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nu-s

I'm not / they're not (contraction of "nu sunt") /nus/

verb#5477 most common

Also: am not, are not

Example sentences

Nu-s acasă.
I'm not home.
Nu-s obosit.
I'm not tired.
Copiii nu-s la școală azi.
The kids aren't at school today.
Nu-s sigur dacă vine mâine.
I'm not sure if he's coming tomorrow.
Nu-s eu de vină pentru ce s-a întâmplat.
I'm not to blame for what happened.
Cei care nu-s dispuși să învețe din greșeli nu-s pregătiți nici să reușească.
Those who aren't willing to learn from mistakes aren't ready to succeed either.

Conjugation

Present ActiveSimple Past ActiveSimple Future Active
1sgnu-s (nu sunt)n-am fostnu voi fi
2sgnu eștin-ai fostnu vei fi
3sgnu-i (nu e)n-a fostnu va fi
1plnu suntemn-am fostnu vom fi
2plnu suntețin-ați fostnu veți fi
3plnu-s (nu sunt)n-au fostnu vor fi

Word family

a fito be
suntI am / they are (present tense of a fi)
nu-ihe/she/it isn't (contraction of nu e)
fiindbeing (gerund of a fi)
ființăbeing, creature

Etymology

"Nu-s" is a spoken-language contraction of "nu sunt," the negated present tense of the verb "a fi" (to be). In fast, informal speech the unstressed middle of "sunt" drops out, leaving the negation particle "nu" fused with a bare "-s." "Sunt" itself continues Latin "sunt" (they are), from the same verb "esse" that gives Romanian its whole "to be" paradigm. The contraction is a feature of colloquial pronunciation rather than a separate historical word.

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