Learn how to ask and give the time
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Asia: Hi everyone, and welcome back to RomanianPod101.com. This is Absolute Beginner Season 1 Lesson 4 - Don't Lose Track of the Time in Romania! Asia Here. |
| Mihai: Bună. I'm Mihai. |
| Asia: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask and give the time. The conversation takes place at Bucharest’s Old City Center. |
| Mihai: It's between Masanobu and a man on the street. |
| Asia: The speakers are strangers, therefore, they will speak formal Romanian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Masanobu: Nu vă supărați, îmi puteți spune cât este ceasul? |
| Om pe stradă: Desigur. Acum este nouă și jumătate. |
| Masanobu: Vă mulțumesc. De fapt, nu știți la cât închide librăria Cărturești? |
| Om pe stradă: Ah, cred că închide la zece fără un sfert. |
| Masanobu: Vă mulțumesc mult pentru ajutor. |
| Om pe stradă: Cu plăcere. |
| Asia: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Masanobu: Nu vă supărați, îmi puteți spune cât este ceasul? |
| Om pe stradă: Desigur. Acum este nouă și jumătate. |
| Masanobu: Vă mulțumesc. De fapt, nu știți la cât închide librăria Cărturești? |
| Om pe stradă: Ah, cred că închide la zece fără un sfert. |
| Masanobu: Vă mulțumesc mult pentru ajutor. |
| Om pe stradă: Cu plăcere. |
| Asia: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Masanobu: Excuse me, can you tell me what time it is? |
| Man on the street: Sure, right now it is 9:30. |
| Masanobu: Thank you. Actually, do you know what time the Carturesti bookstore closes? |
| Man on the street: Oh, I think it closes at 9:45. |
| Masanobu: Thank you very much for your help. |
| Man on the street: You're welcome. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Asia: Masanobu was looking for a bookstore. Is reading actual books still popular in Romania? |
| Mihai: Of course, digital books are widely available but yes, paper books are still popular! |
| Asia: Masanobu mentioned a bookstore by name. Is that a chain or a famous store? |
| Mihai: Cărturești is a popular bookstore that has two stores in Bucharest, including one inside the Old City Center. |
| Asia: It must be popular with tourists! |
| Mihai: It is! |
| Asia: Do bookstores just sell books? |
| Mihai: No, you’ll usually find vinyl stands, CDs, gifts, and maybe a teahouse or coffee shop. |
| Asia: Sounds like a must-visit store if you’re interested in those things. As well as asking for the bookshop, Masanobu also asked a passerby for the time. |
| Mihai: Yes, you might need to do that if you don’t have a watch or a phone with you. You should always use formal language in this situation, even if it is someone younger than you. |
| Asia: How about distance? Should you keep a bigger distance between you and the other person, as they are a stranger? |
| Mihai: I would recommend it! |
| Asia: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Asia: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Mihai: a se supăra [natural native speed] |
| Asia: to mind; to get angry |
| Mihai: a se supăra[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: a se supăra [natural native speed] |
| Asia: Next we have... |
| Mihai: a spune [natural native speed] |
| Asia: to tell; to say |
| Mihai: a spune[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: a spune [natural native speed] |
| Asia: Next we have... |
| Mihai: cât [natural native speed] |
| Asia: how much |
| Mihai: cât[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: cât [natural native speed] |
| Asia: Next we have... |
| Mihai: ceas [natural native speed] |
| Asia: watch; clock |
| Mihai: ceas[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: ceas [natural native speed] |
| Asia: Next we have... |
| Mihai: desigur [natural native speed] |
| Asia: sure, of course |
| Mihai: desigur[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: desigur [natural native speed] |
| Asia: Next we have... |
| Mihai: jumătate [natural native speed] |
| Asia: half |
| Mihai: jumătate[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: jumătate [natural native speed] |
| Asia: Next we have... |
| Mihai: librărie [natural native speed] |
| Asia: bookstore |
| Mihai: librărie[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: librărie [natural native speed] |
| Asia: Next we have... |
| Mihai: fără [natural native speed] |
| Asia: without |
| Mihai: fără[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: fără [natural native speed] |
| Asia: Next we have... |
| Mihai: sfert [natural native speed] |
| Asia: quarter |
| Mihai: sfert[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: sfert [natural native speed] |
| Asia: And last... |
| Mihai: ajutor [natural native speed] |
| Asia: help |
| Mihai: ajutor[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: ajutor [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Asia: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Mihai: Nu vă supărați. |
| Asia: meaning "Excuse me." What can you tell us about this phrase? |
| Mihai: Vă supărați is the polite conjugation of the verb a se supăra, which means “to get angry.” Nu usually means “no.” |
| Asia: You can use this expression to get someone’s attention in a polite way, so it’s similar to the English “excuse me.” |
| Mihai: Nu vă supărați is the polite version, used when addressing someone older than you. |
| Asia: What’s the informal version? |
| Mihai: nu te supăra. You can use this with peers you’re not yet friends with or don’t speak to that often. |
| Asia: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Mihai: Sure. For example, you can say, Te superi dacă nu mergem azi? |
| Asia: ...which means "Do you mind if we don't go today?" |
| Asia: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Mihai: Desigur! |
| Asia: meaning "Of course!" What can you tell us about this word? |
| Mihai: This is an adverb and is a standalone word. |
| Asia: And it means “surely” or “of course.” |
| Mihai: You can use it when you want to confirm something in a polite way. |
| Asia: How would you confirm things with friends? |
| Mihai: You can just say da, meaning “yes.” |
| Asia: Can you give us an example using the word for “of course?” |
| Mihai: Sure. For example, you can say, Desigur, putem merge mâine. |
| Asia: ...which means "Sure, we can go tomorrow." |
| Asia: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Asia: In this lesson, you'll learn about asking and giving the time. |
| Asia: First things first, how do we say “What time is it?” |
| Mihai: We can say Cât este ceasul? This literally means “how much is the watch/clock?” |
| Asia: Really? Can you break down the sentence for us? |
| Mihai: Cât means “how much.” Este is “it is.” And ceasul means “the watch” or the “the clock.” |
| Asia: So if someone asks us how much our watch is, they’re really asking for the time! |
| Mihai: Yes! Don’t get confused! |
| Asia: Can we hear it used in a formal sentence? |
| Mihai: Mă scuzați, îmi puteți spune cât este ceasul? |
| Asia: “Excuse me, could you tell me what time it is?” And also an informal one. |
| Mihai: Scuze, cât e ceasul acum? |
| Asia: “Sorry, what time is it now?” Now let’s look at how to say the time. |
| Mihai: To say “half past” in Romanian, we use the words for “half” and “and.” |
| Asia: Which are…? |
| Mihai: “Half” is jumătate. “And” is și. |
| Asia: How do we put those together with a time to say “half past?” |
| Mihai: First we have the number for the hour, then și, then jumătate. |
| Asia: Let’s hear it in a sentence. How do we say “Now, it is half past five?” |
| Mihai: Acum este ora cinci și jumătate. |
| Asia: So that’s half past. How about “quarter to?” |
| Mihai: For that, we need the words for “quarter” and “without.” Those are sfert and fără, respectively. But, we also need un before sfert. |
| Asia: Let’s hear it all together in a sentence. |
| Mihai: Este ora nouă fără un sfert. |
| Asia: This is a formal sentence meaning “It is a quarter to nine o’clock.” |
| Mihai: E nouă fără un sfert. |
| Asia: This is an informal sentence meaning “It is a quarter to nine.” |
Outro |
| Asia: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Mihai: La revedere. |
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