Learn Romanian › greu
greu
hard, difficult /ˈɡre̯u/
adjective#235 most common
Also: heavy, hard to bear, with difficulty (adverb use)
Example sentences
Este greu.
It's hard.
Geanta mea este grea.
My bag is heavy.
Examenul de mâine va fi foarte greu.
Tomorrow's exam will be very hard.
Mi-e greu să vorbesc despre asta.
It's hard for me to talk about this.
Bagajele lor erau prea grele pentru avion.
Their luggage was too heavy for the plane.
Deși părea o decizie ușoară la prima vedere, s-a dovedit a fi una dintre cele mai grele alegeri din viața lui.
Though it looked like an easy decision at first, it turned out to be one of the hardest choices of his life.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | greu (m/n), grea (f) | grei (m), grele (f/n) |
| Genitive | greu (m/n), grele (f) | grei (m), grele (f/n) |
| Accusative | greu (m/n), grea (f) | grei (m), grele (f/n) |
| Vocative | None | None |
Word family
greutateweight; difficulty
greutățihardships, troubles
îngreunato burden, to make harder
greoiclumsy, slow-moving, cumbersome
Etymology
Greu comes from Latin gravis, meaning heavy. Regular sound changes in Romanian dropped the intervocalic v and turned the ending into a diphthong, giving greu. The same Latin root produced the learned Romanian borrowing grav (grave, serious), so the two words are doublets: one inherited from everyday speech, one borrowed later from written Latin or French.
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