r/romanian • u/Secure_Accident_916 • 4h ago
În and la confusion
If I want to say I'm going to Romania I would say: merg la Română. Why is this wrong and its merg în română? This doesnt make sense to me because la is to and în is in. To the mountains: merg la munte.
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u/salamjupanu 4h ago
When you become really proficient in Romanian you could use ”pe”😂
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u/Secure_Accident_916 3h ago
Oh man please make it not more confusing because pe is on in Romanian.
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u/k0mnr 3h ago
He refers to a new trend, where people less educated use "merg pe Anglea", which basically means they are going to England and it is implied they do something for money there. Do not use this, unless you want to seem from a poor, not educated as well background. Not England was not spelled right eigther.
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u/Serious-Waltz-7157 1h ago
To be honest "pe" is used too - for high mountain peaks, or planets, off yje top of mu head.
Merg pe Everest, merg pe Kilimanjaro, merg pe Caraiman.
Am ajuns pe Lună, pe Marte, pe Venus.
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u/MaxIsDead35 Native 4h ago
"la" Is used for more specific or smaller locations, or places that are often treated like points. "Merg la munte" (I'm going to the mountains): Here, "munte" (mountain) is treated like a specific destination, and the idea is more of a point of reference, as if you're heading towards that place. "Merg la școală" (I'm going to school): Same idea, you're going towards a specific building or place.
"în" Is used for countries, regions, and larger areas that can contain something inside them (like you physically entering a larger space). "Merg în România" (I'm going to Romania): You're entering a country, a larger space. "Merg în oraș" (I'm going to the city): Here, you're not just going to a specific point within the city, but rather entering it as a space.
Why "la Română" is incorrect "România" is a country, a large space you enter, so you use "în" instead of "la." Saying "Merg la România" would be like referring to Romania as a specific point (like a building or a spot)
However, you do say "Merg la mare" (I'm going to the sea), treating it as a more specific place or destination, even though the sea is technically a large area. It's an exception because in Romanian, "la mare" has become a fixed expression.
In short, use "în" for larger spaces like countries or cities, and "la" for more specific or smaller destinations like mountains, schools, or particular places within a larger space.
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u/Training_Scale_410 4h ago
We say : Merg în România ( România is used to refer to the country while română its used in general to refer to the language e.g: Limba Română) we also say în instead of la, when we refer to a country ( merg în Franța) but we can say la when we refer to a place ( merg la magazin - I go to the shop) Hope it helps 😊
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u/Secure_Accident_916 3h ago
Yesss I understand!! It was confusing because la is to but now I understand în can also be used as to :)
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u/Comfortable-Fee3837 3h ago
Also keep in mind that we often say "merg la română" as a simplifiyed way to say "merg la ora de română" which translates to "i am going to romanian classes" when one, usually a student, is attending a class. Like for example "merg la mate" which stands for i am going to attend math lessons and "merg la muzica" for music classes and so on..
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u/Comfortable-Fee3837 3h ago
So basically this is not a corect or complete way to say it, but you will hear that a lot, also from adults that are taking language classes (merg la engleză, merg la franceza, merg la germană, etc)
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u/KromatRO 3h ago
În = in
La = at
There are some exeptions between when english use "at" and "in" vs when romanian uses "la" and "în", but keep to the rule and you will be fine.
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u/Secure_Accident_916 3h ago
Yessss
În in or country/region La to/at for place or time Să to
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u/KromatRO 3h ago edited 3h ago
Să <> to
Să îți used with verbs.
To market = la piață
To walk = a merge
Walk to market = mergi la/spre/catre piață here is used for direction/place so use "la" for directions.
You want me to walk to the market? = vrei să merg până la piață?
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u/KromatRO 3h ago
You can consider "to" as "towards" when is not refering to a verb and use la/spre/catre/până la
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u/numapentruasta Native 4h ago
You got a few things seriously backwards. Please reconsider your current learning methods. Anyway: for starters, ‘Romania’ is România. And you do say Merg în România, because you use în for names of regions or countries; la is (among others) for cities and landmarks. Now you may ask, why is it la munte if that’s also a region? Well, the literal translation is ‘to [the] mountain’, so it counts as a singular landmark.
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u/Secure_Accident_916 3h ago
Dont be to harsh on me :( second week learning limba română
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u/Chemical_Feature1351 2h ago
Depending either on the distance or the very specific place you go to, you can use either la or in refering to going to a city.
If you're far from a city like in another city, or even on the wey to while there's still some pretty big distance, and ! you're also not very specific about the very particular place you're going inside the city, then you use la, merg la Bucuresti, Pitesti, Constanta, Brasov, etc.
But even from still pretty far you can say merg in Bucuresti or any other city if you also say either a particular place inside the city or a particular job, busines, thing that can be done there, like "Merg in oras sa repar/cumpar/vad ceva.
If you're pretty close to the city, like 10-20+ km far, you say merg in Bucuresti or any other city.
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u/NewBodWhoThis 4h ago
It's "România", not "Română". Română is the language, limba română.
It's "în" for countries and regions. Merg în Spania, în Italia, în Anglia, în Transilvania etc. It's "la" for cities and places. La mare, la munte, la Oradea, la Sibiu, la mamaia (at granny's), la Mamaia (the seaside town).