# Next to the house



## SerinusCanaria3075

I have a quick and easy question. From what I understand the preposition "_lângă_" is required by the accusative case. So should the noun after such *preposition* have a definite article or not?

_Magazinul e chiar *lângă* casă_.

Shouldn't it be "_casa_" rather than "_casă_" to say: 
_The store is right next to the house_?


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## Trisia

Quick, yes. Easy, no 

Short answer: No.
Long[er] answer: It should not. I have no idea why, but I suspect it's because "lângă casă" is an adverbial. Not that this would actually mean anything.


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## OldAvatar

*casă *is correct.
You don't need a definite article in this case, so *casa *would be incorrect. In case  that the speaker would like to point out which house is that, the new house, for example, then the phrase will be like this:
*
Magazinul este chiar lângă casa cea nouă*.
_The store is right next to the new house._


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## SerinusCanaria3075

I see. I was just needed to make sure "casă" was correct, which it is if the sentence ends with the noun but if an adjective or possessive follows it then it would require the definite article. 

One last question using the same sentence. If I were to say (removing "_chiar_"):
_The store is right next to my house._ 

Would _*pe*_ be needed?:
_Magazinul este *pe* lângă casa mea_.


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## Trisia

Actually you can use it or lose it, your choice. Yo me, they have slightly different meanings though.

If I say "magazinul este lângă casa mea," I take it to mean it's either adjacent or very close.

"Magazinul este pe lângă casa mea" is...  quite loose in meaning. The store is over there somewhere, close to my house.


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## SerinusCanaria3075

Okay. Thanks to both of you for the help.


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## OldAvatar

Actually this form is frequently used in spoken language. I also reckon it is, at least, doubtful but it is still used:
_ Magazinul este pe lângă casa mea._

It is probably a reminiscence of:
_ Magazinul este undeva pe lângă casa mea._
*The store is somewhere close to my house.

*Also, in all these situations, in order to have a much clear message, I prefer to use the verb _a (se) afla_, instead of _a fi_. But I guess that's just a matter of choice.
_
Magazinul se află undeva pe lângă casa mea._

Best regards!


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## SerinusCanaria3075

So _pe lângă_ is not the most accurate way to say an object is next to another. It's closer to "by/close/near the house" rather than actually "next to it". On the other hand I was unaware the the verb _afla_ can have the sense of "a fi prezent" when used in the reflexive form. 
However, there are two things that still give me a headache.

1. Is there a difference in meaning when one uses *de lângă*?
2.When I searched for lângă:
*2 c)* _*alături de*_ - is this another way to say "next to" or is it only used for comparisons like _Ion looks small next to him_.

Sorry to keep insisting. It's just that in Spanish we always use "_al lado de_" (similar to Portuguese _ao lado de_) to say "_next to"_ anything.


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## OldAvatar

> 1. Is there a difference in meaning when one uses *de lângă*?


In my oppinion, *de lângă* is locating the place more precise than *pe lângă*. When you say *pe lângă*, the meaning is, at least in spoken language, that the place is somewhere _close _to a known place, while *de lângă* explains that the place is _exactly _next to that known place.



> *2 c)* _*alături de*_ - is this another way to say "next to" or is it only used for comparisons like _Ion looks small next to him_.


*
alături de* means the same thing as *lângă*, in general. As for comparison, you use *pe lângă* but not *de lângă*.
Example:
*Ion pare mic pe lângă Florin.
*The logic is that in case you'd place Ion next to Florin, then Ion would look small.


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## SerinusCanaria3075

Perfect, as far as *lângă *goes I don't think there will be any more questions.



OldAvatar said:


> Example:
> *Ion pare mic pe lângă Florin.*


So one can also say "..._alături de Florin_" correct? (or for that matter "_în compara*t*ie cu Florin_")

Something that caught my attention is the fact that "_alături_" comes from the plural of _lătŭs_, and of course adding "ad" to "latera". I guess Romanian didn't want a Sicilian type of sound by simply dropping the _*-s*_ (_allatu_) which is what seems to have happened in Spanish (_al lado_) and Italian (_allato_).


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## OldAvatar

_*În comparaţie cu Florin*_ 
would be the expression that I would prefer to use, IMHO. It is a quite clear expression which ressembles the modern, every day Romanian. It is not that the others are wrong, it is just that this one is the closest to the logical message.

And as an interesting fact, _lângă _and _alături _are very close related, even if they don't look that way at a first look.

lângă = ad longum
alături = ad latera


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## SerinusCanaria3075

Great, it's all clear now. Thanks for the help.


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