Days of the week
Romanian weekdays are written in lower case, like the months. Five of them come from the Latin names of the Moon and the planets, so if you know French, Italian or Spanish they will look familiar.
luni/lunʲ/
Monday
marți/mart͡sʲ/
Tuesday
miercuri/ˈmjer.kurʲ/
Wednesday
joi/ʒoj/
Thursday
vineri/ˈvi.nerʲ/
Friday
sâmbătă
Saturday
duminică
Sunday
Listen to the end of luni, marți, miercuri and vineri: the final -i is barely a sound, just a light "y" breath after the consonant. It is not a separate syllable, so luni has one syllable, not two.
To say on Monday, use the day on its own, with no preposition: Luni am un examen (I have an exam on Monday). Add the article, and the day becomes a habit:
| Romanian | English |
|---|---|
| luni | on Monday (this one) |
| lunea | on Mondays, every Monday |
| vineri seara | on Friday evening |
| sâmbăta | on Saturdays |
| duminica | on Sundays |
| în weekend | at the weekend |
Today, tomorrow, yesterday
azi
today
mâine
tomorrow
ieri
yesterday
Ce zi e azi?
What day is it today?
Astăzi is the fuller form of azi; both mean today. Two more you will hear: poimâine (the day after tomorrow) and alaltăieri (the day before yesterday).
The months
All twelve are lower case and close to their English names.
ianuarie
January
februarie
February
martie
March
aprilie
April
mai
May
iunie
June
iulie
July
august
August
septembrie
September
octombrie
October
noiembrie
November
decembrie
December
For in a month, use în: în mai (in May), în decembrie (in December). The seasons work differently: the season with its article already means in, with no preposition.
| Romanian | English |
|---|---|
| în ianuarie | in January |
| primăvara | in spring |
| vara | in summer |
| toamna | in autumn |
| iarna | in winter |
Dates: pe 5 mai
For a date, put pe before the day and the month. The day is an ordinary number, not "fifth" or "twentieth". The one exception is the first of the month, which is usually întâi.
| Romanian | English |
|---|---|
| pe 5 mai | on 5 May |
| pe 14 februarie | on 14 February |
| pe întâi decembrie | on 1 December |
| Azi e 20 octombrie. | Today is 20 October. |
| în 2026 | in 2026 |
pe cinci mai
on 5 May
pe întâi decembrie
on 1 December
În câte suntem azi?
What's the date today? (informal)
In writing, the day comes first: 5 mai 2026, or in figures 05.05.2026. Years are read as ordinary numbers, so 2026 is două mii douăzeci și șase; the guide to Romanian numbers shows how they are built.
Telling the time
Ask Cât e ceasul? and answer with e ora and the hour. Because ora (the hour) is feminine, two and twelve take their feminine forms: ora două, ora douăsprezece. One o'clock is ora unu.
Cât e ceasul?
What time is it?
E ora trei.
It's three o'clock.
E trei și zece.
It's ten past three.
E trei și un sfert.
It's a quarter past three.
E trei și jumătate.
It's half past three.
E patru fără zece.
It's ten to four.
la ora opt
at eight o'clock
Minutes past the hour follow și (and); minutes to the hour follow fără (without), so patru fără zece is literally "four without ten". In everyday speech ora is often dropped: E trei, Ne vedem la opt (See you at eight).
Timetables, opening hours and official times use the 24-hour clock: Trenul pleacă la 18:30. In conversation many people use the 12-hour clock and add the time of day.
Times of day
| Romanian | English |
|---|---|
| dimineața | in the morning |
| la prânz | at midday |
| după-amiaza | in the afternoon |
| seara | in the evening |
| noaptea | at night |
| la opt seara | at eight in the evening |
| azi dimineață | this morning |
| aseară | yesterday evening, last night |
Like the seasons, dimineața, seara and noaptea need no preposition: Dimineața beau cafea (In the morning I drink coffee).
Further reading
- dexonline (opens in a new tab), the free online dictionary of Romanian, for any day, month or time word.
- Institutul Limbii Române (opens in a new tab), the Romanian Language Institute, which supports learning Romanian abroad.