Summary
#e paper analyses the various semantic and syntactic roles of the word de and the way in which 
this seemingly insignificant Romanian word is translated into English. De lacks syntactic and 
semantic autonomy and has developed both connective and non-connective values, which are 
usually revealed by the lexico-syntactic information offered by the context in which it appears. 
It is used as a preposition and, by conversion, as a conjunction, and in both cases, it has 
acquired multiple (sometimes blurred) values, which make its translation into English difficult 
sometimes. As a preposition, it marks only relations of subordination within a sentence, as a 
conjunction, it marks mainly relations of subordination between clauses.
Key words: translation, equivalence, (non)-connective values, meaning, syntactic role
 Povzetek
Članek analizira različne semantične in skladenjske vloge besede de in načine, s katerimi se 
ta navidez nepomembna romunska beseda prevaja v angleščino. Beseda de nima skladenjske 
ali semantične avtonomije in je dobila tako vezniške kot nevezniške pomene, ki so običajno 
razvidni iz besedno-skladenjskega konteksta. Beseda se rabi kot predlog in tudi kot veznik. 
V obeh primerih ima več (včasih zabrisanih) pomenov, zaradi česar je njeno prevajanje v 
angleščino včasih težavno. Kot predlog označuje podredniške odnose znotraj povedi, kot 
veznik pa podredniške odnose med stavki ene povedi.
Ključne besede: prevajanje, enakovrednost, (ne)vezniške vrednosti, pomen, skladenjska vloga
 DOI: 10.4312/elope.5.1-2.39-55

#e Romanian word de, which lacks syntactic and semantic autonomy, was borrowed from Latin 
(< de) and is used as a preposition and, by conversion, as a conjunction; it has also developed 
other connective as well as non-connective values, some of which are not clearly defined. Both as 
a preposition and as a conjunction, de has multiple (sometimes blurred) values, which makes its 
translation into English difficult sometimes. 
De also appears as one of the terms in many prepositional phrases (e.g., în afară de – “except 
for”, “besides”; faţă de – “towards”; în loc de “instead of”; în funcţie de – “depending on”; în jur 
de – “about”) or in conjunction phrases (e.g., de vreme ce – “since”; chiar de – “even if”; de parcă 
– “as if”; de cum –  “as soon as”; de ce – “the + adj./adv. [+comparative]”).
 2.1 #e non-connective value of de (sometimes preceded by the adverb numai, “only” and always 
followed by the optative mood) is evident in independent, exclamatory sentences expressing a 
wish with reference to the present or future time. Its English equivalents are the conjunctions if 
only and that or the verbs to hope or to wish: 
 De-ar tăcea odată! /  If only / I wish she would shut up!
 (Numai) de n-ar fi pierdut trenul! / If only she hadn’t missed her train! / I 
  wish she hadn’t missed her train! / I hope she hasn’t missed her train!
 De n-ar ajunge prea târziu! / If only she didn’t get there too late! / I hope 
  she doesn’t get there too late.
 De l-aş mai putea vedea o dată! / (Oh,) that I could see him again!
 De-aş ajunge o dată acasă! / (Oh,) that I could get home sooner!
2.2 #e non-connective value of de is also obvious in a special construction meant to give special 
emphasis to a supine, an adjective, an adverb or, more seldomly, to a noun, by placing them at 
the front of a clause, and then repeating them as a finite form of the same verb (in the case of the 
supine), as a predicative (in the case of the adjective or the noun) or as an adverbial (in the case 
of the adverb). 
Romanian grammars, including the most recent one (Avram 2005, 2: 524, 525), usually 
regard this construction as an adverbial of relation, introduced by the conjunction de. Pană-
Dindelegan (2003, 154, 207), however, underlines the non-connective use of de in this case, 
its role being simply that of marking the thematic fronting of a clause element for emphatic 
purposes.

