Breakdown of Ți-a trecut prin minte să-l suni?
avea
to have
îți
to you (singular)
să
to (subjunctive marker)
îl
him / it (m, n)
Questions & Answers about Ți-a trecut prin minte să-l suni?
Why does the sentence use a instead of ai in Ți-a trecut, since the question is about "your" mind?
Why do we use the dative pronoun Ți- here instead of a possessive word like in the English phrase "your mind"?
In Romanian, it is very common to use a dative pronoun (like îți, shortened here to ți-) to show whose body part or mind is involved, rather than using a possessive adjective like ta. This translates literally to "passed to you through mind".
What is the grammar behind să-l suni?
This uses the subjunctive mood, which connects the main idea to a hypothetical action. să is the connecting word (often translating to "to"), -l is the shortened form of îl (him), and suni is the "you" form of a suna. Together, it translates to "that you call him" or simply "to call him".
Why is it prin minte and not prin mintea with a definite article?
In Romanian, nouns following simple prepositions of movement or location (like prin, în, pe) generally do not take the definite article unless they are described further by an adjective or possessive. Plus, a-i trece prin minte (to cross one's mind) is a fixed idiom.