Learn Romanian › al
al
belonging to / -'s (possessive-genitival article) /ˈal/
particle#54 most common
Also: of (the one of), whose (in 'al cărui' constructions)
Example sentences
Acesta este un prieten al meu.
This is a friend of mine.
Aceasta este o prietenă a mea.
This is a friend of mine.
Aceștia sunt niște prieteni ai mei.
These are friends of mine.
Acestea sunt niște prietene ale mele.
These are friends of mine.
Cartea aceasta este a fratelui meu, nu a surorii mele.
This book belongs to my brother, not my sister.
Autorul, al cărui roman a fost tradus în engleză, a primit un premiu important.
The author, whose novel was translated into English, received an important award.
Word family
afeminine singular possessive article
aimasculine plural possessive article
alefeminine plural possessive article
-ulenclitic masculine definite article, same Latin root
celdemonstrative "that one", same Latin rootEtymology
Romanian al descends from the Latin demonstrative ille ("that"), the same word that gave Romanian its enclitic definite articles -ul and -a. Over time this demonstrative was pressed into service as a separate marker that introduces a genitive or possessive phrase, especially when the possessed noun cannot carry the possessive directly. It still agrees in gender and number with the noun it points back to, appearing as al, a, ai, or ale.
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Every word here is a full Polylex card with native audio and spaced repetition, so 4,027 words actually move into long-term memory.
Start free