# "Should"



## TheSeeker

Hello all,

I'm trying to find the way(s) that the Romanian language expresses English's "Should". In English if we say "you should come to the park on Saturday so we can hang out," or "you must/have to come to the park..." there's an emphatic difference in meaning. The first is more of a request and the second is a demand. In Romanian the only word that I know of that has the same meaning is "Trebiue" but that seems to carry the emphaticness of "must".

Some examples:

1) You should mow the lawn on Friday so you can study on Saturday.

2) You must be here before 5, we can't be 1 minute late.

3) You should have been there, it was a once in a lifetime occurence.

4) You MUST come, it will be a once in a lifetime occurence.



If I'm not being clear enough let me know and I'll go into greater detail.

Thanks!


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## farscape

As you may have guessed by now, there is no direct equivalent for  "should" in Romanian. Why should it be, the languages are quite  different in almost every aspect 

I'll try the best I can to help you with the translations below :

1) You should mow the lawn on Friday so you can study on Saturday.
Direct translation which (to me) does  not convey the fact that it is advisable/recommended to mow the lawn:
1a: (Tu) Ar trebui să tunzi iarba (de) pe peluză vineri ca să poţi învăţa sâmbătă. 
A bit more elaborate but including the advice nuance:
1b: Ar fi bine să tunzi iarba (de) pe peluză vineri ca să poţi învăţa sâmbătă.

Here we have the _conditional-optativ_ (optative-conditional in English) mood of an auxiliary verb (_ar trebui, ar fi_) coupled with the the _conjunctiv_ (subjunctive in English) form of the action verb _a tunde_.

 2) You must be here before 5, we can't be 1 minute late.
Neither an advice nor an option:
2a: (Tu) Trebuie să fii aici înainte de ora 5, (pentru că) nu putem să întârziem nici măcar un minut.
Interesting to note: (to) be here -> să fii aici

 3) You should have been there, it was a once in a lifetime occurrence.
Direct translation which (to me) does  not convey the fact that it was really worth to be there, but it's good enough:
3a: (Tu) Trebuia să fi fost acolo, a fost o ocazie unică (watch for the two forms given by the tenses of the verb _a fi_, first *conjunctiv prezent* _să fii_ and then *conjunctiv imperfect* _să fi fost_):
Closer to the English meaning:
3b: Merita să fi fost acolo, a fost o ocazie unică.

 4) You MUST come, it will be a once in a lifetime occurrence.
Direct translation, doesn't sound good in Romanian though:
4a: (Tu) Trebuie să vii, va fi o ocazie unică (future tense for _a fi_)
Using subjunctive for the same a fi:
4b: (Tu) Trebuie să vii, o să fie o ocazie unică

The auxiliary verb _a trebui_ (imperative) + subjunctive action verb: Must, have to
The auxiliary verb _a trebui_ (optative-conditional) + subjunctive action verb: Should (not always though).

Best,


.


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## bismann

Hi, 

I will give you my opinion on this. First, I need to say that the Romanian "trebuie" doesn't function in the same way its equivalent(s) in English, lacks the modality form and is impersonal. On these premises, I think it would be best to use certain aid-phrases to help express the best nuance. 

1) You should mow the lawn on Friday so you can study on Saturday.

(for translation purposes, best reading would be from the end to the beginning. in my opinion, this is only a piece of advice, not a demand). 

Ar fi bine să tunzi iarba vineri ca să poți învăța / ca să-ți faci lecțiile sâmbătă.
Ar fi bine să tunzi iarba vineri ca sâmbătă să poți învăța. 
_here the meaning is conveyed towards the second action - study on saturday has become the main purpose, that's why the first action would need to be fulfilled before. _


2) You must be here before 5, we can't be 1 minute late.

Trebuie să fii aici înainte de 5, nu putem întârzia nici un minut. 


3) You should have been there, it was a once in a lifetime occurence.

Ar fi trebuit să fii acolo, a fost o ocazie unică. 
(used the "condițional-optativ", as it expresses a wish that hasn't come true). 


4) You MUST come, it will be a once in a lifetime occurence.

Trebuie sa vii (neapărat) căci este o ocazie unică. 

(here I'd definitely use a modifier, this "neaparat" adverb in our case, as "trebuie" seems to be a bit more general and lacks the idea that the action is imperative (yes, the verb in itself has this meaning, but it's "washed out" by the popular use.)


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## misadro

*should/ought to*  = _ar trebui_
*must* / _trebuie
_

you *should / ought to *= _ar trebui să / __ar fi bine să _/ _ai face bine să .._
you *must *= _trebuie [neapărat / musai] să  
                este [absolut] obligatoriu să 
e*ş*ti obligat să 
                ai obliga*ţ*ia să 

_The difference between *must *and *have to *may be rendered by intonation or by adding ... _din păcate _(unfortunately) ... _îmi pare rău dar _(I'm sorry but_)_... _cu regret_ (regretfully)


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