#is construction is difficult to translate; one solution might be to equate it to a structure 
introduced by as for or as far as sth. is concerned; some emphasizer may be added, if necessary: 
De mâncat, am mâncat în oraş. / As for lunch, I had it in town; As for 
  eating, I ate in town.
De frumoasă, e frumoasă. / As for beauty, she is beautiful indeed.
De sigură, e sigură / She is very sure. 
De repede, mergea ea repede, dar nu-l ajunse din urmă. / (As for speed), 
  she did walk fast, but could not catch up with him.
De măgar, e măgar. / He is an ass, that’s for sure.
It is also possible that de + the supine be omitted in the translation:
De scris, n-am scris nimic în acest domeniu. / (As for writing / As far as 
  writing is concerned), I have written nothing in this field.
De fost acolo, am fost, dar n-am întâlnit-o. / I went there (indeed) / I did 
  go there, but I didn’t see her.
 As a preposition, de marks only relations of subordination within a sentence (connecting an 
attribute to a noun, pronoun or numeral, or an object or adverbial to a verb, adjective or adverb, 
a predicative to a link verb).
3.1 #e Romanian modifier (attribute) introduced by de occurs in post-position to its head 
and its meaning often dictates the choice of a certain English structure: its equivalent may be a 
prepositional noun phrase (the preposition being most frequently of), a word in pre-modification 
to the head noun, or one word only. 
3.1.1 English post-modifiers as equivalents
3.1.1.1 #e English ofNP modifier is quite frequently employed to replace the Romanian deNP 
and it occurs mainly when: 
• the Romanian attribute has a partitive meaning: 
e.g., o carte de a ta / a book of yours; 
       cadouri de cele mai scumpe / presents of the most expensive kind.
• the Romanian attribute is the modifier of some partitive noun, expressing quantity:
e.g., - measure partitives: un metru de sârmă / a metre of wire; un litru de 
 lapte proaspăt /  a litre of fresh milk;  
 - typical partitives: o felie de pâine albă / a slice of white bread; un fir de 
iarbă / a blade of grass; un grăunte de adevăr / a grain of truth; o tablă de ciocolată / a bar of 
chocolate; un bob de orez / a grain of rice; o duşcă de votcă / a shot of vodka;
      - general partitives: un pic de noroc / a bit of luck; un pic de efort / a bit of 
effort; o bucată de prăjitură / a piece of cake; o bucată de lemn / a piece of wood; o mulţime 
de furnici / a lot of ants.
• the Romanian attribute is the modifier of a collective noun:
e.g., un grup de studenţi / a group of students; o familie de medici / a family of doctors; un 

roi de albine / a swarm of bees
• the Romanian attribute indicates content:
e.g., o ceaşcă de ceai / a cup of tea; un pahar de coniac / a glass of brandy; o carte de poveşti / a 
book of fairy-tales; o sticlă de vin / a bottle of wine; o lingură de zahăr / a spoonful of sugar.
• In a more limited number of cases, when the meaning of the attribute is different from those 
enumerated above, the English preposition corresponding to Romanian de is other than of: 
e.g., iubirea de ţară / the love for one’s country; setea de cunoaştere/ the thirst for knowledge; 
un roman de Dickens / a novel by Dickens.
3.1.1.2 #e Romanian modifier (de + a noun, de + an adverb) may indicate place or time, and its 
equivalent is an adjective or an adverb in post-position to the head-noun: 
e.g. persoanele de faţă / the people present; prietenii mei de acolo / my friends there; zgomotul de 
sus / the noise upstairs; drumul de întoarcere / the road back; exemplul de mai jos / the example 
below; oamenii de pretutindeni / the people everywhere; orele de mâine / the classes tomorrow; 
discuţia de după aceea / the discussion afterwards; noaptea de dinainte / the night before.
3.1.1.3 When the Romanian modifier is expressed by an infinitive or by a supine, and their 
English equivalents are often a gerund in the former case and an infinitive in the latter, these 
occur, as a rule, in postposition to the head:
a) onoarea de a vorbi participanţilor / the honour of addressing the participants; bucuria 
de a te fi întâlnit / the joy of having met you; neplăcerea de a trebui să mă duc acolo / the 
unpleasantness of having to go there; but also: capacitatea de a-şi imagina / the ability to 
imagine (where an English infinitive corresponds to the Romanian infinitive);
b) o lecţie de citit / a lesson to read; cuvinte de ţinut minte / words to remember; o problemă 
de rezolvat / a problem to solve; o cuvântare de făcut / a speech to make; but also: o lecţie de 
condus maşina / a driving lesson (where the Romanian supine corresponds to an English 
gerund, placed in pre-position to the head-noun).
3.1.2 English pre-modifiers as equivalents
3.1.2.1 Very often, in the translation of the deNP into English, a structure shift takes place: the 
word order as well as the modifier structure change, i.e. the Romanian attribute, which describes 
the head, and is expressed by the deNP in postmodification, turns into a non-prepositional noun 
phrase that precedes the head noun: 
e.g. cântec de iubire / love song; şedinţă de catedră / department meeting; cremă de faţă / 
face cream; faţă de masă / table cloth; moară de vânt / wind mill; conferinţă de presă / press 
conference; pată de ulei / oil stain; pană de curent / power cut; raze de lună / moon rays; 
bătaie de inimă / heart beat; jachetă de piele / leather jacket; Doamna de Fier / the Iron Lady; 
proprietar de pământ / land owner; universitate de stat / state university, etc. 
Occasionally, modulation is added to these changes: e,g, ceas de mână / wrist watch. (mână 
– “hand” becomes wrist in English).

