Language/Romanian/Grammar/Basic-Adjectives
As a Romanian language teacher with over 20 years of experience, I have had the opportunity to teach students from various backgrounds and cultures. Romanian is a unique language that incorporates many words from different languages such as Latin, Slavic, Greek, and Turkish. From my experience, it is important for beginners to learn the basics of Romanian adjectives.
Adjectives are an essential part of the Romanian language, as they allow speakers to provide more specific information about a noun. In this lesson, we will be focusing on the five basic adjectives in Romanian that every learner should know: mare, mic, bun, rău, and frumos (big, small, good, bad, and beautiful).
Basic Adjectives
Adjectives are used to describe nouns and can be placed either before or after the noun in Romanian sentences. Unlike in English, adjectives must agree with the noun they modify in gender, number, and case. This means that adjectives change depending on the noun's gender, whether it is singular or plural, and whether it is in a certain case. For example, the adjective "mare" (big) changes to "mari" in the plural form.
Here are the basic adjectives that we will be learning in this lesson:
- mare - big
- mic - small
- bun - good
- rău - bad
- frumos - beautiful
Mare (Big)
"Mare" denotes something that is larger in size or refers to something great, important, or significant. It is usually used with masculine and feminine nouns in the singular and plural forms. Here are a few examples:
| Romanian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| casa mare | /ˈkasa ˈmare/ | big house |
| băiatul mare | /bə.i.a'tul 'mare/ | big boy |
| orașul mare | /o'raʃul 'mare/ | big city |
Mic (Small)
"Mic" connotes something that is smaller in size or refers to something of little importance or significance. It is also used with masculine and feminine nouns in the singular and the plural form. Here are some examples:
| Romanian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| casă mică | /'kasa 'mika/ | small house |
| orășelul mic | /o'raʃelul mik/ | small town |
| animal mic | /ani'mal mik/ | small animal |
Bun (Good)
"Bun" is an adjective that is used to describe something that is beneficial, of high quality, or right. It is usually used with masculine and feminine nouns in the singular and the plural form. Here are some examples:
| Romanian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| copil bun | /'kopil bun/ | good child |
| carte bună | /'karte 'bunə/ | good book |
| mâncare bună | /'mɨŋ.kare 'bunə/ | good food |
Rău (Bad)
"Rău" is an adjective that is used to describe something harmful, not good, or wrong. It is also used with masculine and feminine nouns in the singular and plural form. Here are some examples:
| Romanian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| ziua rea | /'ziwa 're̯a/ | bad day |
| carte rea | /'karte re̯a/ | bad book |
| băiat rău | /bə.'i.at 're̯aw/ | bad boy |
Frumos (Beautiful)
"Frumos" is an adjective that is used to describe something that is aesthetically pleasing or attractive. It is used with masculine and feminine nouns in the singular and plural form. Here are some examples:
| Romanian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| casă frumoasă | /'kasa fru'mo̯asa/ | beautiful house |
| flori frumoase | /'flori fru'mo̯ase/ | beautiful flowers |
| priveliște frumoasă | /priveliʃte fru'mo̯asa/ | beautiful view |
I hope that this lesson has been helpful for beginners who are interested in learning Romanian adjectives. By mastering these basic adjectives, students will be able to quickly get a grasp of the language and easily expand their vocabulary. Good luck and enjoy learning!
Videos
Basic Romanian Grammar Lesson 5: Morphology - The Adjective ...
Related Lessons
- Questions
- Relative Pronouns and Clauses
- Greetings in Romanian
- Conditional Mood
- Dative Case in Romanian
- Plurals
- Genitive Case in Romanian
- Prepositions
- How to Use Be
- Ablative Case in Romanian
Sources