Page:A simplified grammar of the Roumanian language.djvu/75

For the masculine singular the nouns generally preserve their article in the vocative:

Omule! ‘O man!’Dumnezeule! ‘O God!’

The article, however, is very often suppressed:

O dómne,	‘O Lord,’	instead of	O domnule.
O împărate,	‘O Emperor,’	instead„ of„	O împăratule.
O amice,	‘O friend,’	instead„ of„	O amicule.

etc.

But when the noun in the vocative case is connected with other words, we use, instead of the vocative, the nominative with the article—sometimes, but not always, preceded by O:

O amicul meŭ,	‘my friend.’
O sora mea,	‘my sister.’

etc.

Ablative.

The ablative case is preceded by one of the particles, în, de, la, etc.

The dependence of one noun upon another, usually expressed by a genitive, can also be indicated by an ablative with de:

Flórea cîmpuluĭ, ‘The flower of the field.’ Flóre de cîmp,

This is necessary when the attribute expresses the substance or the purpose of the noun to which it refers:

Minte de copil,	‘Childish mind.’
Palat de crystal,	‘Crystal palace.’
Picior de lemn,	‘Wooden leg.’
Carte de cetit,	‘Book to be read.’