Learn Romanian › săpa
săpa
to dig /səˈpa/
verb#5166 most common
Also: to hoe, to excavate
Example sentences
Eu sap o groapă.
I am digging a hole.
Copilul sapă în nisip cu o lopățică.
The child digs in the sand with a little shovel.
Bunicul săpa grădina în fiecare primăvară.
My grandfather used to dig the garden every spring.
Muncitorii au săpat un șanț lângă drum.
The workers dug a ditch next to the road.
Trebuie să săpăm mai adânc ca să găsim apă.
We need to dig deeper to find water.
Arheologii sperau că, săpând cu atenție, vor descoperi urmele așezării antice.
The archaeologists hoped that, by digging carefully, they would uncover traces of the ancient settlement.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | sap | săpai | voi săpa |
| 2sg | sapi | săpași | vei săpa |
| 3sg | sapă | săpă | va săpa |
| 1pl | săpăm | săparăm | vom săpa |
| 2pl | săpați | săparăți | veți săpa |
| 3pl | sapă | săpară | vor săpa |
Word family
săpăturăa trench or pit made by digging
săpătora person or tool that digs
săpăligăsmall hand hoe
săpatdug, dug up (past participle used as adjective)
nesăpatnot yet dug
Etymology
Săpa comes from Vulgar Latin sappare, the verb built on sappa, a word for a digging tool such as a hoe or mattock. The same Latin root produced Italian zappare and French saper, and French saper is the direct source of the English words sap and sapper, originally military engineers who dug trenches to undermine walls. The ultimate origin of Latin sappa itself is disputed, so no further root can be given with confidence.
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More Romanian words
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