Romanian Grammar

The basic system: sounds in writing, forms, and the terms used across the library.

• The grammar terms used in this libraryLearn the core labels this library uses for Romanian word classes, sentence roles, word forms, agreement, and usage.
• Romanian parts of speechLearn to identify Romanian nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, and other main word classes from their form and behavior in context.
• Subject, predicate, and objectLearn to identify the subject, predicate, and direct object in Romanian, including omitted subjects and linking verbs.
• How agreement works in RomanianLearn how Romanian articles and adjectives match nouns in gender, number, and case, while finite verbs match subjects in person and number.
• Neutral, formal, and conversational RomanianLearn how Romanian shifts between neutral, formal, and conversational language without confusing register with speech or writing.
• Romanian pronunciation and reading rulesLearn the seven core vowel sounds, key consonants, and the reading patterns that help you pronounce familiar Romanian words.
• Romanian word stress and spoken rhythmLearn how Romanian lexical stress works, how to mark it while studying, and how unstressed forms join spoken rhythm groups.
• Romanian syllables, diphthongs, and hiatusLearn to count Romanian syllables by their vowel nuclei and distinguish diphthongs, triphthongs, hiatus, and special uses of final i.

Gender, plurals, the article added to the end of a noun, and Romanian cases.

• Romanian noun gender: masculine, feminine, and neuterFor a noun you can count, use its singular and plural forms to identify its gender and choose matching articles, numbers, and adjectives.
• The Romanian definite article: how to say “the”Romanian normally puts the definite article at the end of the noun: casă becomes casa (the house).
• Romanian indefinite articles: un, o, and nișteLearn how Romanian uses un, o, and niște before nouns to mean a, an, or some.
• How Romanian noun plurals workLearn the main Romanian plural endings and record each noun with its singular article and plural form.
• Masculine plural patternsLearn the main Romanian masculine plural patterns, including stem changes, unchanged forms, and the spelling of definite plurals.
• Feminine plural patternsLearn the main Romanian feminine plural patterns, including changes to -e, -i, -uri, and the definite ending -le.
• Neuter nouns in the singular and pluralLearn how Romanian neuter nouns use masculine agreement in the singular, feminine agreement in the plural, and several common plural patterns.
• The Romanian case systemLearn what Romanian’s five noun cases express and how sentence role and articles help you recognize them.
• Genitive and dative noun formsLearn the shared Romanian noun forms for possession and recipients, including definite and indefinite article changes.
• The genitive article al, a, ai, and aleLearn how al, a, ai, and ale agree with the possessed noun and when Romanian uses them in a genitive phrase.
• Dative possessive constructionsLearn how Romanian dative clitics can identify the possessor of a definite noun, especially in verb-centered everyday sentences.
• The Romanian vocativeLearn how Romanian marks direct address, when the noun takes a special form, and which forms are register-sensitive.
• Articles with names and proper nounsLearn when Romanian personal and place names stay bare, use genitive-dative forms such as Mariei and lui Ion, or appear with an attached definite article.
• Mass and uncountable nounsLearn when Romanian uses a bare singular noun for substances and abstract quantities, and when a mass noun becomes countable.
• Collective and invariable nounsLearn how Romanian collective nouns affect agreement and how invariable nouns show number through their context.

Conjugation, tense, mood, non-finite forms, auxiliaries, and voice.

