Pattern
Perfect compus = present of a avea (auxiliary) + past participle. Am mers (I went), Ai mâncat (You ate), A spus (He/she said).
Explanation
The perfect compus is Romanian's main past tense. It corresponds to English simple past ("I went") AND present perfect ("I have gone") — Romanian doesn't distinguish these. Am mers la magazin can mean "I went to the store" or "I have gone to the store" depending on context.
Formation is simple: take the auxiliary forms of a avea (am, ai, a, am, ați, au) and add the past participle of the main verb. The auxiliary is shorter than the verb's own present tense (am, ai, are, avem, aveți, au): am mers, never avem mers. Note that the 1sg and 1pl auxiliary forms are both am, but you'll know which from context: Eu am mers (I went) vs. Noi am mers (we went). The pronoun or context disambiguates.
The past participle of regular verbs is formed by adding -t or -at/-it/-ut to the stem (a merge → mers, a vorbi → vorbit, a mânca → mâncat, a vedea → văzut). Many verbs have irregular participles that just need to be memorized. The participle does NOT change for gender or number when used with a avea — Maria a venit, Ion a venit, copiii au venit.
Conjugation (a merge → mers)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu (I) | am mers |
| tu (you, informal) | ai mers |
| el/ea (he/she) | a mers |
| noi (we) | am mers |
| voi (you pl.) | ați mers |
| ei/ele (they) | au mers |
Examples
| Romanian | English |
|---|---|
| Ieri am mers la cinema. | Yesterday I went to the cinema. |
| Ai mâncat deja? | Have you eaten already? |
| Maria a venit acasă târziu. | Maria came home late. |
| Noi am vorbit o oră întreagă. | We talked for a whole hour. |
| Ei au plecat la mare. | They went to the seaside. |
Common mistakes
- Conjugating the participle: It stays the same regardless of subject — am mers, ai mers, a mers.
- Using "a fi" as auxiliary: Only a avea is the auxiliary; Eu sunt mers is wrong.
- Forgetting irregular participles: A bea → băut, a fi → fost, a face → făcut, a lua → luat. Memorize them.