Breakdown of Ce anticariat bizar!
ce
what / how (exclamatory, + adjective)
anticariatul
the antique shop
bizar
bizarre
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Questions & Answers about Ce anticariat bizar!
Why is there no word for 'a' in the Romanian sentence?
In Romanian exclamatory sentences using ce, you drop the indefinite article (a/an). While in English you say 'What a bizarre antique shop', in Romanian you literally just say 'What antique shop bizarre' (Ce anticariat bizar).
Could I use cât de instead of ce for this exclamation?
Not with this exact phrasing. Cât de translates to 'how' and must be followed directly by an adjective or adverb. To use it here, you would have to rearrange the sentence to Cât de bizar este acest anticariat! (How bizarre this antique shop is!). Since our sentence centers on the noun anticariat, you must use ce.
Is anticariat a false friend? It looks like it just means 'antiquity'.
It is a bit of a false friend! An anticariat is specifically a second-hand bookshop or a shop that sells vintage items and old books. If you want to talk about an ancient object or antiquity, the word is antichitate.
Why does bizar come after the noun here?
In Romanian, descriptive adjectives generally follow the noun they describe, and this rule stays exactly the same in exclamations. You have the noun anticariat first, followed by its adjective bizar.