#e grammatical number of the modifier may also change: thus, in vânătoare de capete / head 
hunting, the plural capete turns into the singular head.
#e difference in the structure of the English noun phrase may sometimes result in different 
meanings: o ceaşcă de ceai translated as a tea cup, with tea in pre-modification, denotes the type 
of cup in which tea is served, while a cup of tea refers to the content of the cup; a gold ring is a 
ring made of the precious yellow metal, while a heart of gold has an abstract meaning and refers 
to someone who has a very kind nature.
3.1.2.2 #e English premodifier that corresponds to the Romanian deNP may be a noun in the  
Saxon / synthetical genitive; this happens particularly when the attribute denotes time or the author: 
e.g., o şedinţă de trei ore / a three hours’ meeting; vacanţă de două săptămâni / a two weeks’ 
holiday; discuţiile de ieri / yesterday’s talks; lucrare de student / a student’s paper; cuib de pasăre 
/ a bird’s nest; pânză de păianjen / a spider’s web.
3.1.2.3 #ere are instances when the structure shift (the change in word order) is accompanied 
by a class shift (a change in the morphological class to which the modifier belongs). #us:
• #e Romanian deNP modifier denoting the quality of the head may be translated as an 
adjective into English: 
e.g., un tânăr de nădejde / a reliable young man; o săptămână de groază / an awful week, a 
terrible week; o casă de toată frumuseţea / a splendid house; inimă de om / human heart; măsea 
de minte / wise tooth; umeri de bărbat / manly shoulders;
• #e Romanian deNP (still a descriptive modifier) may have a participle as equivalent: e.g., 
organ de conducere / governing body; ochi de broască / bulging eyes; limbă de viperă / forked 
tongue.
3.1.2.4 An interesting case of translation concerns the deNP which, from the point of view 
of its meaning, is only formally a modifier, while its head is only formally a head, because in 
fact, semantically, the latter modifies the modifier: e.g., o frumuseţe de fată means o fată foarte 
frumoasă, o splendoare de inel means un inel splendid. #e translation of such noun phrases takes 
their semantics into account, and the translator must deal with an overlapping of shifts: a double 
function shift (the modifier – the deNP - turns into the head of the phrase in English, and the 
Romanian head turns into an English modifier); at the same time, a class shift takes place as well, 
the Romanian head (a noun) becoming an adjective in English: 
e.g., o frumuseţe de fată / a splendid girl, a very beautiful girl; o splendoare de inel / a 
wonderful / splendid ring; un drac, o pramatie de copil / an awful child; o mizerie de salar / 
very poor pay; o spoială de cunoştinţe / superficial knowledge; o grozăvie de vreme / terrible 
weather; o porcărie de prăjitură / a very bad, an awful cake. 
3.1.2.5 #ere are Romanian noun phrases that contain modifiers expressed by de + supine; these 
are translated into English as noun phrases containing gerunds or, occasionally, participles in 
pre-position to the head:

e.g., cremă de ras / shaving cream; maşină de cusut / sewing machine; apă de băut / drinking 
water; vagon de dormit / sleeping car; (am folosit o) maşină de închiriat / (I used a) rented 
car.
3.1.3 One word equivalent
Having one referent in reality, the whole Romanian noun phrase (head + de modifier) may be 
rendered into English by one word only. #is is mainly a noun: 
e.g.,  articol de fond / editorial; minister de finanţe / the Treasury; o lună de zile / a month; 
pui de lup / cub; pui de găină / chicken; zori de ziuă / dawn; dare de seamă / report; dangăt de 
clopot / toll; concediu de odihnă / holiday, vacation; fier de călcat / iron, etc. 
3.2 #e preposition de may introduce a predicative. When the link verb is a fi (“to be”), the 
predicative deNP is often translated as an of phrase (although other prepositions are also possible) 
or as an infinitive: 
e.g., a fi de aceeaşi vârstă / to be of the same age; a fi de părere / to be of the opinion; e de-ai noştri 
/ s/he is one of ours; casa e de vânzare / the house is for sale; X e de vină / X is to blame. 
If the predicative is expressed by de + supine, an infinitive is used in English: 
e.g., (casa) este de închiriat / (the house) is to let; rămâne de văzut / it remains to be seen; ce 
e de făcut? / what can be done? 
If the predicative denotes the matter out of which the subject is made, the translator may employ 
either the passive of the verb to make followed by an of phrase that refers to the matter, or shifts 
the subject into the position of the predicative, having the latter pre-modified by the word(s) 
denoting the matter: 
e.g., Inelul e de aur / #e ring is made of gold; #is is a gold ring; Poarta e de fier forjat / #e 
gate is made of wrought iron; #is is a wrought iron gate.
3.3 #e preposition de also introduces various adverbials. 
3.3.1 #e adverbial of place usually indicates the starting point of the action, and the preposition 
in English that corresponds to de is from: 
 e.g., Primesc multe scrisori de acolo. / I receive many letters from there.
 L-am adus de jos. / I’ve brought it from downstairs.
 M-a condus de acasă până la bancă. / He accompanied me from home to the bank.
3.3.2 An adverbial of time introduced by de has translation rules that take three important 
moments into account: the starting point of the action, the duration of the action and the 
starting point as well as the end of the action.
• For the exact starting point of the action, the preposition or adverb since is 
used, associated with the present perfect tense:
e.g.. Nu l-am văzut de ieri. / I haven’t seen him since yesterday. (preposition)
Nimeni n-a mai sunat de atunci. / Nobody has called since. (adverb)

