Romanian language lesson: Neuter nouns. Forming the plural

[audio:http://www.romania-insider.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/neuter_nouns_plural.mp3|titles=neuter_nouns_plural]A neuter noun refers in general to a thing or an inanimate object. The neuter nouns are masculine in the singular and feminine in the plural. A native speaker of Romanian knows that an inanimate word takes in the singular the masculine numeral “un” and in the plural the feminine numeral “două”. Examples: un telefon – două telefoane (one phone – two phones), un scaun – două scaune (one chair – two chairs), un pix – două pixuri (one pen – two pens). The plural endings for a neuter noun can be:

-e

,

-uri

,

-i

. These endings can be added to the final letter of the neuter noun (bilete, dansuri) or it can replace the last vowel of the noun in the singular (lucru – lucruri, fluviu – fluvii, teatru - teatre). Phonetic mutations in the stem are rarer than masculine and feminine nouns. Singular Plural

[consonant]

e

bilet (engl. ticket) bilete autobuz (engl. bus) autobuze

u

e

muzeu (engl. museum) muzee teatru (engl. theater) teatre

u

uri

râu (engl. river) râuri titlu (engl. title) titluri

(i)u