Romanian verbs: the essentials for beginners

The big picture

Romanian verbs change their ending for each person: eu vorbesc (I speak), tu vorbești (you speak), noi vorbim (we speak). That sounds like a lot, but the system is regular, and for everyday conversation you need only a few pieces: two key verbs, the present tense, one past tense, one future, and the small word să. This guide shows how they fit together; each piece has its own grammar guide, linked below, with the full detail.

Because the ending shows the person, the pronoun is usually dropped: Vorbesc puțin română (I speak a little Romanian). You add eu, tu or el only for emphasis.

A fi: to be

The most irregular verb in the language, and the one you need first.

• sunt

  I am, they are

• ești

  you are (informal)

• este

  he, she, it is

• suntem

  we are

• sunteți

  you are (plural or polite)

Este has a short form, e, which you will hear all the time: E bine (It's fine), Unde e gara? (Where is the station?).

A avea: to have

• am

  I have

• ai

  you have (informal)

• are

  he, she has

• avem

  we have

• aveți

  you have (plural or polite)

• au

  they have

Romanian uses a avea for age, where English uses to be: Am treizeci de ani (I am thirty).

Four groups of verbs

Every other verb belongs to one of four groups, named after the ending of the infinitive. The infinitive is the dictionary form, always listed with a in front, like the English to.

• a lucra

  to work (group 1, -a)

• a vedea

  to see (group 2, -ea)

• a merge

  to go, to walk (group 3, -e)

• a vorbi

  to speak (group 4, -i)

• a coborî

  to go down, to get off (group 4, -î)

The present tense

Here is a vorbi (to speak). Two endings are the same in every group, which makes them easy to spot: -m for we and -ți for you (plural or polite).

Many verbs in groups 1 and 4 add a short syllable, -ez or -esc, in every form except we and you (plural): lucrez (I work), vorbesc (I speak). Others do not: cânt (I sing), cobor (I go down). The dictionary shows which, so learn each new verb with its eu form.

Talking about the past

The everyday past tense is the perfect compus: a short form of a avea plus the past participle. It covers both I spoke and I have spoken.

• am fost

  I was, I have been

• am avut

  I had

• am mâncat

  I ate, I have eaten

• Ce ai făcut ieri?

  What did you do yesterday?

The participle follows the group: lucrat (worked), văzut (seen), vorbit (spoken), coborât (gone down). Group 3 has many irregular ones, such as mers (gone) and făcut (done), which are worth learning as you meet them.

Talking about the future

The spoken future is o să plus the verb, in the same form it takes after să. The o never changes.

• o să merg

  I will go

• O să fie bine.

  It will be fine.

In writing and formal speech you will also meet a second future, voi merge (I will go), built with voi, vei, va. It means the same thing.

Want to, can, must: să

After vreau (I want), pot (I can) and trebuie (it is necessary), Romanian does not use an infinitive. It uses să and a person form of the verb, the subjunctive:

• Vreau să plec.

  I want to leave.

• Pot să vin mâine.

  I can come tomorrow.

• Trebuie să învăț.

  I have to study.

For eu, tu, noi and voi, the form after să is the present tense you already know. Only he, she and they change: el vorbește, but vreau să vorbească (I want him or her to speak).

Two more patterns you will meet early

Reflexive verbs carry a small pronoun, mă, te or se: mă numesc Ana (my name is Ana, literally "I call myself Ana"), mă trezesc la șapte (I wake up at seven).

The polite conditional softens a request: aș vrea means I would like, and it is the phrase to use when ordering or asking for something.

• aș vrea

  I would like

Further reading

• dexonline (opens in a new tab), the free online dictionary of Romanian, which also lists the forms of each verb.
• The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (opens in a new tab) (Council of Europe), which describes the A1 to C2 levels our lessons follow.
• Institutul Limbii Române (opens in a new tab), the Romanian Language Institute.