Learn how to use modal verbs to express ability
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Dana: Hi everyone, and welcome back to RomanianPod101.com, This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 8 - Talking About Your Daily Routine in Romanian. Dana Here. |
| Mihai: Bună. I'm Mihai. |
| Dana: In this lesson, you’ll learn about modal verbs for expressing ability. The conversation takes place downtown. |
| Mihai: It's between Masanobu and Andreea. |
| Dana: The speakers are friends; therefore, they will speak informal Romanian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Masanobu: Ce faci de obicei sâmbăta? |
| Andreea: De obicei, dimineața fac cumpărături, iar după-amiaza fac sport. |
| Masanobu: Ce sport faci? |
| Andreea: Dacă este timp frumos, joc tenis, dar dacă plouă, stau acasă. |
| Masanobu: Foarte frumos, și mie îmi place tenisul. |
| Andreea: Haide să jucăm împreună weekend-ul viitor. |
| Masanobu: Sigur, poți să mă suni miercuri? Stabilim la ce oră să mergem. |
| Dana: Listen to the conversation one more time, slowly. |
| Masanobu: Ce faci de obicei sâmbăta? |
| Andreea: De obicei, dimineața fac cumpărături, iar după-amiaza fac sport. |
| Masanobu: Ce sport faci? |
| Andreea: Dacă este timp frumos, joc tenis, dar dacă plouă, stau acasă. |
| Masanobu: Foarte frumos, și mie îmi place tenisul. |
| Andreea: Haide să jucăm împreună weekend-ul viitor. |
| Masanobu: Sigur, poți să mă suni miercuri? Stabilim la ce oră să mergem. |
| Dana: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Masanobu: What do you usually do on Saturdays? |
| Andreea: I usually shop in the morning and in the afternoon I play sports. |
| Masanobu: What sports do you play? |
| Andreea: If the weather’s nice, I like playing tennis, but if it rains, I stay at home. |
| Masanobu: Very nice, I like tennis too. |
| Andreea: Let's play together next weekend. |
| Masanobu: Sure, can you call me on Wednesday? We'll decide what time to go. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Dana: Are Romanians hospitable? |
| Mihai: Yes, we are. Customs differ from region to region, but Romanians will invite you into their homes and provide you with food and drink. |
| Dana: Are gifts important? |
| Mihai: Yes. If you’re invited to someone’s home, gifts of alcohol and flowers are welcomed. But, make sure the flowers are in odd numbers. |
| Dana: Why only odd numbers? |
| Mihai: Even numbers are reserved for funerals. |
| Dana: Are gifts given on occasions like birthdays and Christmas, too? |
| Mihai: Yes and yes! Also on name days, New Year’s, Easter, Woman’s Day, Couple’s Day, Dragobete, and weddings. |
| Dana: Wow, that’s a lot of days to give gifts! What kind of gifts should you give? |
| Mihai: A gift that’s symbolic, unexpected, or creative is highly appreciated. |
| Dana: Do you have to spend much on these gifts? |
| Mihai: About 15 euros is a good amount. |
| Dana: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Dana: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Mihai: sâmbătă [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Saturday |
| Mihai: sâmbătă[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: sâmbătă [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: dimineața [natural native speed] |
| Dana: in the morning |
| Mihai: dimineața[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: dimineața [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: cumpărături [natural native speed] |
| Dana: shopping |
| Mihai: cumpărături[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: cumpărături [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: sport [natural native speed] |
| Dana: sport |
| Mihai: sport[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: sport [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: tenis [natural native speed] |
| Dana: tennis |
| Mihai: tenis[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: tenis [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: a juca [natural native speed] |
| Dana: to play |
| Mihai: a juca[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: a juca [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: împreună [natural native speed] |
| Dana: together |
| Mihai: împreună[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: împreună [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: miercuri [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Wednesday |
| Mihai: miercuri[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: miercuri [natural native speed] |
| Dana: And lastly.. |
| Mihai: frumos [natural native speed] |
| Dana: beautiful |
| Mihai: frumos[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: frumos [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Dana: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Mihai: Foarte frumos! |
| Dana: Meaning "Very nice!" |
| Dana: This is an exclamatory expression. |
| Mihai: It comes from the morpheme foarte. |
| Dana: Which means “very.” |
| Mihai: And the adjective frumos. |
| Dana: This is "beautiful" in singular masculine form |
| Mihai: This shows a great appreciation from the speaker. |
| Dana: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Mihai: Sure. For example, you can say.. Joci tenis? Foarte frumos! |
| Dana: ..which means "You play tennis? Very nice!" |
| Dana: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Mihai: a juca împreună |
| Dana: Meaning "to play together" |
| Mihai: This is an expression formed from the verb a juca. |
| Dana: This means "to play." |
| Mihai: And the modal adverb împreună |
| Dana: This means "together." It translates literally to "to play together." |
| Mihai: You can use this to express the action of playing a game with someone. |
| Dana: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Mihai: Sure. For example, you can say.. Vrei să jucăm baschet împreună mâine seară? |
| Dana: .. which means "Do you want to play basketball together tomorrow night?" |
| Dana: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Dana: In this lesson, you'll learn about modal verbs to express ability. |
| Dana: First, we’ll look at “to be able to/ can.” |
| Mihai: This is a putea and is the most common modal verb used in Romanian to express ability. |
| Dana: Let’s check a couple of conjugations for this modal verb. First, how do we say “I can,” “I am able to.” |
| Mihai: eu pot |
| Dana: How about “we can,” “we are able to.” |
| Mihai: noi putem |
| Dana: Let’s check some past tense ones. “I could,” “I was able to.” |
| Mihai: eu am putut |
| Dana: And “we could,” “we were able to.” |
| Mihai: noi am putut. There are many more examples in the lesson notes. |
| Dana: How do we use this verb? Let’s hear some examples. |
| Mihai: Dan poate înțelege româna, însă nu poate vorbi foarte bine. |
| Dana: “Dan can understand Romanian, but he cannot speak very well.” |
| Mihai: Ați putea să vorbiți mai încet, vă rog? |
| Dana: “Can you please lower your voice?” |
| Mihai: Aș putea să vă ajut? |
| Dana: “Can I help you?” |
| Mihai: Acest lucru nu se poate întâmpla. |
| Dana: “This thing cannot happen.” |
| Mihai: Ai putea să te rătăcești singur pe munți. |
| Dana: “You could get lost alone in the mountains.” Can we use these conjugations in formal or polite situations? |
| Mihai: In those cases, we use the interrogative form in the plural second person. |
| Dana: Let’s end the lesson with an example of this. |
| Mihai: Puteți să mă sunați mâine? |
| Dana: “Can you call me tomorrow?” To make it more polite, you can use the conditional-optative tense. |
| Mihai: For example, Ați putea să mă sunați mâine? |
| Dana: “Could you call me tomorrow?“ |
Outro |
| Dana: 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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