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Basics 1 updated 2018-10-25

The following notes will aid you in case you're having trouble with the lesson, but feel free to skip them and
continue with the lesson. Once you have a broader context, they will help you put everything together.

Romanian alphabet

Romanian uses an extended Latin alphabet. Compared to the English alphabet, it has the following ve extra
letters.

Letter English name

Ă A-breve

 A-circum ex

Î I-circum ex

Ș S-comma (not to be confused with Ş - S-cedilla)

Ț T-comma (not to be confused with Ţ - T-cedilla)

Pronunciation

Apart from a few exceptions, Romanian consonants sound virtually identical to their English counterparts.
Vowels, on the other hand, have slightly different pronunciations using a more relaxed/open mouth.

The following tables will aid you in pronouncing what are most probably the most unfamiliar sounds to
English speakers, yet they are by no means complete. See Romanian pronunciation for a more exhaustive
explanation.

Vowels

Sound IPA phoneme English example

A a father

Ă ə above

Â/Î ɨ roses

I i creed

O o door

U u loom

Consonants

C and G followed by either E or I change their sounds.

Sound IPA phoneme English example

C k car

Ce / Ci tʃ chalk
 Ge / Gi dʒ general

J ʒ exposure

Ș ʃ sharp

Ț ts pizza

 or Î

Although  and Πsound precisely the same, Romanian use of both letters stems from etymology. So, by using
a simple rule to swap between the two, Romanian has been able to retain some similarity with Latin, where
most etymons use A instead of  and I instead of Î.

The rule between them is that Î is only used at the start and end of a word. In the middle, you would use Â.

începe (to begin) - start

hotărî (to decide) - end
mânca (to eat) - middle
neînfricat (fearless) - here we use î because the word stems from înfricat with the preposition ne

Eu, ea, e, este

Although Romanian has exceptionally few pronunciation exceptions, there is one which is noticeable from
the very beginning. Eu (I/me), el (he/him), ea (she/her), ei (they/them masc.), ele (they/them fem.), e (is), and
este (is) are all pronounced starting with /ie/ instead of simply /e/.

Personal pronouns

Compared to English, Romanian's personal pronouns lack a precise translation for it. When having a subject
that you would normally use it for, you can either use demonstrative pronouns (acesta (this masc.), aceea (that
fem.) etc.), or simply refrain from using a pronoun.

English Romanian

I eu

you tu

he / she / it el / ea / N/A

we noi

you (pl.) voi

they (masc. / fem.) ei / ele

To be

In Romanian, the subject of any setence has to be in agreement with the verb representing the action it is
performing. This agreement is called conjugation and comes with its own set of rules and exceptions. Below
you will nd the conjugation table for a (to be).

English Romanian

I am eu sunt

you are tu eşti

he / she is el / ea este

we are noi suntem

you are (pl.) voi sunteţi

they are (masc. / fem.) ei / ele sunt

 Basics 2 updated 2018-10-25

In ection

Compared to English, Romanian is an in ected language. This means that the words of the language are
comprised of roots, which rarely change, and in ections, or endings. Although not all words change form,
most of them (nouns, adjectives, pronouns, verbs) do.

Cases

Even though Romanian has ve cases, (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive, and vocative), respectively
dative and genitive have the same form.

Below is an example of how a noun forms differ in Romanian but remain the same in English.

Case English Romanian

nominative man bărbat

accusative man bărbat

dative man bărbatului

genitive man's bărbatului

vocative man bărbatule/bărbate

To have

Conjugation table for a avea (to have).

English Romanian

I have eu am

you have tu ai

he / she has el / ea are

we have noi avem

you have (pl.) voi aveţi

they have (masc. / fem.) ei / ele au

Common Phrases updated 2018-10-25

Salut!

Romanian culture puts a great emphasis on politeness. Thus, knowing how to greet is an essential skill for
anyone learning the basics.

Formal greetings

English Romanian

Good day Bună ziua

Good morning Bună dimineața

Good evening Bună seara

 Good night Noapte bună

Good bye La revedere

Less formal greetings

Apart from salut (hi), most Romanian informal greetings have higher usage only in particular regions but are
understood by virtually everyone.

Also, some ways of greeting can be use when meeting and departing.

English Romanian

Hi Salut

Hi Bună

Hi Ciao

Hi Servus

Bye Pa

Bye Salut

Bye Ciao

Polite pronouns

Much like in the case of the French language, Romanian has a special politeness pronoun. If you want to be
explicitly polite, you use the following forms.

English Usual Polite

you tu/voi dumneavoastră

he el dumnealui

she ea dumneaei

they ei/ele dumnealor

This difference also adds more polite forms of some phrases.

English Usual Polite

please te rog vă rog

thank you [îți] mulțumesc/mersi [vă] mulțumesc

Food 1 updated 2018-10-25

Uncountables

In Romanian, the equivalent of uncountable nouns are the nouns lacking a plural form. Some exmples would
be lapte, miere, zahăr etc. Like in English, these nouns usually denote substances or concepts that cannot be
separated into individual elements.

When talking about food, for example, you should use the singular of nouns lacking plural form and the
plural for all others, as long as the quantity is not known.

English Romanian

I never eat sugar. Eu nu mănânc zahăr niciodată.

