Page:A simplified grammar of the Roumanian language.djvu/82

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ROUMANIAN GRAMMAR.

De, ‘of,’ indicates the dependence of one noun on another, more especially when we wish to indicate the substance of a thing, or its purpose or reason:

Cias de aur, ‘a gold watch.’
Pénă de scris, ‘pen for writing.’
Móre de sete, ‘he dies of thirst.’

We also use de before adverbs of number:

De doă o, ‘twice.’
De o mie de o, ‘thousand times.’
etc.

De la, ‘from,’ differs from din, ‘from,’ in the same way as la differs from în.

CONJUNCTIONS.

Să is used in the conjunctive mood and in the imperative.

Că, ‘that,’ is used in giving explanation:

Zi-ĭ că nu-s a cassă,‘tell him I am not at home.’

This sentence could not be rendered in Roumanian without că.

Că and ca must be carefully distinguished, the latter suggests likeness or approximation:

Ca mînĭ vom muri, ‘We may die by to-morrow.’
Aŭ fost ca la cincĭ sute de ómenĭ, ‘There were about five hundred men.’