Breakdown of Adolescența mea s-a terminat acum zece ani.
meu
my [mea, mei, mele]
zece
ten
se termina
to end
adolescența
the adolescence
Questions & Answers about Adolescența mea s-a terminat acum zece ani.
How does acum work here to mean 'ago'?
In Romanian, you express 'ago' by putting acum (which usually means 'now') before the time period. So acum zece ani translates literally as 'now ten years', but it means 'ten years ago'.
Could I use în urmă cu instead of acum in this sentence?
Yes! You can say s-a terminat în urmă cu zece ani instead. Both mean 'ten years ago' and are completely interchangeable, though acum is a bit shorter and more common in everyday spoken Romanian.
Why is it s-a terminat instead of just a terminat?
The verb a se termina (to end / to finish) is used reflexively when a thing simply comes to an end on its own. If you just said a terminat, it would mean 'he/she finished [something else]', which requires a direct object. Since the adolescence is the thing ending, we use the reflexive s-a terminat.
Why do we use mea after Adolescența?
Possessive adjectives must match the gender and number of the noun they belong to. Adolescența is a feminine singular noun (with the definite article -a attached at the end), so it requires the feminine singular possessive mea.