Breakdown of La ce te gândești?
ce
what / how (exclamatory, + adjective)
la
at / to
se gândi
to think (ponder)
Questions & Answers about La ce te gândești?
Why does the sentence start with La ce instead of Despre ce for 'what... about'?
The Romanian verb for 'to think' is a se gândi, and it generally requires the preposition la (at/to), not despre (about). You literally ask 'At what are you thinking?'.
What is the word te doing in the middle of the sentence?
The verb a se gândi (to think) is a reflexive verb in Romanian. The te is the reflexive pronoun for 'you'. Without it, the sentence would be grammatically incorrect.
Can I put the preposition at the end of the sentence like in English and say Ce te gândești la?
No, Romanian never leaves a preposition 'hanging' at the end of a sentence. Prepositions must always come right before the word they refer to. That is why la is placed at the very beginning, directly before the question word ce.
How would this sentence change if I were speaking to someone formally?
If you are speaking formally to a stranger or an elder, the reflexive pronoun and the verb change to the plural forms. You would say La ce vă gândiți? instead.
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