Word
E greu să urci pe jos până la etajul al unsprezecelea în zgârie-norul nostru.
Meaning
It is hard to climb on foot up to the eleventh floor in our skyscraper.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of E greu să urci pe jos până la etajul al unsprezecelea în zgârie-norul nostru.
fi
to be (sunt, ești, este, suntem, sunteți, sunt)
în
in
la
at / to
să
to (subjunctive marker)
Questions & Answers about E greu să urci pe jos până la etajul al unsprezecelea în zgârie-norul nostru.
How is the word for "eleventh" (al unsprezecelea) formed in this sentence?
To form ordinal numbers from 11 upwards for masculine and neuter nouns, you use the particle al + the cardinal number (unsprezece) + the ending lea. This gives us al unsprezecelea.
Why do we use al and lea instead of a and a for the ordinal number?
The ordinal number must match the gender of the noun it modifies. The word for floor, etaj, is a neuter noun. In the singular, neuter nouns take masculine modifiers, which is why we use the masculine/neuter pattern al ... lea. If the noun were feminine, it would be a unsprezecea.
How does the word for skyscraper (zgârie-norul) work?
It is a compound noun made from the verb a zgâria (to scratch or scrape) and the noun nor (cloud). Just like in English, it literally translates as "cloud-scraper". Notice that to say "the" skyscraper, the definite article -ul attaches to the very end of the compound word, making it zgârie-norul.
Why does the sentence use să urci (that you climb) instead of the infinitive a urca (to climb)?