If the starting point is a present or a future moment, the adverbial of time may not need any 
preposition:
De azi / de mâine încep să fac cură de slăbire. / I shall start a slimming cure        
  today / tomorrow.
De acum nu mai vorbesc cu tine. / (From now on) I won’t talk to you any 
  longer (starting right now).
When the adverbial indicating the starting point is expressed by a noun or an  adjective which, 
in the deep structure, are predicatives, the English equivalent of the de NP is a time clause 
introduced by the conjunction since:
e.g., O cunosc de fată (= de când era fată). / I’ve known her since she was a young 
girl.
Nu l-am văzut de mic (= de când era mic). / I haven’t seen him since he was a 
 child. 
• #e duration of the action is usually expressed in English by the 
preposition for, associated with the present perfect tense in direct speech:
e.g., Lucrez la acest proiect de o lună. / I have been working on this project for a 
month. 
Nu l-am văzut de mult. / I haven’t seen him for a long time. 
• #e starting point and the end of an action are present in the following 
example, where de is correlated with până and its equivalent, from, with till: 
e.g., Munceşte de dimineaţa până seara. / She works from morning till evening.
• Sometimes the preposition de connects two identical items, with an
iterative meaning (denoting that something is happening repeatedly or continuously): 
e.g., M-am dus acolo zi de zi. / I went there day after day. 
Era de servici săptămână de săptămână. / He was on duty week after week.
• #e adverbial of time may be expressed by an adverbial numeral or by 
similar constructions that have an iterative meaning; in English similar multiplicative or 
frequency adverbials are used; these, however, do not need a preposition:
 e.g., S-a servit de trei ori. / He helped himself three times.
 T e-am rugat de o mie de ori. / I have asked you a hundred times.
De nenumărate ori m-am întrebat ce face. / I have often wondered how you were doing.
3.3.3 #e preposition de may often introduce an adverbial of cause and an adverbial of purpose, 
being translated by various prepositions:
 e.g., Plângea de bucurie. / She was crying  for  joy. (cause) 
  Plângea de durere. / She was crying with pain.  (cause)
   Am murit de ruşine. / I died of embarrassment. (cause)
   Ne plângem mereu de preţurile mari. / We are constantly complaining about                   
  the high prices. (cause)

       Avem timp de discuţii? / Do we time time for discusions? (purpose)
       L-am primit de cadou. / I have received it as a gift. (purpose)
3.3.4 #e adverbial of manner is often introduced by de. 
• When the adverbial is of manner proper, it is mainly expressed by a deNP,  
which is translated as an adverb or as some prepositional noun phrase:
  e.g., De obicei mă culc târziu. / (As a rule) I (usually) go to bed late.
  Am luat această decizie de comun acord. / We have taken this decision by 
  common consent / with one accord.
• When the adverbial of manner is a quantifier expressing measure, value,
or having a superlative meaning, one may distinguish the following patterns that are 
interesting from a translational point of view:
a) the preposition de precedes some noun that is determined and quantified by a cardinal 
numeral; the English translation will consist of a noun phrase (cardinal number + noun) 
that precedes an adjective:
  e.g., un drum lat de patru metri / a road four meters wide
  o clădire înaltă de şapte etaje / a building seven storeys high
       
b) the preposition de is part of a noun phrase that has a superlative or emphatic meaning; 
this may be translated as a (prepositional) noun phrase, as an adjective or an adverb with 
similar meaning: 
  e.g., M-am speriat de moarte. / I was scared to death.
  M-am distrat de minune. / I had a wonderful / a great time.
  Răcnea de mama focului. / He was yelling awfully / like hell.
Notice the class shift in the last two examples, where the Romanian deNP turns into an 
adjective (wonderful, great) or and adverb (awfully).
c) the preposition de introduces an adverb or an adjective preceded by a quantifier, 
an adverb or adverbial phrase that denotes the force of an action or the quality of a noun. 
What we have in English is simply an adverb or an intensifying adverb followed by another 
adverb or by an adjective (the two often representing in fact an absolute superlative):
  e.g., Nu ştii cât de urât s-a purtat. / You don’t know how awfully he has behaved.
  Vorbeşte atât de frumos. / He speaks so beautifully.        
  Este extraordinar de interesant. / It is most interesting.
  Este un gest cât se poate de frumos. / It is a most wonderful gesture.
        
d) de may connect two identical items to suggest that something is done in the
 manner or at the rate specified; its equivalent in English is the preposition by:
  e.g., Am verificat sumele cifră de cifră. / We have checked the sums figure by figure.
   A examinat dosarul foaie de foaie. / He examined the file page by page.
  Am analizat textul cuvânt de cuvânt. / I have analysed the text word by word.

