prietenului

Prietenului is the genitive/dative singular form of the Romanian noun prieten, meaning "friend." The form is used to express possession (genitive) or the indirect object (dative) when the noun has the definite article. In Romanian, prieten is masculine; the basic indefinite singular is prieten, the definite singular is prietenul, and the definite plural is prietenii. The genitive/dative singular is prietenului, and the genitive/dative plural is prietenilor. These forms appear in phrases such as cartea prietenului meu (the book of my friend) and fratele prietenului meu a venit (my friend’s brother came). The genitive/dative plural appears in phrases like cărțile prietenilor noștri (our friends’ books).

Usage notes:

Prietenului can function in possessive constructions or after prepositions that require the genitive or dative. In possessive phrases, it is common to pair prietenului with possessive adjectives (meu, tău, lui, nostru, vostru, lor) to indicate whose friend is involved. For example, carata prietenului meu demonstrates possession by the friend of mine. In contexts with definite articles, the definite forms of the noun are used (prietenul, prietenii, prietenilor).

Etymology:

The Romanian word prieten means "friend" and is descended from Latin amicus, through the development of Proto-Romanian. The form prietenului reflects the standard Romanian noun inflection for masculine nouns with a definite article and genitive/dative case.

See also:

prieten, prietenie, familia prietenilor.