Learn Romanian › speria
speria
to frighten, to scare /speriˈa/
verb#1511 most common
Also: to startle, (reflexive) to get scared, to be startled
Example sentences
Nu te speria!
Don't be scared!
Copilul s-a speriat de câine.
The child got scared of the dog.
M-am speriat foarte tare când am auzit zgomotul.
I got very scared when I heard the noise.
Ea se sperie ușor de zgomote puternice.
She gets scared easily by loud noises.
Zgomotul brusc i-a speriat pe toți cei din cameră.
The sudden noise frightened everyone in the room.
Ori de câte ori umbrele înserării se lungeau peste curte, bătrânul se speria fără vreun motiv anume.
Whenever the shadows of dusk lengthened over the yard, the old man would get scared for no particular reason.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | sperii | speriai | voi speria |
| 2sg | sperii | speriași | vei speria |
| 3sg | sperie | sperie | va speria |
| 1pl | speriem | speriarăm | vom speria |
| 2pl | speriați | speriarăți | veți speria |
| 3pl | sperie | speriară | vor speria |
Word family
speriatfrightened, scared
sperierethe act of frightening; a fright
sperietoarescarecrow
sperioseasily scared, skittish (often of animals)
Etymology
"Speria" descends from a Vulgar Latin verb built on "pavere" (to fear), with the intensifying prefix "ex-" attached. The same Latin base gave Italian "spaventare" and Spanish "espantar", both meaning to frighten. In Romanian the verb kept that core sense, and its reflexive form, "a se speria", became the ordinary way to say someone got scared.
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