3.3.5 #e preposition de may introduce an adverbial of relation, which usually
 modifies an adjective, an adverb or a verb. #e Romanian adverbial may be expressed by:
 a) a prepositional noun phrase:
  e.g., E foarte sigură de ea. / She is very sure of herself.
   E bun de gură. / He has a glib tongue. (notice the modulation: gură “mouth”
  becomes tongue - and the function shift: the predicative bun turns into the attribute glib)
   E încet de minte. / He has a slow mind. (notice the function shift: the 
  predicative încet  becomes the attribute slow) 
b) a supine that modifies an adjective or, sometimes, is in free variation with a prepositional 
noun phrase. In the former case, the adverbial (de + supine) and the modified part of sentence 
(the adjective) may turn into one English word only or the adverbial (de + supine) becomes 
an infinitive; in the latter case, the supine becomes a gerund, while its alternate (de + noun) 
remains a prepositional noun phrase in English as well: 
  e.g., Ion este bun de însurat. / John is marriageable/ eligible.
  Prăjitura este bună de mâncat. / #e cake is edible/ eatable. 
  Comportamentul său este greu de înţeles. / His behaviour is difficult to understand.
  T extul este uşor de urmărit. / #e text is easy to follow.
   Este demn de admirat / de admiraţie. / He is  worth admiring.  / He is worthy 
  of admiration. 
3.4 One of the most frequent uses of the preposition de is that of introducing a prepositional 
object after a great number of verbs. Its equivalent in English varies a lot, depending to a high 
degree on the semantic features of the verb (i.e. the head of the verb phrase). 
 De is the typical preposition for the agent (the doer of the action) in passive sentences,  
 and its equivalent is by in English: 
 e.g., A fost invitat de mine. / He was invited by me.
 Other examples of prepositional objects and their translations are: 
 Vorbeau de mine. / #ey were talking about me.
 Şi-au apărat ţara de duşmani. / #ey defended their country against enemies.
 T e rog să nu râzi de mine. / Please don’t laugh at me.
 A încercat să se prindă de bară. / He tried to clutch at the rail.
 L-au luat de nebun. / #ey took him for a madman.
 S-a despărţit de ea acum cinci ani. / He separated from her five years ago.
 Am dat de el la teatru. / I ran into him at the theatre.
 Îmi aminteşte de sora mea. / She reminds me of my sister.
 Ţine-te de braţul meu. / Lean on my arm.
 Aluatul mi s-a lipit de degete. / #e dough stuck to my fingers.
 Succesul tău mă umple de bucurie. / Your success fills me with joy,etc.
Particular attention must be paid to the frequent cases when Romanian prepositional verbs have 
English transitive verbs as equivalents, and the Romanian prepositional object turns into an 
English direct object: 

  e.g. Îmi amintesc de povestea aceea. / I remember that story.
  M-am folosit de toate relaţiile mele. / I have used all my connections.
  Am nevoie de un sfat. / I need a piece of advice.
  T e rog să-ţi vezi de treabă. / Please mind your own business.
  Nu se teme de nimeni. / She fears no one.
  Cred că se fereşte de mine. / I think he is avoiding me.
  Am şters mobila de praf. / I have dusted the furniture.
  M-am apucat de brodat / de broderie  /  I have taken up embroidering.
#e Romanian prepositional object may also modify an adjective and in this case it is translated 
mainly as a gerund or as a (prepositional) noun phrase: 
  e.g. Este incapabil de a lua o decizie. / He is incapable of taking a decision.
         Este demn de laudă. / He deserves being praised; he is worth praising; he           
  deserves our praise. 
  Este iubitoare de pisici. / She is a cat-lover.
   Este plin de bani. / He is loaded with money.
3.5 Very often the Romanian verb is transitive and the syntactic function of the word introduced 
by de is that of direct object; this is expressed mainly by a supine, but can also be a noun 
phrase: 
  e.g., Am de spus ceva despre asta. / I have something to say about it.
   Mi-a adus de băut. / He brought me something to drink.
  Am de rezolvat două probleme. / I have two problems to solve.
  Am terminat de gătit. / I have finished cooking.
  Avem de toate. / We have everything
   Ne-a dat de mâncare. / She gave us food.
As one can see, the supine is translated either as an infinitive (part of an accusative + infinitive 
construction) or as a gerund; the Romanian prepositional noun phrase becomes a non-
prepositional noun phrase in English.
3.6 Unusual as it may seem, subjects expressed by de + supine are also possible, and they are 
translated into English as infinitives: 
  e.g., Este imposibil de ajuns acolo. / It is impossible to get there.
   Este bine de ştiut. / It is good to know.
Similarly to the function of direct object (which, however, with many Romanian verbs, is marked 
in the accusative case by the preposition pe, not by de, – e.g., Îl văd pe tata / I can see father), the 
subject is not normally governed by a preposition. Pană-Dindelegan (2003, 206-7) suggests that, 
when de introduces a direct object or a subject expressed by a supine, it is not a preposition, but 
a complementizer that marks this Romanian verb form (just like English to, which marks the 
infinitive). 