• The present tense of a fi: Romanian “to be”Learn the complete set of present-tense forms of a fi and use them for identity, description, location, existence, negation, and questions.
• The present tense of a avea: to haveLearn am, ai, are, avem, aveți, and au for possession, age, need, questions, and negation.
• The Romanian infinitive and dictionary formLearn how Romanian dictionaries cite verbs with a + short infinitive, how to spot a useful stem, and when the bare form appears in real sentences.
• Romanian verb conjugation groupsLearn how Romanian verbs are grouped by the ending of the infinitive and how to use that label without overpredicting the present tense.
• Present-tense patterns for -a verbsLearn the two main present-tense patterns for Romanian verbs ending in -a, including when to use -ez and how to handle spelling changes.
• Present-tense patterns for -ea verbsLearn the present forms of common Romanian -ea verbs, including a vedea, a cădea, and a putea, and use them in statements, questions, and negatives.
• Present-tense patterns for -e verbsLearn the main present-tense patterns for Romanian verbs whose infinitive ends in -e, with complete paradigms and common stem changes.
• Present-tense patterns for -i and -î verbsLearn the main present-tense patterns for Romanian verbs ending in -i and -î, including -esc- and -ăsc- extensions, stem changes, and common exceptions.
• Stem changes in the Romanian present tenseLearn how Romanian present-tense stems change vowels, consonants, and spelling, and how to record the forms that the infinitive cannot predict.
• Common irregular verbs in the presentLearn the present forms and everyday uses of Romanian irregular verbs such as a fi, a avea, a putea, a vrea, and a ști.
• The Romanian compound past: perfectul compusLearn how to form and use perfectul compus with the correct auxiliary, past participle, negation, and clitic placement.
• The Romanian imperfectLearn how Romanian forms the imperfect for past scenes, habits, background actions, and softer requests.
• Perfectul compus or imperfectul?Learn how Romanian chooses between the compound perfect and imperfect to present completed events, background situations, habits, and ongoing past actions.
• The Romanian pluperfectLearn the synthetic Romanian pluperfect, its person endings, irregular stems, and use for an action completed before another past event.
• The simple perfect and its regional useLearn how Romanian forms perfectul simplu and how its use in literary narrative and regional speech differs from perfectul compus.
• The future with o săLearn how invariant o să combines with present-subjunctive forms to express the Romanian future in natural contemporary speech.
• The future with voiLearn how to form the Romanian future with voi, place negation and clitics, and choose it alongside common conversational future forms.
• The future in the pastLearn how Romanian places a later event inside a past timeline with aveam să, ordinary future forms, and context-sensitive conditionals.
• The Romanian present subjunctive with săLearn how să combines with present-tense verb forms to express wishes, requests, possibility, necessity, and related meanings.
• The Romanian past subjunctiveLearn the invariant Romanian past subjunctive, how to place clitics in it, and how it marks a completed or earlier situation.
• The Romanian present conditionalLearn how Romanian builds the present conditional and uses it for wishes, polite requests, hypothetical results, and cautious possibilities.
• The Romanian perfect conditionalLearn how Romanian builds the perfect conditional for unreal past results and wishes, then recognize reproaches and context-dependent reported uncertainty.
• The Romanian imperativeLearn how Romanian forms affirmative and negative commands for tu, voi, and formal dumneavoastră, including irregulars and attached pronouns.
• The Romanian past participleLearn to form Romanian past participles, memorize frequent unpredictable forms, and decide when a participle stays unchanged or agrees.
• The Romanian gerundLearn how Romanian forms the gerund, attaches clitics, and uses it for simultaneous, manner, cause, and condition meanings.
• The Romanian supineLearn how Romanian uses the supine with prepositions, especially de, for actions that English may translate with an infinitive, an -ing form, or a noun.
• The Romanian passive voiceLearn how Romanian forms the a fi passive, agrees the past participle, and chooses between passive, active, and impersonal alternatives.
• Romanian reflexive verbsLearn how Romanian short reflexive pronouns agree with the subject and mark self-directed actions, fixed verb patterns, reciprocal actions, events without a named agent, and impersonal clauses.
• Impersonal verbs and constructionsLearn how Romanian expresses weather, necessity, general statements, and personal states without an ordinary grammatical subject.
• Sequence of tenses in reported and subordinate clausesLearn how Romanian chooses verb tenses in reported speech and temporal subordinate clauses by showing time relations, viewpoint, and modality rather than applying automatic English-style backshifting.

Subject, object, reflexive, possessive, demonstrative, and relative forms.

