Romanian language lesson: The verb "to like" in Romanian
One of the special verbs in Romanian is "a plăcea" (to like). [audio:http://www.romania-insider.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/verb_to_like.mp3|titles=verb_to_like] This verb has only one possible form "
Mona Pologea · Journalist
· Updated · 4 min read
One of the special verbs in Romanian is "a plăcea" (to like). [audio:http://www.romania-insider.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/verb_to_like.mp3|titles=verb_to_like] This verb has only one possible form "
place
" in the Present, preceded by the pronouns in the dative "
îmi
" (in the 1st person singular), "
îți
" (in the 2nd person singular), "
îi
" (in the 3rd person singular), "
ne
" (in the 1st person plural), "
vă
" (in the 2nd person plural), "
le
" (in the 3rd person plural).
Îmi place (I like) | Ne place (We like) / Îți place (You like) | Vă place (You like) / Îi place (He / she likes) | Le place (They like)
The verb "a plăcea" can be followed by a complement (noun) or by a verb. In the last situation, the verb must be in the subjunctive. Îmi place filmul. (I like the movie) Îmi place să mă uit la televizor (I like to watch TV). If the complement is a noun in the singular, the verb form is "place". If the noun is in the plural, the verb form is "plac". The complement has always a definite article. Îmi place ciocolata (I like chocolate). Îmi plac portocalele (I like oranges). In the negative, the particle "nu" must be added in front of the whole structure (pronoun + verb).
Nu îmi place = nu-mi place (I don't like) | Nu ne place (We don't like) / Nu îți place = nu-ți place (You don't like) | Nu vă place (You don't like) / Nu îi place = nu-i place (He / she doesn't like) | Nu le place (They don't like)
The normal personal pronouns cannot be used in front of this verb. Structures like: "eu îmi place", "tu îți place" etc.
are not correct
. Romanian uses a double dative. If we want to emphasize the subject of this type of verb, the subject is in the dative as well. The dative forms of the pronouns used in this case are: "
