Learn Romanian: Se demolează clădirile vechi, dar se păstrează fațadele frumoase. - The old buildings are being demolished, but the beautiful facades are being kept.

Se demolează clădirile vechi, dar se păstrează fațadele frumoase.

The old buildings are being demolished, but the beautiful facades are being kept.

Breakdown of Se demolează clădirile vechi, dar se păstrează fațadele frumoase.

dar

but

frumos

beautiful / beautifully

Questions & Answers about Se demolează clădirile vechi, dar se păstrează fațadele frumoase.

Since the lesson is about plural agreement with se, why don't the verbs change to look plural? Both se demolează and se păstrează look singular!

Good catch! The subjects here (clădirile and fațadele) are indeed plural, which means the verbs must be in the 3rd person plural to agree with them. However, both a demola (to demolish) and a păstra (to keep) belong to the verb group where the 3rd person plural present tense is exactly the same as the 3rd person singular: ei/ele demolează and ei/ele păstrează.

Why do the subjects (clădirile vechi and fațadele frumoase) come after the verb?

In Romanian passive-reflexive constructions, it is highly idiomatic to place the subject after the verb. This word order emphasizes the action happening (se demolează, se păstrează) rather than the things being acted upon. You could say Clădirile vechi se demolează, but putting the verb first sounds much more natural.

Why is the adjective vechi used here? Isn't clădirile feminine plural?

Yes, clădirile is feminine plural. The adjective vechi (old) is slightly tricky. Its feminine singular form is veche (e.g., o clădire veche), but its feminine plural form changes back to vechi—which happens to look identical to both its masculine singular and masculine plural forms.

Can I translate this using the standard passive voice, like Clădirile vechi sunt demolate?