"Tu ai masa?"
Translation:Do you have the table?
18 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Can someone clear this up: is masa both table and meal? If so are they directly interchangeable and is the only way to differentiate by context?
Can I say this means, "Do you have the meal?"
Thanks!
Yes, "masă" can mean both table and meal and context is the only way to differentiate. This was a strange one for me too, and Romanian happens to be my first language. I am more familiar with "Tu ai luat masa?" as in "Have you eaten?" or "a lua masa" as in "to dine."
It's a little difficult to explain the meaning, even for a native...Both meanings of "masă" are available in Romanian: table and meal...So, only the context can give the meaning of this Duo's question...
Is there any way of asking this question without use of tonality or punctuation? In english "do you have the table" is not ambiguous (it is always a question) but "tu ai masa" is just a statement asked like a question...
What makes this a question? Without the question mark surely it translates as "you have a table". How are we meant to detect it is a question? "DO you have the table?"
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I don't see any problem with the sentence--at least in English translation. It could refer to a rented or reserved table or a folding table to be set up somewhere temporarily. Likewise in these days of take-out meals, it would be a relatively common question about a meal, too.
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Just my thoughts on this... if we take this as the literal translation of "Do you have the table?" then it doesn't strictly translate correctly into English. Personally, I'd prefer "Tu ai masă?" so saying "Do you have a table?" which works contextually in several English scenarios (such as being asked by friends if I have a table to sit at already in the pub, being asked if I have a table reservation, or a bartender asking someone if they have a table [number] so they can allocate the order to the table number). In the last instance, in keeping with the original term ”the table”, perhaps a more direction translation would be "Tu ai numărul de masa?" but I don't know if this has the same context in Romanian as it does in English.
It is a puzzle to me, too, as an English speaker and one that is brushing up on Romanian
I think Masă = a table Masa = the table Like for the name girl Fată, a girl Fata, the girl
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What exactly does "Do you have the table?" mean? Is it a question in a restaurant if a table is free?
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Could be either of those. It could also refer to a physical table, like a folding card table, or a table to be set up temporarily in an outdoor market place, or any table you might like to see in a furniture store. Lots of possibilities.