeală mea?

In Romanian, when you use a possessive word like mea (my), the noun before it must have a definite article attached to it. Greșeală means "mistake," and adding -a at the end makes it greșeala ("the mistake"). So the Romanian structure is literally "the mistake my."