Pattern

Care = "who, which, that" — relative pronoun joining clauses. Băiatul care vine e fratele meu (The boy who's coming is my brother).

Explanation

Care is the workhorse Romanian relative pronoun. It introduces a clause that describes a noun in the main clause. Cartea care e pe masă... (The book that's on the table...). Omul care vorbește... (The man who's speaking...). It functions for both people and things — Romanian doesn't distinguish "who" from "which" in the relative.

Care changes form based on its grammatical role in the relative clause:

  • Subject of the relative clause: just care (Băiatul care vine)
  • Direct object (with people): pe care (Băiatul pe care îl văd — The boy I see)
  • Possessive: al cărui / a cărei / ale căror (genitive forms)
  • After prepositions: cu care, despre care, lângă care

For direct objects in colloquial speech, you often add the clitic too: Cartea pe care o citesc (The book I'm reading — pe care + the clitic o doubles up). This pe-doubling is required in standard Romanian for definite objects.

Examples

RomanianEnglish
Băiatul care vine e fratele meu.The boy who's coming is my brother.
Cartea care e pe masă e a mea.The book that's on the table is mine.
Omul pe care îl cunosc lucrează aici.The man whom I know works here.
Filmul despre care vorbim e nou.The movie we're talking about is new.
Casa în care locuiesc e veche.The house I live in is old.

Common mistakes

  • Forgetting "pe" for human direct objects: Băiatul care îl văd is wrong; it's Băiatul pe care îl văd.
  • Using "care" with a possessive meaning: For "whose," use al cărui / a cărei.
  • Dropping the clitic with pe care: Standard Romanian requires pe care + clitic together.