Page 4 - SubstantivulSiPrieteniiLui_TheNounAndItsFriends

5. The noun and its “friends”

Did you know that there are friends in the world of words? For example,
substantivul (noun) and adjectivul (adjective) they are inseparable friends
and some wonderful stories sometimes arise from their friendship.
You’ve already learned that substantivul (noun) is the part of flexible
speech that denotes ființe (beings) (frate, (brother) mama (mother), Azorel),
lucruri (things) (casă (house), stilou (pen), pantofi (shoes)), fenomene ale naturii
(phenomena of nature) (ninsori (snow), ploaie (rain), fulger (lightning)), stări
sufletești (states of spirit) (bucurie (joy), uimire (wonder), delight (încântare)) or
acțiuni (actions) (alergare (running), scriere (writing), încărcare (charging)).
And his best friend stands by him whenever he needs and takes the
right shape so that harmony never breaks.
băiat harnic – băieți harnici fată harnică – fete harnice
hardworking boy - hardworking boys hardworking girl - hardworking girls
It’s easy to realize that adjectivul (adjective) is also a flexible part of speech that expresses description
of a noun. And, like a good friend, it agrees with the noun in number and gender.
Practice

1. Underline with green colors the nouns and with blue the adjectives in the following statement.

Iedul și-a întins capul cu botul mic, catifelat și umed, pe spatele mamei lui și, cu ochii
închiși, se lăsă dezmierdat.
The lamb spread his head with his small, velvety, moist snout on his mother’s back and with his
eyes closed let himself be caressed.
Noun and adjective are flexible parts of speech, because it changes its form according to certain
grammatical categories.
prieten prieteni prietenul prietenii prietenului prietenilor
friend friends the friend the friends to the friend to the friends
prietenă prietene prietena prietenele prietenei prietenelor
girlfriend girlfriends the girlfriend the girlfriends to the girlfriend to the girlfriends

You need to be careful: the noun does not change its form depending on gender. Gender is a fixed
characteristic of the noun. For example, the nouns masă, poartă, cutie (table, gate, box) have female gender.
They have no masculine gender.
Some nouns can form the masculine or feminine from their pairs:

rege - regină
vulpe - vulpoi

lup - lupoaică

coleg - colegă

Practice

2. Write some examples of nouns that were formed from their pairs.