Understanding Romanian Relative Pronouns
Relative pronouns in Romanian are special words that help us connect parts of a sentence. They are like bridges that help us talk about someone or something mentioned earlier without repeating their name.
Important Points
- Care - Used for people and things.
- Ce - Used for things or concepts.
- Cine - Used for people.
- Cât - Used for quantity and uncountable nouns.
- Câtă - Used for feminine singular nouns.
Let's explore how each of these pronouns works. 'Care' is like saying 'who' or 'which' in English. 'Ce' is similar to 'what'. 'Cine' is like saying 'who' when asking about people. 'Cât' and 'câtă' help us talk about amounts or quantities.
Examples
- Fata care cântă este sora mea.
- Cartea ce este pe masă este interesantă.
- Nu știu cine a sunat la ușă.
We use 'care' when we want to add more information about a person or thing already mentioned. 'Ce' is often used to refer to things or situations in a more general sense. 'Cine' can be used when we want to identify a person without naming them.
Examples
- Băiatul care aleargă este prietenul meu.
- Spune-mi ce vrei să faci.
- Cine vine cu noi la film?
'Cât' and 'câtă' are used when we want to talk about quantities. 'Cât' is used with uncountable nouns or when referring to a general amount, while 'câtă' is used specifically with feminine singular nouns.
Examples
- Cât zahăr ai pus în ceai?
- Nu știu câtă apă să adaug.
- Cât timp mai avem până la plecare?