Word
Dacă computerul s-ar fi blocat, aș fi pierdut datele.
Meaning
If the computer had crashed, I would have lost the data.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Dacă computerul s-ar fi blocat, aș fi pierdut datele.
fi
to be (sunt, ești, este, suntem, sunteți, sunt)
pierde
to lose / to miss (a flight, train)
dacă
if / whether
computerul
the computer
Questions & Answers about Dacă computerul s-ar fi blocat, aș fi pierdut datele.
Why does this sentence use ar fi and aș fi instead of a past tense form like 'had' in English?
In Romanian, past unreal conditionals use the Past Conditional tense in both the dacă (if) clause and the main clause. English uses 'had crashed' (Past Perfect) and 'would have lost', but Romanian literally says 'If the computer would have crashed, I would have lost the data.'
How exactly is the Past Conditional built in aș fi pierdut?
It uses three parts: the conditional auxiliary (here, aș for 'I'), the invariable word fi (from the verb 'to be'), and the past participle of the main verb (pierdut). In the other clause, it is the exact same structure but uses ar for the third person (the computer).
Where does the s- come from in s-ar fi blocat?
It comes from the reflexive pronoun se. The verb for a machine freezing or crashing is a se bloca (literally 'to block itself'). Because the next word, ar, starts with a vowel, se drops its 'e' and connects with a hyphen: s-ar.
I see datele for 'the data'. Is this a plural word in Romanian?
Yes, it is! While 'data' is often treated as an uncountable singular noun in modern English, Romanian treats it as a standard plural noun. The singular is o dată (a piece of data or information), the plural is date, and adding the feminine plural definite article -le gives you datele (the data).