3.7 T wo other uses of de as a preposition are those of connecting cardinal numbers (except for 
numbers 1-19 or compounds with them) to mii (“thousands”), milioane (˝millions”), miliarde 
(˝billions”) to form compound cardinal numerals (e.g., treizeci de mii / thirty thousand, două 
sute douăzecişişapte de milioane / two hundred and twenty seven million, cincizeci de miliarde / 
fifty billion ), and the adjectival articles cel, cea to an ordinal numeral (e.g.,  cel de al cincilea copil 
/ the fifth child, cea de a şasea carte / the sixth book). 
In a construction typical of the Romanian language (cf. Avram 2005, 1: 296; 2: 87), the cardinal 
numeral (again, only from 20 upwards) is connected by the preposition de to a noun (e.g., 25 
de mesaje / 25 messages); since the numeral is a quantifier, it may be considered to form a unit 
with the preposition, and together be the determiner of the noun, regarded as the nucleus of the 
phrase. On the other hand, when the numeral has an indefinite meaning, the syntactic relations 
within the noun phrase are less clear (e.g., mii de oameni / thousands of people, zeci de cărţi / 
tens of books). 
Except for this last case, when in English the preposition of is used, in all the other instances 
where numerals are present, no preposition is necessary in the translation.
 As a conjunction, de may mark relations of coordination between clauses that have the same 
syntactic function (this happens less and less frequently in the literary language) or, more often, 
relations of subordination between clauses; in the latter case, de is often part of a conjunction 
phrase.
4.1 De serves as a copulative conjunction when it introduces alternative concessive-conditional 
clauses. #is value is rendered into English by the correlative sequence whether (...) or, which 
coordinates two subordinate clauses: e.g., De vorbesc, de tac, tot atâta-i. / It’s all the  same 
whether I speak or I keep silent. #e same meaning is obtained if the conjunction whether is 
followed by or not, with ellipsis of the verb in the second clause: Whether I speak or not, it’s all 
the same.
If the verb of the first Romanian clause is repeated in the second clause, it is obligatorily negated. 
In this case, de of the second clause may alternate with the conjunction ori, with the same 
coordinating value: 
De-ţi place, de / ori nu-ţi place, mă duc la petrecere. / Whether you like it or not, I’ll go to 
the party. 
When the repeated Romanian verb is the verb a fi (“to be”), but the predicatives differ in the two 
clauses, the negation is absent; in English both the first and the second coordinated clause may 
display ellipsis of conjunction, subject and verb:
 De e vară, de e iarnă, aleargă în fiecare dimineaţă în parc. /
 [Whether it is] summer or winter, he will jog in the park every morning.  

4.2 As a subordinating conjunction, de may have both adverbial and non-adverbial values, 
depending on the type of clause it introduces.  
4.2.1 Adverbial values
4.2.1.1 De may introduce clauses that are on the borderline between coordination and 
subordination, allowing for different interpretations. #e case discussed by various linguists is 
that of the imperative clause connected by de to another imperative clause; the latter is regarded 
either as a clause coordinated to the former or as a final clause (cf. Avram 2005, 1: 646; Pană-
Dindelegan 2003, 202-3; Avram 2001, 410, 441; Avram 1963, 1: 408). #e main reason why 
de is regarded by many linguists as a copulative coordinator in this case is that the imperative 
mood is not typical of subordinate clauses. Such sentences will be best translated into English by 
employing the copulative conjunction and:
 Du-te de vezi ce se întâmplă. / Go and see what is going on.
 Vino de-ţi ia o prăjitură. / Come and take a cake.
#e Romanian verb in the clause introduced by de is not necessarily an imperative, but may 
occur in one of the tenses (usually past) of the indicative mood; this does not make the relation 
between the two clauses any clearer. A non-finite form (an infinitive) is preferred in English in 
this case (in free variation with an and clause): 
Mergea la el săptămânal de-i povestea ce s-a mai întâmplat. / He would visit him
every week, (in order) to tell him / and told him the latest news.
Se duse de cumpără nişte zarzavat. / He went to buy/ and bought some vegetables
A venit de l-a rugat să-l ajute. – He came to ask / and asked him for help.
A class shift or transposition may take place, by means of which the Romanian subordinate verb 
turns into a noun phrase, with no change of meaning: 
 S-a dus de s-a culcat. – He went to bed.
It is interesting to note that, in all these cases, the Romanian verb in the clause introduced by de 
is in the same tense and mood, expressing a real action (indicative or imperative), as the main 
clause verb (which is mostly a verb of movement).
4.2.1.2 In colloquial Romanian or in poetry, de is the equivalent of dacă in conditional clauses, 
and its English equivalent is if or unless (if the clause is negative):
De/dacă vine şi el, o să mă bucur foarte mult. / If he comes too, I’ll be very happy / pleased.
De nu mă invită, nu mă duc. / I won’t go unless he invites me.
De-oi adormi, te rog sa mă trezeşti. / If I should fall asleep, please wake me up.
De-aş şti, ţi-aş spune. / If I knew, I would tell you.
De may introduce elliptic negative conditional clauses, a sentence pattern used to express a 
warning or threat:
De vine, bine, de nu, voi ruga pe altcineva să mă ajute. / If he comes, fine, if he
doesn’t, I’ll ask someone else to help me.
Sǎ speli vasele, cǎ de nu, vezi tu! / Do the dishes or else!

