Breakdown of Nu știu să flirtez prin mesaje.
nu
no / not
mesajul
the message
să
to (subjunctive marker)
ști
to know
prin
through; around (a place)
flirta
to flirt
Questions & Answers about Nu știu să flirtez prin mesaje.
Why is there no word for "how" in this sentence? I expected Nu știu cum să flirtez.
In Romanian, when you talk about having a skill or knowing how to do something, the verb a ști (to know) connects directly to the subjunctive verb using just să. While nu știu cum să flirtez is perfectly understood, native speakers almost always drop the cum (how) for learned skills.
Why use prin for "over" instead of something like peste?
English uses prepositions like "over" or "on" for communication mediums, but Romanian prefers prin, which literally means "through" or "via". Prin mesaje means "via texts". The word peste is used strictly for physical location, like a bridge over a river.
A flirta looks like an English loanword. How do we know it conjugates to flirtez?
It is indeed a loanword! In Romanian, almost all modern borrowed verbs are put into the first conjugation group (ending in -a) and use the -ez suffix for the present tense and subjunctive. This makes conjugating new tech or slang verbs very predictable.
Why is the plural of mesaj formed with -e (mesaje) rather than the common neuter ending -uri?
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