Learn Romanian: El se comportă foarte copilărește astăzi.

El se comportă foarte copilărește astăzi.

He is behaving very childishly today.

Breakdown of El se comportă foarte copilărește astăzi.

Questions & Answers about El se comportă foarte copilărește astăzi.

How does the suffix -ește work in copilărește?

The suffix -ește turns nouns or adjectives into adverbs of manner, showing how an action is done. Here, it builds on the root for child (copil) to create the adverb copilărește (childishly) to describe how he behaves.

Could I say se comportă foarte copilăresc instead?

No. Copilăresc is an adjective, so it must describe a noun, like in un comportament copilăresc (a childish behavior). Because we are describing the action of the verb se comportă (behaves), we must use the adverb form copilărește.

Why is there a se before comportă?

The verb a se comporta (to behave) is a reflexive verb in Romanian. This means it requires a reflexive pronoun matching the subject, which is se for he, she, or it. Even though English usually just says behaves rather than behaves himself, Romanian requires the pronoun.

Could I use azi instead of astăzi at the end of this sentence?

Yes, absolutely. Azi and astăzi both mean today and are perfectly interchangeable here. Astăzi is just a slightly longer form that can sound a tiny bit more formal.