Learn Romanian: S-a întâmplat să ne intersectăm acolo.

S-a întâmplat să ne intersectăm acolo.

We happened to cross paths there.

Breakdown of S-a întâmplat să ne intersectăm acolo.

acolo

there

să

to (subjunctive marker)

Questions & Answers about S-a întâmplat să ne intersectăm acolo.

Why does the Romanian sentence start with S-a întâmplat (It happened) instead of translating 'We happened'?

In Romanian, the verb a se întâmpla (to happen) is impersonal when talking about chance events. You cannot conjugate it for the person doing the action (so no ne-am întâmplat). You always use the impersonal third-person singular: 'It happened that...'

If S-a întâmplat just means 'It happened', how do we know it was us who crossed paths?

The person who actually performed the action is indicated by the verb following să. Here, ne intersectăm is conjugated in the first-person plural (we), which tells us who the sentence is about.

Why do we need the word ne before intersectăm?

The verb a se intersecta is reflexive. Here, the reflexive pronoun ne (us) is used reciprocally to mean 'each other'. The literal translation is 'that we intersect each other', which means to cross paths.

What exactly is the s- attached to a întâmplat?

It is the reflexive pronoun se. The verb 'to happen' in Romanian is always reflexive (a se întâmpla). Because it is followed by the past tense auxiliary verb a (has), the se drops its vowel and contracts to form s-a.