Pattern
States and feelings use mi-e / ți-e / îi e / ne e / vă e / le e + noun: mi-e rău (I feel sick), mi-e foame (I'm hungry), mi-e sete (I'm thirsty), mi-e somn (I'm sleepy).
Explanation
To express bodily states and feelings, Romanian uses a dative impersonal construction. The literal structure is "to me is + noun." So mi-e rău means "to me is bad" = "I feel sick." Mi-e foame = "to me is hunger" = "I'm hungry." The dative pronoun (mi, ți, îi, ne, vă, le) marks the experiencer.
The clitic forms by person:
- mi-e (to me)
- ți-e (to you, sg.)
- îi e (to him/her)
- ne e (to us)
- vă e (to you, pl.)
- le e (to them)
The "e" is the third-person singular of a fi. So technically: mie îmi este → contracted to mi-e. The hyphen between mi and e is mandatory in writing.
This construction covers many states: mi-e foame, mi-e sete, mi-e somn, mi-e frig, mi-e cald, mi-e rău, mi-e bine, mi-e dor (I miss [someone/something]), mi-e frică (I'm afraid). Memorize them as set phrases.
Examples
| Romanian | English |
|---|---|
| Mi-e rău. Trebuie să mă întind. | I feel sick. I need to lie down. |
| Ți-e foame? Vrei să mâncăm? | Are you hungry? Want to eat? |
| Copilului îi e somn. | The child is sleepy. |
| Ne e frig în casă. | We're cold in the house. |
| Le e frică de câini. | They're afraid of dogs. |
Common mistakes
- Saying "sunt rău": Means "I am bad" (morally), not "I feel sick." Use mi-e rău.
- Dropping the hyphen: Written mi-e, never mi e.
- Conjugating "e" for plural: It stays e (singular form) regardless of person — only the clitic changes.
Heritage learner note
Heritage speakers have these phrases on autopilot from childhood. Mi-e foame, mi-e sete, mi-e somn — you've said them hundreds of times. The risk: when speaking with non-heritage speakers or in formal contexts, you may not realize how foreign this structure is and might over-translate it. Conversely, if you grew up with English-dominant Romanian relatives, you may have heard the "wrong" sunt foame — that's a calque from English and not standard. Trust the mi-e pattern. Also: mi-e dor de tine (I miss you) is one of the most Romanian sentences possible — there's no clean English equivalent.