Lesson 27

Pronoun
The personal pronoun used as a direct object:

When the personal pronoun is a direct object and a substitute for nouns that do not designate human
beings, the unstressed forms of the 3rd person are used:

Punem dicţionarul aici. We put the dictionary here.

Îl punem aici. We put it here.
Punem cartea pe masă. We put the book here.
O punem pe masă. We put it here.
Am auzit un zgomot. We heard a noise.
L-am auzit. We heard it.
Vom citi o poezie românească. We'll read a Romanian poem.
O vom citi. We'll read it.

When being a direct object and a substitute for nouns that designate human beings, the unstressed
forms of the personal pronoun in all persons can be used, alone or accompanied by the equivalent full
form :

Mă aştepţi? Mă aştepţi pe mine? Will you wait for me ?

Te ascult. Te ascult pe tine. I'm listening to you.
Îl / o iubesc. Îl iubesc pe el. / O iubesc pe ea. I love him / her.
Ne aşteptaţi? Ne aşteptaţi pe noi? Will you wait for us ?
Vă aşteptăm. Vă aşteptăm pe voi. We will wait for you.
Îi / le aşteptăm. Îi aşteptăm pe ei. Le aşteptăm pe ele. We are waiting for them (masc. / fem.)

The stressed forms are used either independentely, in isolated constructions, or for emphasis. When
used as direct objects designating human beings, the stressed forms of the personal pronoun in the
accusative are preceded by the prepositionpe (the prepositionpe in this structure does not have lexical
meaning, but only the function of a grammatical marker of the accusative case of people), and are used
together with the corresponding unstressed forms:

— Te iubesc pe tine. I love you (I don't love someone else).

—Pe mine ? — (Do you love) me ?
—Da, pe tine! Yes, (I love) you !
In other words, in such structures the unstressed forms of the personal pronoun are required, while the
presence of the stressed forms is optional.