Breakdown of Acel om mare este fratele meu; a sosit ieri.
fi
to be (sunt, ești, este, suntem, sunteți, sunt)
mare
big
avea
to have
fratele
the brother
Questions & Answers about Acel om mare este fratele meu; a sosit ieri.
In this sentence, we have om mare. Does this mean 'great man' or 'big man', and how would the meaning change if it were mare om?
Because mare comes after the noun (om mare), it carries its literal, objective meaning: 'big' (referring to physical size or height). If we placed it before the noun (acel mare om), it would take on a subjective or figurative meaning, translating to 'that great man' (referring to his character or achievements).
Could I say Omul acela mare instead of Acel om mare?
Yes. The demonstrative acel goes before the noun and drops the noun's definite article (acel om). If you put the demonstrative after the noun, the noun must take the definite article (omul acela). Omul acela mare is perfectly correct and is actually more common in everyday spoken Romanian, whereas acel om sounds slightly more formal.
Why is it fratele meu with the definite article -le attached to frate, instead of just frate meu?
In Romanian, when a possessive adjective like meu follows a noun, that noun must have a definite article attached to it. Since frate is masculine singular, it takes the enclitic article -le, becoming fratele. You might hear frate-meu in very informal or regional speech, but standard grammar requires the article.
The sentence uses a sosit for 'arrived'. Could I use a ajuns here instead?