Word lookup: numbers, colours, people, animals, weather

Open this when a book puts a number, a colour, a family word or an animal in front of you and you want it named. Nothing here is homework; the two stories need none of it.

≈ 7 min of reading · Practise at your own pace

What’s in this chapter

Open this when a word blocks you. The core path already taught what the two readings use.
Nouns are listed in their bare shape, so you can weld the ending for “the” on yourself.
Numbers, eight colours, ten people, twelve animals, the days of the week, and fourteen nouns for the world a fable happens in.
Only the first two numbers change with the family: unu/una and doi/două.

You do not need this section to finish the lesson. Open it when a book puts a number, a colour, a family word or an animal in front of you and you want it named. The two stories at the end use only words the core path already gave you, so nothing here is homework — and reading the lists straight through is the least useful thing you could do with them.

One to ten

Say each one from the third column. These ten are also the pieces every larger number is built from.

English	Romanian	Sounds like
one	unu	OO-noo
two	doi · două	doy · DOH-wuh
three	trei	tray
four	patru	PAH-troo
five	cinci	cheench(y)
six	șase	SHAH-seh
seven	șapte	SHAHP-teh
eight	opt	opt
nine	nouă	NOH-wuh
ten	zece	ZEH-cheh

The first two change with the family — doi lupi but două case, and “one” is unu or una. After a number the thing goes plural and drops the ending for “the”: trei copacitray koh-PAHCH(y)“three trees”.

Eleven to twenty, and the tens

These look long. Each is a small number with one of two pieces stuck on the end, so look for the small number inside it.

English	Romanian	Sounds like
eleven	unsprezece	OON-spreh-zeh-cheh
twelve	doisprezece · douăsprezece	DOY-spreh-zeh-cheh · DOH-wuh-spreh-zeh-cheh
thirteen	treisprezece	TRAY-spreh-zeh-cheh
fourteen	paisprezece	PIE-spreh-zeh-cheh
fifteen	cincisprezece	CHEENCH-spreh-zeh-cheh
sixteen	șaisprezece	SHY-spreh-zeh-cheh
seventeen	șaptesprezece	SHAHP-teh-spreh-zeh-cheh
eighteen	optsprezece	OPT-spreh-zeh-cheh
nineteen	nouăsprezece	NOH-wuh-spreh-zeh-cheh
twenty	douăzeci	doh-wuh-ZECH(y)
thirty	treizeci	tray-ZECH(y)
forty	patruzeci	pah-troo-ZECH(y)
fifty	cincizeci	cheench-ZECH(y)
sixty	șaizeci	shy-ZECH(y)
a hundred	o sută	oh SOO-tuh

Two building blocks: -sprezece is “-teen” and -zeci is “-ty”, both stuck on the small number. In between, “and”: douăzeci și unudoh-wuh-ZECH(y) shee OO-noo“twenty-one”. From twenty up the thing takes de first: douăzeci de lupi“twenty wolves”.

Eight colours

Colours are describing words, so each has two shapes and sits after the thing. Read across a row to see both.

English	With a masculine thing	With a feminine thing
red	roșuROH-shoo	roșieROH-shee-eh
black	negruNEH-groo	neagrăNYAH-gruh
white	albahlb	albăAHL-buh
yellow	galbenGAHL-ben	galbenăGAHL-beh-nuh
blue	albastruahl-BAHS-troo	albastrăahl-BAHS-truh
green	verdeVEHR-deh	verde
grey	grigree	gri
brown	maromah-ROH	maro

Colours sit after the thing, like any describing word: un lup negru“a black wolf”. The last three have one shape for both families — verde ends in -e, and gri and maro are borrowed words that hold still. And negru is a cousin of the o-to-oa habit: its e opens to ea in neagră.

Ten people

The words a story names its people with. Each is listed bare, so you can weld the ending for “the” on yourself.

English	Romanian	Sounds like
mother	mamă	MAH-muh
father	tată	TAH-tuh
brother	frate	FRAH-teh
sister	soră	SOH-ruh
man	bărbat	buhr-BAHT
woman	femeie	feh-MEH-yeh
boy	băiat	buh-YAHT
girl	fată	FAH-tuh
child	copil	koh-PEEL
friend	prieten	PRYEH-ten

Tată is the odd one: it ends in -ă but is masculine, and its “the” is tatălTAH-tuhl“the father” — a reminder that the ending on the page, not the meaning, is what to read. Frate takes the masculine -e ending: frateleFRAH-teh-leh“the brother”.

Twelve animals

The cast of nearly every fable. Some are already familiar: the wolf, the fox, the mouse and the rabbit.

English	Romanian	Sounds like
dog	câine	KIHY-neh
cat	pisică	pee-SEE-kuh
bird	pasăre	PAH-suh-reh
fish	pește	PESH-teh
horse	cal	kahl
mouse	șoarece	SHWAH-reh-cheh
fox	vulpe	VOOL-peh
bear	urs	oors
rabbit	iepure	YEH-poo-reh
pig	porc	pork
owl	bufniță	BOOF-nee-tsuh
wolf	lup	loop

Câine is the hardest word on the list to say: the âi is the tight “ih” with a y sliding off it, all in one beat. These twelve are the cast of nearly every fable you are about to read.

Sky, weather, ground and shelter

The world a fable happens in: what is overhead, what falls out of it, and where a character lives.

English	Romanian	Sounds like
sun	soare	SWAH-reh
moon	lună	LOO-nuh
day	zi	zee
night	noapte	NWAHP-teh
sky	cer	chehr
rain	ploaie	PLWAH-yeh
wind	vânt	vihnt
snow	zăpadă	zuh-PAH-duh
tree	copac	koh-PAHK
wood	pădure	puh-DOO-reh
house	casă	KAH-suh
door	ușă	OO-shuh
water	apă	AH-puh
road	drum	droom

Pădure is the wood a fable happens in — walkable, with a path through it. CodruKOH-droo is the old, dark forest of ballads, and is not the word you want in a children’s story.

Asking for things, and the days of the week

Three phrases for a shop or a café, then the seven days. Say each one from the third column.

English	Romanian	Sounds like
How much is it?	Cât costă?	kiht KOS-tuh
I would like …	Aș vrea …	ahsh vryah
please	vă rog	vuh rohg
Monday	luni	loon(y)
Tuesday	marți	marts(y)
Wednesday	miercuri	MYEHR-koor(y)
Thursday	joi	zhoy
Friday	vineri	VEE-nehr(y)
Saturday	sâmbătă	SIHM-buh-tuh
Sunday	duminică	doo-MEE-nee-kuh

Aș vrea o cafea, vă rog.ahsh vryah oh kah-FYAH, vuh rohg“I would like a coffee, please.” Days are written small, and “on Monday” is just luni — no little word in front.

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