• Romanian subject pronouns — and when to leave them outLearn the eight core Romanian subject pronouns, how gender and number shape the third person, and when to state or omit the pronoun.
• Stressed direct and indirect object pronounsLearn Romanian's full object-pronoun forms, including pe mine and mie, and use them for clear contrast and emphasis.
• Unstressed direct object pronounsLearn the Romanian clitics mă, te, îl, o, ne, vă, îi, and le, and place them with common verb forms.
• Unstressed indirect object pronounsLearn Romanian dative clitics, choose one by person and number, and place its separate or attached form with common verb forms.
• Romanian object pronoun doublingLearn when Romanian repeats a direct or indirect object with a matching clitic, and how word order and pe change the pattern.
• Romanian reflexive pronounsLearn when Romanian uses accusative se, dative își, and the full reflexive forms pe sine and sieși.
• Possessive adjectives and pronounsLearn how Romanian possessive forms agree with the thing possessed and when they use al, a, ai, or ale.
• Polite pronouns: dumneavoastră and related formsLearn how Romanian chooses polite address forms and how verbs and adjectives agree with dumneavoastră.
• Demonstratives: acest, acela, and their formsChoose the Romanian near or far demonstrative and match its standalone or before-noun form to the noun.
• Short and full demonstrative formsChoose the Romanian demonstrative form that matches its position, and recognize when familiar forms fit the context.
• Relative pronouns: care, cine, ce, and câtLearn how Romanian relative pronouns connect a noun or pronoun to a subordinate clause and how their role inside that clause controls the form.
• Interrogative pronouns and determinersLearn how Romanian asks who, what, which, and how much or how many, both alone and before a noun.
• Indefinite pronouns and determinersLearn how Romanian refers to an unknown person, thing, choice, or quantity with common indefinite pronouns and determiners.
• Negative pronouns: nimeni, nimic, and niciunLearn how Romanian distinguishes people, things, and noun phrases with nimeni, nimic, and niciun/nicio.

Neutral order, omitted subjects, focus, clitic placement, and subordinate clauses.

• Basic Romanian word orderStart with neutral subject–verb–object order, then see when Romanian omits a subject or moves information for a reason.
• Subject omission and subject placementLearn when Romanian leaves out a subject pronoun and where an expressed subject can appear in a main clause.
• Object pronoun positionLearn where Romanian unstressed direct and indirect object pronouns go with simple verbs, auxiliaries, the subjunctive, and commands.
• The order of Romanian clitic pronounsLearn how Romanian places dative and accusative clitics together and how the cluster moves with different verb forms.
• Adverb position in the clauseLearn the neutral places for Romanian time, place, manner, and frequency adverbs, and how movement changes focus.
• Topic, focus, and frontingLearn how Romanian moves a phrase to the front to present a topic, highlight new information, or create a contrast.
• Word order in subordinate clausesUse neutral starting patterns for subjects, verbs, objects, negation, and short pronouns in common finite subordinate clauses, and see where an adverbial clause can go.
• Left and right dislocationLearn how Romanian places a topic or afterthought at the edge of a clause while a matching clitic repeats the phrase's grammatical role.

Negative words, negative concord, and negative commands, including nu and nici.

• Romanian negation with nuLearn where Romanian puts nu in simple and compound verb groups, short replies, constituent contrast, and negative concord.
• Romanian negative concordLearn why Romanian combines nu with negative words such as nimeni, nimic, niciun, niciodată, and nicăieri.
• Nici and negative coordinationUse nici for an added negative item and nici...nici for Romanian neither...nor coordination, with nu in the right place.
• Negative commandsLearn how Romanian says do not for one familiar person, several people, or a formal addressee, including infinitive-shaped negatives and clitic placement.
• Restrictive decât after a negative verbLearn how nu...decât expresses only after a negative verb and how it differs from doar, numai, and comparative decât.

Yes–no questions, question words, choice questions, and indirect questions.

• Romanian yes–no questionsForm neutral Romanian yes–no questions with ordinary word order and rising intonation, then give short or complete answers.
• Core Romanian question wordsLearn the seven core Romanian question words and use them to ask about a person, thing or action, place, time, manner or state, reason, or quantity.
• Care, ce, or cine?Learn when Romanian uses care, ce, or cine to ask about a person, thing, kind, or choice.
• Cât, câtă, câți, and câteLearn how Romanian chooses cât, câtă, câți, or câte for how much and how many.
• Choice and tag questionsAsk someone to choose between Romanian alternatives and add a natural confirmation tag without English-style auxiliary inversion.
• Indirect questionsLearn how Romanian embeds yes–no and information questions with dacă, question words, and ordinary subordinate-clause order.

