Those which end with a, e, or i long, add the particle a to the final vowel, inserting u for the sake of euphony:
| basma, | ‘handkerchief;’ | basma-u-a, | ‘the handkerchief.’ |
| sté, | ‘star;’ | stéua, | ‘the star.’ |
| belé, | ‘grievance;’ | beléua, | ‘the grievance.’ |
| zi, | ‘day;’ | ziua, | ‘the day.’ |
Feminine nouns, as we have seen, form their plurals in several ways—nouns which end in ă changing the ă into e in the plural, those ending in e changing the e into ĭ, those ending with a, e, and i long all adding the particle le in the plural. In all cases the plural definite article is formed by the addition of le:
| casse, | ‘houses;’ | cassele, | ‘the houses.’ |
| cărṭĭ, | ‘books;’ | cărṭile, | ‘the books.’ |
| basmale, | ‘handkerchiefs;’ | basmalele, | ‘the handkerhicefs.’ |
| stele, | ‘stars;’ | stelele, | ‘the stars.’ |
Cases of Nouns.
Roumanian grammarians usually arrange the cases as follows:
| Nominative. | Dative. |
| Vocative. | Accusative. |
| Genitive. | Ablative. |
We have already seen the nominative case, this being the noun with or without the article.
The vocative case for the masculine ends in e for the singular, and lor for the plural; to the feminine o for the singular, and lor for the plural:
| om, | ‘man;’ | omule, ómenilor. |
| copilă, | ‘girl;’ | copilo, copilelor. |
