Breakdown of Vânăta de am cumpărat-o e proaspătă.
fi
to be (sunt, ești, este, suntem, sunteți, sunt)
avea
to have
cumpăra
to buy
o
it / her (f, direct object)
proaspăt
fresh
vânăta
the eggplant
de
who / that (colloquial relative pronoun)
Questions & Answers about Vânăta de am cumpărat-o e proaspătă.
How would this sentence look in standard, formal Romanian?
In formal Romanian, you would use pe care instead of the colloquial de. The sentence would be: Vânăta pe care am cumpărat-o e proaspătă. The word de acts as an invariable relative pronoun in everyday speech, standing in for care or pe care.
Why do we still need the -o at the end of cumpărat-o if we are using the simpler de?
Even though de replaces the formal pe care, the grammatical rule doesn't change. Because the relative clause refers to a specific direct object (vânăta), the accusative clitic pronoun -o (meaning "it") is still mandatory. It translates literally as "The eggplant that I bought it is fresh."
Is it ever correct to use de as a relative pronoun in formal writing?
No. Using de to mean "that" or "which" is strictly colloquial. You will hear it constantly in spoken Romanian and see it in casual texts, but in an essay, formal email, or news article, you must use the appropriate forms of care.
Why is the final adjective proaspătă not articulated like vânăta?
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