Agreement, position, comparison, and adjective forms used as nouns.

• Romanian adjective agreementLearn how Romanian adjectives match nouns in gender and number, including the neuter pattern and common unchanged forms.
• Common Romanian adjective form patternsLearn the main Romanian adjective patterns and choose the form that matches a noun's gender and number.
• Adjective position before and after the nounLearn when Romanian adjectives normally follow the noun and when they can come before it for emphasis.
• Definite adjectives with cel, cea, cei, and celeLearn how cel, cea, cei, and cele reinforce or identify an adjective after a definite Romanian noun.
• Comparatives with maiLearn how Romanian uses mai with an adjective to compare people and things, with agreement and natural comparison phrases.
• Relative and absolute superlativesLearn how Romanian ranks one noun as the most or least, and how it intensifies an adjective without making a ranking.
• Irregular and lexical comparisonLearn which Romanian comparison forms have special lexical meanings and which adjectives normally do not take degrees of comparison.
• Adjectives used as nounsLearn how Romanian adjectives can stand for an omitted noun, with cel, cea, cei, cele, definite forms, and case agreement.

Core prepositions, case selection, movement, location, and the object marker pe.

• Core Romanian prepositionsLearn the main Romanian prepositions for place, source, association, purpose, absence, and limits, plus the noun forms that follow them.
• La or în for location?Learn when Romanian uses la or în for places, destinations, institutions, settlements, countries, and interiors.
• Din, de la, and de for originChoose din for an inside or geographic source, de la for a source point, and de before common source adverbs.
• The direct-object marker peLearn when Romanian marks a direct object with pe and when a matching object clitic is also needed.
• Prepositions that take the accusativeLearn which common Romanian prepositions select the accusative and how noun articles, pronouns, and the two uses of pe behave after them.
• Prepositions that take the genitiveLearn a bounded set of Romanian genitive-taking prepositions and locutions, with noun and pronoun forms, contrasts, variants, and common traps.
• Prepositions that take the dativeLearn six common Romanian dative-selecting items, their noun and pronoun forms, and the meaning and register of each choice.
• Compound prepositions and prepositional phrasesLearn how Romanian multiword prepositions and prepositional locutions are built, what case they govern, and how to avoid translating them word for word.
• Fixed verb–preposition combinationsLearn high-frequency Romanian verb frames as lexical units, choose the right preposition, and use full pronouns after them.

Manner, place, time, degree, and comparison.

• How Romanian adverbs are formedRecognize basic Romanian adverbs, distinguish established adjective-shaped forms, and identify limited derivational patterns.
• Adverbs of mannerLearn the Romanian words and phrases that describe how an action happens, where to place them, and how they differ from adjectives.
• Adverbs of place and directionChoose common Romanian adverbs for location and direction, use phrases for source, endpoint, and route, and ask about place with unde.
• Adverbs of time and frequencyLearn Romanian adverbs for when and how often something happens, including common placement and negative patterns.
• Comparing adverbsLearn how Romanian compares the way an action happens, from mai repede to cel mai bine, without adding adjective agreement.
• Focus and degree particlesLearn how Romanian particles restrict, reinforce, or grade the meaning of a word, phrase, or clause.

Connectors between words and clauses, including că, să, dacă, and relative clauses.

• Coordinating conjunctions: și, dar, sau, iarLearn how Romanian uses și, dar, sau, and iar to add, contrast, or present alternatives in words and clauses.
• Că or să in complement clauses?Learn when Romanian uses că to introduce reported content and when it uses să to build a subjunctive complement clause.
• Conditional clauses with dacăLearn how dacă clauses distinguish open conditions, imagined situations, and unfulfilled past alternatives in Romanian.
• Purpose clauses with ca să and pentru ca săLearn how Romanian expresses a goal with ca să, pentru ca ... să, and the same-subject alternative pentru a.
• Giving reasons with pentru că and deoareceLearn how to give a reason with pentru că and deoarece, place the causal clause, and distinguish cause from purpose.
• Concessive clauses with deșiUse deși to present an obstacle that does not stop the main action, choose the clause order, and distinguish related connectors.
• Romanian relative clausesLearn how Romanian relative clauses identify or describe an antecedent and how the clause role controls the relative form, punctuation, and agreement.
• Reported speechLearn how Romanian uses că, dacă, and să to report statements, questions, requests, and commands, and how timeline and viewpoint control the tense.
• Correlative conjunctionsLearn how common Romanian correlative pairs coordinate inclusion, alternatives, exclusion, and correction, then distinguish paired subordinate relationships.
• Reducing clauses with non-finite verb formsLearn when Romanian can shorten a finite clause with a gerund or infinitive, how the understood subject is controlled, and when a full clause is safer.

