Phrasebook

Past tense 4   »   Trecut 4

84 [eighty-four]

Past tense 4

Past tense 4

84 [optzeci şi patru]

+

Trecut 4

+

You can click on each blank to see the text or:   

English (US) Romanian Play More
to read a c--i a citi 0 +
I read. Am c----. Am citit. 0 +
I read the whole novel. Am c---- t-- r------. Am citit tot romanul. 0 +
     
to understand a î------e a înţelege 0 +
I understood. Am î------. Am înţeles. 0 +
I understood the whole text. Am î------ t-- t-----. Am înţeles tot textul. 0 +
     
to answer a r------e a răspunde 0 +
I answered. Am r------. Am răspuns. 0 +
I answered all the questions. Am r------ l- t---- î----------. Am răspuns la toate întrebările. 0 +
     
I know that – I knew that. Şt-- a--- – a- ş---- a---. Ştiu asta – am ştiut asta. 0 +
I write that – I wrote that. Sc--- a--- – a- s---- a---. Scriu asta – am scris asta. 0 +
I hear that – I heard that. Au- a--- – a- a---- a---. Aud asta – am auzit asta. 0 +
     
I’ll get it – I got it. Ia- a--- – a- l--- a---. Iau asta – am luat asta. 0 +
I’ll bring that – I brought that. Ad-- a--- – a- a--- a---. Aduc asta – am adus asta. 0 +
I’ll buy that – I bought that. Cu---- a--- – a- c------- a---. Cumpăr asta – am cumpărat asta. 0 +
     
I expect that – I expected that. Aş---- a--- – a- a------- a---. Aştept asta – am aşteptat asta. 0 +
I’ll explain that – I explained that. Ex---- a--- – a- e------- a---. Explic asta – am explicat asta. 0 +
I know that – I knew that. Cu---- a--- – a- c------- a---. Cunosc asta – am cunoscut asta. 0 +
     

Download MP3 (.zip files)

Negative words aren't translated into the native language

When reading, multilinguals translate subconsciously into their native language. This happens automatically; that is, the readers do it without realizing. It could be said that the brain functions like a simultaneous translator. But it doesn't translate everything! One study has shown that the brain has a built-in filter. This filter decides what gets translated. And it appears that the filter ignores certain words. Negative words aren't translated into the native language. Researchers selected native speakers of Chinese for their experiment. All test subjects spoke English as their second language. The test subjects had to rate various English words. These words had different emotional content. There were positive, negative and neutral terms. While the test subjects read the words, their brains were examined. That is, the researchers measured the electrical brain activity. In doing so, they could see how the brain worked. Certain signals are generated during the translation of words. They indicate that the brain is active. However, the test subjects showed no activity with the negative words. Only the positive or neutral terms were translated. Researchers don't yet know why this is. Theoretically, the brain has to process all words the same. It could be, however, that the filter quickly examines each word. It is analyzed while still being read in the second language. If a word is negative, the memory is blocked. In other words, it can't think of the word in the native language. People can react very sensitively to words. Perhaps the brain wants to protect them from emotional shock…