Notice in the last example that or else (“if not”, “otherwise”) also takes over the threat or warning 
expressed by “vezi tu!”.
4.2.1.3 When introducing concessive clauses, de, preceded sometimes by şi (“and”) is translated 
as although, even if, even though, in spite of the fact that:
Şi de-i dau bani, tot nu e mulţumit. /  Even if/ even though I give him money, he is not 
happy.
(Şi) de-aş şti că te superi, nu pot să nu-ţi spun ce gândesc. / Even though/ even if 
 I knew you would get angry, I can’t help telling you what I think.
#e conjunction phrases de unde, chiar de, nici de, de bine ce may also introduce a concessive 
clause.
 De unde / de bine ce zicea că nu vine, a apărut pe la ora opt. / While / in spite of
the fact that / although he said he wouldn’t come, he showed up around eight.
Chiar de mă invită, tot nu mă duc. / Even if she invites me, I won’t go.
Nu mă mişc de aici nici de mă plăteşte cu aur. / I won’t budge from here, even if 
 I’m paid in gold.
4.2.1.4 In causative clauses, when followed by an adverb or an adjective that is thematized, de 
is often correlated with ce:
De mult ce vorbeşte, mă doare capul. / I have a head ache because she talks so
   much.
De răcită ce sunt, de abia vorbesc. / I can hardly speak, because I have a bad cold.
 / As I have a bad cold, I can hardly speak.
Avram (2001, 441) interprets such clauses as clauses of manner proper.
Since the adverb or the adjective preceded by de is felt to be slightly emphasized, it also possible 
to translate such sentences by performing a double shift: a class shift, as the intensifier so or the 
pronoun such take the place of the conjunction, and a syntactic shift, which changes the role of 
the two clauses: the causative clause becomes the main clause, while the main clause turns into 
a clause of result:
 She talks so much / so much does she talk, that I have a headache.
 I have such a bad cold, that I can hardly speak. 
Pană-Dindelegan (2003, 201) claims that the causative use of de is limited to clauses that depend 
on a rhetorical question or an imperative clause:
 De eşti aşa obosită, de ce ai venit? / nu veni! / Since / as you are so tired, why
   have you come? / don’t come!
#e pattern containing the imperative in the Romanian main clause may, however, also be 
interpreted as containing a condition, in which case, de will correspond to English if: 
 If you are so tired, don’t come!

4.2.1.5 A special use of  de occurs in correlative conjunction phrases (de ce ... de ce, de ce ... de 
aceea) introducing adverbial clauses of manner that denote a gradual progress of the action in 
the main clause: the latter increases / decreases in direct proportion to the increase / decrease of 
the action in the former. One or both of the clauses contain either a comparative of inequality or 
some verb denoting gradual action:
 De ce câştiga mai mulţi bani, de aceea se făcea mai zgârcită. / !e more money 
 she made, the more tight-fisted she became.
 De ce îl asculta, de ce îşi dădea seama că nu are dreptate. / !e more she listened
   to him, the more she realized he was wrong.
 De ce se înnorează, se întunecă. / !e cloudier it gets, the darker it gets.
#e two equivalent English clauses are joined asyndetically and each is opened by an adjective or 
an adverb in the comparative degree, preceded by the definite article.
#e conjunction phrase de parcă introduces a comparative clause, and its equivalents are the 
conjunctions as if, as though:
 Se poartă de parcă ar fi stăpân aici. /  He behaves as if he were the master here.
4.2.1.6 #e consecutive use of de is quite frequent; the clause of result may sometimes have a 
superlative meaning or may suggest a superlative evaluation:
 A venit mai aproape, de l-a putut vedea toată lumea. / He came closer, so that
   everybody was able to see him.
 N-am avut nici o veste câteva zile, de-am crezut că înnebunesc. / I had no news
   for several days, so I thought I would go insane. 
An intensifier may occur in the main clause, while the clause of result further intensifies the 
sentence meaning:
 Era aşa un praf, de nu mai vedeai nimic. / #ere was such dust, that you couldn’t 
  see anything.
 Era extrem de deşteaptă, de toată lumea o admira. / She was so very intelligent,
   that everybody admired her.
 Aşa frumos a cântat, de am început să plâng. / So beautifully did she sing, that I
   started to cry.
 