Cardinals, ordinals, dates, clock time, quantities, and numerical agreement.

• Romanian cardinal numbersLearn the Romanian cardinal numbers from zero upward, including gender-sensitive forms, compounds, and the linker de.
• Gender agreement with one and twoLearn when Romanian uses un, o, doi, and două with masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns.
• Numbers over twenty and the linker deBuild Romanian numbers from 20 to 99 and use de before a counted noun after any complete numeral with a value of at least 20.
• Romanian ordinal numbersLearn the main singular Romanian ordinal forms from first through twentieth, choose the form that agrees with a noun, and build compound ordinals.
• Dates, days, and monthsLearn the Romanian weekdays and months, write calendar dates, and say when something happens.
• Telling the time in RomanianLearn how to ask and tell the time in Romanian, including minutes past and to the hour, exact appointments, and everyday clock-time forms.
• Decimals, percentages, and quantitiesLearn how Romanian writes decimals, expresses percentages, and describes exact, fractional, and approximate quantities.

Romanian diacritics, î and â, hyphens, capitalization, and punctuation.

• Romanian diacritics: ă, â, î, ș, and țLearn the five Romanian letters with diacritics and the basic spelling choice between â and î.
• When to write î and âLearn when Standard Romanian writes î or â for the same central vowel, including word beginnings, endings, and compounds.
• The Romanian hyphen: core patternsLearn when Romanian uses a hyphen with short pronouns, commands, contractions, compounds, and approximate number ranges.
• Hyphens with unstressed pronouns and auxiliariesLearn when Romanian joins unstressed pronouns to verbs or auxiliaries with a hyphen and when the words stay separate.
• Capitalization in RomanianLearn when Romanian uses capital and lowercase letters in sentences, names, dates, institutions, and titles.
• Core Romanian comma rulesLearn where Romanian uses a comma to separate items, clauses, direct address, and extra information, and where it leaves the comma out.
• Punctuation for direct speechLearn how Romanian marks quoted speech and dialogue lines, places reporting clauses, and handles capitals and final punctuation.
• Abbreviations and acronymsLearn when Romanian abbreviations take periods, how acronyms and symbols are written, and how Romanian endings attach to them.
• Writing borrowed and foreign wordsLearn how Romanian writes foreign forms, adapts borrowed words, and attaches or hyphenates Romanian endings.
• The Romanian alphabetLearn all 31 letters of the modern Romanian alphabet, how marked letters are sorted, and how C, G, and their letter groups guide reading.

Close forms and choices that often cause mistakes, explained side by side.

• Decât or doar?Choose between decât, doar, and numai for restriction and comparison in neutral contemporary Romanian.
• Care or pe care?Learn when Romanian uses care by itself and when a direct-object construction requires pe care.
• Sa or s-a?Learn when Romanian writes sa, să, or s-a by checking the word's grammatical job and the form that follows it.
• Sau or s-au?Learn how grammatical role distinguishes Romanian sau (or) from s-au, the hyphenated compound-past form.
• Ia or i-a?Learn when Romanian writes one-word ia and when the pronoun-plus-auxiliary sequence is hyphenated as i-a.
• Niciun or nici un?Learn when Romanian writes niciun and nicio together and when nici un and nici o stay separate.
• Fi or fii?Learn when Romanian uses fi or fii in commands, subjunctive clauses, infinitives, and compound verb forms.
• Copii or copiii?Learn how Romanian distinguishes the unarticulated plural copii from the definite plural copiii.