# Usage of pronoun "își"



## 盲人瞎馬

I don't understand what își does. It is defined as "unstressed reflexive dative of el, ea, ei and ele", but I don't understand the dative part. I know what dative means, but I don't see any _dativeness _whenever își is used. 



> Tocmai și-a deschis cel mai mare magazin din lume.



Is the dative part that is opened the biggest store for itself? Is that what's written?

Thanks.


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## farscape

Looks like you’re talking about the reflexive pronoun *sine*, which in the dative case has the form *își* and the *î* is in certain cases, like in your example, elided.

The correct translation/interpretation would be *she/he opened the store for herself/himself*, which may not sound right in English but it sounds right in Romanian where certain verbs have a (reflexive) pronoun in their structure “when the subject of these verbs and their object (direct or inidrect) are the same, i.e. the action is subject-oriented. These verbs are called reflexive verbs.” (from Romanian Grammar by Dana Conjocaru).

One could easliy say he/she opened a store (el/ea a deschis un magazin) however the use of the reflexive pronoun reinforces/hihglights the personal character of the action (ea/el și-a deschis un magazin). It’s kind of like saying *she/he opened a store of their own*.


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## 盲人瞎馬

Can you rewrite "mă spăl pe față" as "îmi spăl fața"?

Also why does the verb a-și imagina require și? Why not just say a imagina?

Sorry if the questions sound out of order. I'm trying to understand this pronoun.


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## farscape

"Can you rewrite "mă spăl pe față" as "îmi spăl fața"?"
Yes, you can - mostly depends on the context and any nuances you want to bring to your sentence. The most likely way to make/write that statement is "mă spăl pe față" ( I wash my face). BTW, I'd use the same English translation for "îmi spăl fața", without additional context.

"Also why does the verb a-și imagina require și? Why not just say a imagina?"
In that context, *a imagina* is used as a reflexive verb because the action is directed towards the subject which performs it. If you were to say *eu imaginez/închipui c-ai pleca*t it won't sound natural  (eu îmi imaginez/închipui c-ai plecat).

On the other hand, the verb *a trece* can't be used that way, it's wrong to say *(eu) îmi trec strada* (I cross the street) as opposed to *eu trec strada**. When crossing the street the action is directed towards the street, when I imagine (things) I imagine for/to myself.
(*) I cross my street is *eu trec strada mea*. Not to make things too complicated but this correct:* Îmi trece prin minte* (here is a thought//I'm thinking of this... )

For your reference here is the dictionary link to the verb *a imagina* from dexonline.ro.
There is a lot more info about pronominal and reflexive verbs here  - I'm assuming you'll be able to follow the text in Romanian.
Note: CD/CI - Complement Direct/Indirect

Here is a list of several reflexive verbs in Romanian from the link (almost all can function, with a somewhat different meaning though, as standard verbs by removing the reflexive pronoun):
"*Verbe reflexive*: a se ruga, a-și reveni, a se bucura, a se mira, a se gândi, a-și închipui (my note, a-şi imagina), a se strădui, a-și bate joc, a-și da seama, a-și aminti, a se odihni, a se dezgheța,  a se apuca, a se ambiționa, a se plimba, a se trezi, a se teme, a-și uita, a se veșteji, a se numi, etc."


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## Caktus

There are several uses for the dative case in Romanian. In my opinion, what we have here is a *possessive dative* and your sentence can be rewritten as:

Tocmai *și*-a deschis cel mai mare magazin din lume.
Tocmai a deschis cel mai mare magazin *al său* din lume.

"*îmi *spăl fața" is also a case of possessive dative and in English it is translated using a possessive pronoun "I wash *my *face...". In Romanian you could also say "spăl fața *mea*", but it sounds unusual.


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## irinet

Caktus said:


> There are several uses for the dative case in Romanian. In my opinion, what we have here is a *possessive dative👌.*


Hi,
You can also think of a mirror and the way it projects your image back. The same happens with these verbs that get reflexive pronouns. I believe that it's useful to underline a second idea that the subject does the action alone, by itself, without any help implied.


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