Editing Romanian grammar (section)

==Articles==

===Definite article===
An often cited peculiarity of Romanian, which it shares with [[Aromanian language|Aromanian]], [[Megleno-Romanian language|Megleno-Romanian]], and [[Istro-Romanian language|Istro-Romanian]], is that, unlike all other [[Romance language]]s, the [[definite article]]s are usually attached to the end of the noun as [[enclitic]]s (as in  [[Albanian language|Albanian]], [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]] and [[North Germanic languages]]) instead of being placed in front (See [[Balkan sprachbund]]). These enclitic definite articles are believed to have been formed, as in other Romance languages, from [[Latin language|Latin]] demonstrative pronouns. The table below shows the generally accepted [[etymology]] of the Romanian definite article.<ref>{{in lang|ro}} Maria Aldea, [http://www.romaniaminor.net/ianua/Ianua05/ianua05_02.pdf "Valori referențiale generate de articolul definit și de cel indefinit românesc în determinarea substantivului. Studiu de caz: ''Scrisoarea lui Neacșu'' (1521)"], p. 24</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan=2 |
! colspan=2 | Masculine
! colspan=2 | Feminine
|-
! Singular || Plural || Singular || Plural
|-
! Nominative<br />Accusative
| Lat. acc. {{Lang|la|illum}}<br /> → Rom. {{Lang|ro|-ul}} → {{Lang|ro|-l}}'','' {{Lang|ro|-le}}'','' {{Lang|ro|-ul}}
| Lat. nom. {{Lang|la|illī}}<br /> → Rom. {{Lang|ro|-l'i}} → {{Lang|ro|-i}}
| Lat. acc. {{Lang|la|illam}}<br /> → Rom. {{Lang|ro|-euă}} → {{Lang|ro|-eau}} → {{Lang|ro|-a}}
| Lat. nom. {{Lang|la|illae}}<br /> → Rom. {{Lang|ro|-le}}
|-
! Genitive<br />Dative
| Late Lat. dat. {{Lang|la|illui}}, influenced by {{Lang|la|cui}} and vulgar {{Lang|la|illaei}}<br /> → Rom. {{Lang|ro|-lui}}
| Lat. gen. {{Lang|la|illōrum}}<br /> → Rom. {{Lang|ro|-lor}}
| Lat. dat. {{Lang|la|illī}}, influenced by {{Lang|la|cui}}<br /> → Rom. {{Lang|ro|-ei}}
| Lat. gen. {{Lang|la|illōrum}} (gender distinction lost)<br /> → Rom. {{Lang|ro|-lor}}
|}

Examples:

* Masculine nouns (singular, nominative/accusative):
:{{Lang|ro|codru}} ''–'' {{Lang|ro|codru'''l'''}} ('forest' – 'the forest');
:{{Lang|ro|pom}} ''–'' {{Lang|ro|pom'''ul'''}} ('tree' – 'the tree');
:{{Lang|ro|frate}} ''–'' {{Lang|ro|frate'''le'''}} ('brother' – 'the brother');
:{{Lang|ro|tată}} ''–'' {{Lang|ro|tată'''l'''}} ('father' – 'the father').

* Neuter nouns (singular, nominative/accusative):
:{{Lang|ro|teatru}} ''–'' {{Lang|ro|teatru'''l'''}} ('theater' – 'the theater');
:{{Lang|ro|loc}} ''–'' {{Lang|ro|loc'''ul'''}} ('place' – 'the place');

* Feminine nouns (singular, nominative/accusative):
:''casă – cas'''a''''' (house – the house);
:''floare – floare'''a''''' (flower – the flower);
:''cutie – cuti'''a''''' (box – the box);
:''stea – stea'''ua''''' (star – the star);

===Indefinite article===
The Romanian indefinite article, unlike the definite article, is placed before the noun, and has likewise derived from [[Latin language|Latin]]:

{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan=2 |
! colspan=2 | Masculine
! colspan=2 | Feminine
|-
! Singular || Plural || Singular || Plural
|-
! Nominative<br />Accusative
| Lat. acc. ''ūnum''<br /> → Rom. ''un''
| Lat. ''nescio quid''<br /> → Rom. ''niște''
| Lat. acc. ''ūnam''<br /> → Rom. ''o''
| Lat. ''nescio quid''<br /> → Rom. ''niște''
|-
! Genitive<br />Dative
| Lat. dat. ''ūnī'', infl. by ''cui''<ref name="Herman">Herman (2000), p. 68.</ref><br /> → Rom. ''unui''
| Lat. gen. ''ūnōrum''<br /> → Rom. ''unor''
| Lat. gen./dat. ''ūnae'', infl. by ''cui''<br /> → Rom. ''unei''
| Lat. gen. ''ūnōrum'' (gender distinction lost)<br /> → Rom. ''unor''
|}

(The Latin phrase ''nescio quid'' means "I don't know what".)

Nouns in the vocative case cannot be determined by an indefinite article.

Examples of indefinite article usage:

*Masculine:
**nominative/accusative: singular ''un copil'' (a child) – plural ''niște copii'' ([some] children);
**genitive/dative: singular ''unui copil'' (of/to a child) – plural ''unor copii'' (of/to [some] children);
*Neuter:
**nominative/accusative: singular ''un loc'' (a place) – plural ''niște locuri'' ([some] places);
**genitive/dative: singular ''unui loc'' (of/to a place) – plural ''unor locuri'' (of/to [some] places);
*Feminine:
**nominative/accusative: singular ''o masă'' (a table) – plural ''niște mese'' ([some] tables);
**genitive/dative: singular ''unei mese'' (of/to a table) – plural ''unor mese'' (of/to [some] tables);

===Article appended to adjectives===
When a [[noun]] is determined by an [[adjective]], the normal word order is ''noun + adjective'', and the article (definite or indefinite) is appended to the noun. However, the word order ''adjective + noun'' is also possible, mostly used for emphasis on the adjective. Then, the article and the case marker, if any, are applied to the adjective instead:

* Noun + adjective (normal order):
:''un student bun'' (a good student);
:''studentul bun'' (the good student);
:''unui student bun'' (to a good student);
:''studentului bun'' (to the good student).

* Adjective + noun (reversed order):
:''un bun student'' (a good student);
:''bunul student'' (the good student);
:''unui bun student'' (to a good student);
:''bunului student'' (to the good student).
:
:

===Demonstrative article===
The demonstrative article is used to put emphasis on the relative superlative of adjectives. The forms are ''cel'' and ''celui'' (m. sg.), ''cea'' and ''celei'' (f. sg.), ''cei'' and ''celor'' (m. pl.) and ''cele'' and ''celor'' (f. pl.).

===Genitival article===
There are situations in Romanian when the noun in the genitive requires the presence of the so-called genitival (or possessive) article (see for example the section [[Romanian nouns#Genitive|"Genitive"]] in "[[Romanian nouns]]"), somewhat similar to the English preposition ''of'', for example in ''a map of China''. In Romanian this becomes ''o hartă a Chinei'', where "a" is the genitival article. The table below shows how the genitival articles depend on gender and number.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|
! style="width: 6em" | Masculine
! style="width: 6em" | Neuter
! style="width: 6em" | Feminine
|-
! Singular
| style="text-align:center" colspan=2 | al
| style="text-align:center" | a
|-
! Plural
| style="text-align:center" | ai
| style="text-align:center" colspan=2 | ale
|}

The genitival article also has genitive/dative forms, which are used only with a possessive pronoun. They are: ''alui'' (m. sg.), ''alei'' (f. sg.), and ''alor'' (pl., both genders). These forms are rarely used—especially the singular ones—and the sentences are usually rephrased to avoid them.