Learn Romanian › biet
biet
poor (in the sense of pitiable, unfortunate) /ˈbjet/
adjective#2595 most common
Also: wretched, unfortunate, poor fellow/soul
Example sentences
Bietul câine tremura de frig.
The poor dog was trembling from the cold.
Biata femeie nu avea unde să doarmă.
The poor woman had nowhere to sleep.
Bieții copii au rămas fără părinți.
The poor children were left without parents.
Am privit bietele animale închise în cuști mici.
I looked at the poor animals locked in small cages.
Biet de el, a încercat să explice ce s-a întâmplat, dar nimeni nu l-a ascultat.
Poor guy, he tried to explain what happened, but nobody listened to him.
Într-o vreme în care mila pare tot mai rară, soarta bietului om de rând trece adesea neobservată.
At a time when pity seems ever rarer, the fate of the poor common man often goes unnoticed.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | biet (m) / biată (f) | bieți (m) / biete (f) |
| Genitive | bietului (m) / bietei (f) | bieților (m) / bietelor (f) |
| Accusative | biet (m) / biată (f) | bieți (m) / biete (f) |
| Vocative | None | None |
Word family
biatăpoor, wretched (feminine singular)
biețipoor, wretched (masculine plural)
bietepoor, wretched (feminine plural)
bietulthe poor one (masculine, with attached definite article)
Etymology
Biet entered Romanian from a Slavic source related to Old Church Slavonic bědĭnŭ, meaning poor or wretched. It kept its original sense of pity for a person's hardship, rather than the meaning of lacking money, which in Romanian belongs to the separate word sărac. Its Slavic root also gave modern Bulgarian and Serbian words for poor.
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