4.2.1.7 Conjunction phrases like de când, de pe când, de cum, de îndată ce, which mark the 
beginning of a period of time, or (ori) de câte ori, which indicates the repetition of an action, 
introduce time clauses:
 A crescut iarba de când am fost aici. / #e grass has grown since I was here.
 Se pricepea la toate de pe când era tânăr. / He had been good at everything ever
   since he was a young man.
 Am intrat în casă de cum / de îndată ce s-a înserat. / I went in as soon as it got dark.
 (Ori) de câte ori îmi pune întrebări, îi răspund. / Whenever he asks me questions, I 
  answer.

4.2.2 Non-adverbial values
De may also introduce subject, object and predicative clauses, having the English if, whether 
and that as equivalents; it also introduces relative clauses, and then it corresponds to the English 
relative pronouns that and which.
4.2.2.1 As a connector in subject clauses, de blurs the difference between an assertion, typically 
introduced by the conjunction că, and a statement or a claim that something is or was possible, 
typically introduced by să; in both cases, de is translated as that:
 S-a întâmplat odată de- / că  a venit mai târziu. / It once happened that he came 
  later.
 S-a întâmplat de a pus / să pună  şi întrebări prosteşti. / It happened that he also 
   asked stupid questions.
#e English sentences may allow the application of the transformational rule known as subject-
subject raising, in which case that is deleted:
 He happened to also ask stupid questions.
When de is a synonym of dacă, it introduces subject clauses that occur after verbs typical of 
reported speech; sometimes these clauses are wrongly taken for conditional clauses in Romanian, 
but are often best translated into English as conditional clauses; however, in English they may 
also be subject clauses or object clauses:
 De-ar fi plecat pentru totdeauna ar fi fost nemaipomenit. / If he had left for good,
   it would have been great.
 Ar fi mai bine de-ar  pleca acum. / It would be better if he left now. 
 Nu se ştie de va ajunge la timp. / One doesn’t know whether / if he’ll get there in 
  time.
 De a cumpărat casa ori nu e absolut neimportant. / Whether he has bought the 
  house or not is absolutely unimportant.
    
4.2.2.2 De may introduce predicative clauses, normally associated with [+ abstract] main clause 
subjects:
 Întrebarea este de poţi să te duci acolo singur. / #e question is if / whether you 
  can go there by yourself.
Certain sentences undergo syntactic shifts in the procees of translation; thus in the following 
example, the predicative clause may turn into a noun phrase which functions as a predicative or 
into an infinitive which is part of an aspective predicate; also in the latter case, the subject of the 
main clause in the source language becomes an object of the infinitive in the target language:
 A ajuns de ţi-e milă de dânsul. / He has turned into a pitiful person. / One has 
  come to pity him.
4.2.2.3 In colloquial speech, object clauses (direct and prepositional) may be introduced by de. 
If the object clause is a reported one, it occurs after words belonging to the sphere of information 

in the main clause:
 A încercat să afle de-or ajunge şi acolo. / He tried to find out if / whether they’d 
  get there.
 Sunt curioasă de va zice ceva. / I am curious whether she’ll say something.  
#e connector is often a phrase (de unde, de când, cum de), introducing an indirect question or 
an indirect exclamatory sentence:
 M-a întrebat cum de-am terminat aşa repede. / He asked me how come I had  
  finished so quickly.
 Se mira de unde am atâţia bani. / He wondered where I had so much money from.
 A vrut să ştie de când sunt acolo. / He wanted to know how long I had been there.
4.2.2.4 De may have the value of a relative pronoun, introducing relative clauses; its English 
equivalents will be relative pronouns:
 Cartea de-am cumpărat-o ieri este scrisă de un celebru autor. / #e book that I 
  bought yesterday is written by a famous author.
 Rochia e aia de-ai văzut-o în vitrină. / #e dress is the one which / that you saw 
  in the shop-window.
#e relative clause may have a consecutive meaning:
 Am să fac o prăjitură de o s-o ţină minte toţi. / I shall make a cake that everybody 
  will remember.
 I am aware that, in spite of its length, my paper does not exhaust the topic and that there may be 
more uses of de that may not have been taken into account.
Both as a preposition and as a conjunction, as well as when it has other uses, de has a great 
number of equivalents in English (about, after, against, as, at, by, for, from, into, of, on, since, to, 
with, when de is a preposition, and  and, although, as, as if, as though, as soon as, because, even if, 
even though, if, since, so that, that, unless, whether, while, when de is a conjunction). Of the 54 uses 
identified in the paper, de was not translated in fourteen cases only, while seven of the structures 
in which it occurs allowed, depending on their meaning, either a translation where de had an 
equivalent or one in which it was omitted.
One can easily notice that, in the translation process, de cannot be viewed as a separate, 
independent item; the translator must take into consideration the whole structure in which the 
word is used, the meaning and the syntactic role of this structure. As a result, in the translation 
of such structures into English, besides instances when word for word translation is possible, 
various shifts may take place – changes in the morphological class of the words introduced by 
de, changes of word order, of grammatical case or number, changes of syntactic function or of 
point of view.