Page:A simplified grammar of the Roumanian language.djvu/79

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SYNTAX.
67

Only practice can teach the different cases governed by different verbs; some govern two cases:

Mĕ vinueṣtĭ ‘you accuse me.’
Imĭ vinueṣtĭ.

When one verb follows another we can use either the conjunctive or the infinitive form:

Pot să afirm că… ‘I can affirm that…’
Pot afirma că…

The use of Tenses.

In narrative we frequently substitute the present for the past, and the imperfect is very often used instead of the conditional.

The simple perfect and the simple pluperfect are used only in narrative.

In conversation we use the compound perfect when speaking of the past:

E.g. M’am preumblat, ‘I took a walk.’
Am spus adevĕrul, ‘I told the truth.’
etc.

The past participle remains unchanged in all compound tenses of the active voice. In the passive voice only does it conform to the number and gender of its subject, being then of course only an adjective.