Page:A simplified grammar of the Roumanian language.djvu/21

There are feminine nouns also which end with the vowels:

e short: carte, ‘book;’ păne, ‘bread;’ curte, ‘court.’

a long: basma, ‘handkerchief;’ para, ‘farthing.’

e long: ste, ‘star;’ bele, ‘grievance.’

The Plural of Feminine Nouns.

There are several ways in which the feminine plural is formed. Nouns ending in ă make their plural by changing ă into e:

mamă,	‘mother;’	mame,	‘mothers.’
dómnă,	‘lady;’	dómne,	‘ladies.’
copilă,	‘girl;’	copile,	‘girls.’
regină,	‘queen;’	regine,	‘queens.’

Those ending in e short, take ĭ in the plural:

carte,	‘book;’	cărṭĭ,	‘books.’
păne,	‘bread;’	pănĭ,	‘breads.’
curte,	‘court.’	curṭĭ,	‘courts.’

Those ending in a long, add the particle le to the singular:

basma,	‘handkerchief;’	basmale,	‘handkerchiefs.’
para,	‘farthing;’	parale,	‘money,’ or ‘farthings.’

Those ending in e long (pronounced ea, é in the singular), and zi (the only word ending in i long), add also le for the plural:

ste,	‘star;’	stele,	‘stars.’
căṭe,	‘bitch;’	căṭele,	‘bitches.’
nue,	‘rod;’	nuele,	‘rods.’
zi,	‘day;’	zile,	‘days.’

Note.—If vacă, ‘cow,’ has for plural vacĭ; soră, ‘sister,’ sorĭ; cale, ‘way,’ căĭ, this is done for the sake of euphony.