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- "Maria nu te cunoaște pe tine…
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It's optional: you can drop pronouns in Romanian. Examples:
(Eu) te cunosc (pe tine).
(Tu) îmi ești prieten (mie).
(Eu) îți sunt dator (ție).
(El) o cunoaște (pe ea).
This applies to all personal pronouns in the nominative, accusative and dative cases. You only really need to use them when you want emphasise something:
Nu pe el îl iubesc, ci pe tine! - I don't love him, I love you!
Nu mie trebuie să-mi dai bani, ci lui! - You don't have to give money to me, you have to give it to him!
But why are there two forms of the accusative pronoun in the first place? In your examples the first pronoun is dropped because it is indicated by the verb, but 'te' and 'pe tine' mean the same thing.
Yes, you are right. The only one you really use is the first one (which is mandatory). Forms such as „pe tine” or „mie” are really only ever used in order to emphasise something and you never hear or see them otherwise.
As to why that is, I must admit I have no idea, but that's how it is.
English emphasis comes through in other manners of expression: italics, bold print, underlining, etc. in writing, and emphatic affliction in verbal communication. I don't love him; I love you
(English speakers will hear the highlighted words with emphasis)
te and pe tine is totally different for my native language (greek) because romanian and greek have similar way of expressions in some ways. I believe that people whose native language is english cannot really understand that because it is easier and more simple language example: (Eu) te cunosc (pe tine) (Εγώ) σε γνωρίζω (εσένα) I know you both languages have the ability to emphasize when it is needed
When speaking the English sentence, you can change the meaning by emphasing different words. e.g. "Does not know YOU" is making the point that it is just you that is not known. Romanians have this technique available in their written language.
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I think it is the same as in Spanish: "María te conoce a ti". Other Romance languages also have two forms for the pronoun (accented and unaccented).
i think these sentences are basically meant to teach us the phonomenon of redondancy in romanian : the direct object of a verb is normally anounced by a pronoun that in other languages is only used to replace the object.
Mary = Maria nu=does not te cunoaşte =know you
Maria nu te cunoaşte =Mary deos not know you
