Page:A simplified grammar of the Roumanian language.djvu/81

The preposition la, ‘to,’ indicates direction or place whither:

Plec la Paris,	‘I set out for Paris.’
Merg la scólă,	‘I go to school.’

It also may indicate the place where, without however necessarily implying place in:

Sunt la bisserică,	‘I am at church.’
Sunt la grădină,	‘I am at the park.’
Poftim la massă,	‘Please come to dinner.’
etc.

It is also used in phrases only to be learned by practice:

Arată bine la faṭă,	‘He looks well in (the) face.’
Cîṣtiga la parale,	‘He gains money.’
etc.

In has the same meaning as in English in or into:

Vino în grădină,	‘Come into the garden.’
Sunt în grădină,	‘I am in the garden.’

Pe, ‘upon,’ often precedes the object governed by it, when that object is a person:

Slăveste pe Dumneseŭ,	‘Praise God.’
Invaṭă pe copiĭ,	‘He teaches the children.’

It always precedes the object which indicates place where:

Ṣed pe scaun,	‘I sit upon the chair.’
etc.

It is also used in many other expressions in which it is equivalent to different English prepositions:

Pe romăneṣte,	‘In Roumanian.’
Pe engleseṣte,	‘In English,’ etc.
Passerea pe limba eĭ pere,	‘The bird dies (i.e. meets her death) in (through) her song.’
M’am preumblat pe lună,	‘I walked in the moonlight.’
Am călătorit pe sóre,	‘I travelled in the sunshine.’