Learn Romanian › vai
vai
alas / oh no /ˈvaj/
other#1981 most common
Also: oh dear, woe, wow
Example sentences
Vai, ce frumos!
Oh wow, how beautiful!
Vai, am uitat cheile acasă!
Oh no, I forgot my keys at home!
Vai de mine, ce zi grea am avut!
Woe is me, what a hard day I have had!
Vai și amar de cel care nu ascultă sfaturile bătrânilor.
Woe and misery to the one who does not heed the elders' advice.
Vai de capul lui, s-a apucat iar de băutură.
Poor fellow, he has taken up drinking again.
Vai, vai, vai, ce vremuri ne-au fost hărăzite să trăim!
Alas, alas, alas, what times we have been destined to live through!
Word family
vaialas, oh no (interjection)
a se văicărito moan, to lament repeatedly
văicărealăconstant moaning or complaining
vaieta wail, a moan
Etymology
Vai descends from the Latin interjection vae, used to express pain, threat, or lament, as in the phrase vae victis, woe to the conquered. The word passed into Romanian largely unchanged in form and meaning. It belongs to a small class of interjections that Latin bequeathed to nearly every Romance language.
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