 They eat tomatoes every day. Ei mănâncă roșii în ecare zi.

If the quantity is known, you should use the proper form.

English Romanian

We are eating two cucumbers. Noi mâncăm doi castraveți.

You are eating a cake. Voi mâncați un tort.

Meals

English Romanian

breakfast mic dejun

lunch prânz

supper cină

Courses

English Romanian

entrée/ rst course antreu/felul întâi

main course felul principal/felul doi

dessert desert

Food 2 updated 2018-10-25

Compound food names

In order to use more complex names of foods that usually require multiple nouns, you will have to use a
preposition. The two most frequent ones when it comes to food are de (of) and cu (with).

de is used when in English you would normally use nothing, while cu is simply translated from the English
with. (usually used in the case of dish names)

English Romanian

cocoa butter unt de cacao

seawater sh pește de mare

chicken with soy sauce pui cu sos de soia

There are some exceptions when one language may have a specialized word, whereas the other will use a
compound noun, like carne de vită (beef), or even miss the preposition de entirely, like lună plină (full moon).

This will come in handy later, as it applies to most English compound nouns that are also translated to
compound nouns in Romanian.

Animals updated 2018-10-25

Animal names for male, female, and baby

Romanian has specialized names for common animal types. The plural is formed from either the male or the
female form.

English Male Female Baby Plural

horse cal iapă mânz cai

chicken cocoș găină pui găini/pui

sheep berbec oaie miel oi

goat țap capră ied capre

cattle taur vacă vițel vaci

Animal groups

Like in English, some groups of animals have specialized names. Herbivores, for example, will get the name
turmă which is similar to the word herd.

turmă de oi ( ock of sheep)

turmă de elefanți (elephant herd)
turmă de vaci (cattle herd)

For birds one would usually use the word stol.

stol de ciori (murder of crows)

stol de porumbei ( ock of pigeons)

Some groups, though, have custom names.

English Romanian

pack of wolves/dogs haită de lupi

beaver colony colonie de castori

bee hive/swarm stup/roi de albine

locust swarm nor de lăcuste

Plurals updated 2018-10-25

Plural forms by gender

Compared to English, Romanian plural forms have to be acquired when learning each noun. Nevertheless, the
forms are not completely irregular as they roughly fall into categories, according to their gender:

Masculine

English Singular Plural Rule

carrot morcov morcovi cons. + i

bear urs urși cons. + i

lion leu lei u→i

dog câine câini e→i

horse cal cai vowel + l → i

Feminine
 English Singular Plural Rule

salad salată salate ă→e

cabbage varză verze ă→e

evening seară seri ă→i

beer bere beri e→i

book carte cărți e→i

coffee cafea cafele ea → ele

kitchen bucătărie bucătării ie → ii

Neuter

Note: Although Romanian has three genders, the neuter gender usually acts like a masculine noun when
being singular and feminine one when being plural. If you see rules or tables where neuter is missing (which
is probably most of them), treat neuter nouns as either masculine or feminine depending on their count.

English Singular Plural Rule

dessert desert deserturi cons. + uri

message mesaj mesaje cons. + e

menu meniu meniuri u + ri

tea ceai ceaiuri i + uri

Exceptions

Some examples like ou - ouă don't t in any of the rules above and should simply be remembered. In a
similar fashion to English, some uncountable nouns form plural with the use of compound nouns:

English Singular Plural

garlic clove cățel de usturoi căței de usturoi

pair of glasses pereche de ochelari perechi de ochelari

i/ii/iii

As mentioned in a previous lesson, Romanian is an in ected language. Each word has its own stem that is
in ected in order to convey meaning, and one such examples is the plural.

Because some nouns' stems end with an i, you can have plurals that end with ii or with iii if articulated.

English Singular Plural Plural + article

lion leu lei leii

son u i ii

Adjectives updated 2018-10-25

Adjective in ection

Adjectives change their form in order to be in agreement with the noun they are modifying. This is called
in ection, and, in the case of Romanian, it affects gender and number.
Varible form

Some adjectives like greoi (heavy), vioi (lively), bălai (blond) change form only in the case of gender.

Number Masculine Feminine

Singular greoi greoaie

Plural greoi greoaie

Others like mare (big), dulce (sweet) change form only in the case of number.

Number Masculine Feminine

Singular mare mare

Plural mari mari

Most of them, though, change have a different form in each case, like bun (good).

Number Masculine Feminine

Singular bun bună

Plural buni bune

With some exceptions where the plural is the same like roșu (red), drag (dear).

Number Masculine Feminine

Singular drag dragă

Plural dragi dragi

Number Masculine Feminine

Singular roșu roșie

Plural roșii roșii

While learning the language, you will notice that most adjectives roughly follow the above endings with e a
few exceptions, e.g. -oaie ending for feminines in the rst group, -e ending being used instead of -ă in the last
group, u turning into i in the case of roșu whenever a vowel comes after it, etc.

These rules and exceptions will come natural after a while, and, based of the form of the adjective, you will
be able to know all the forms only by recognizing the pattern. But, for starters, you can look up any adjective
in the dictionary, and expand the section labeled declinări (declinations) to see all forms.

Invariable form

Some adjective have the same form in all possible use cases, but they few and some of them are rarely used,
like gata (ready), cumsecade (kind), vivace (vivacious).

De nite Article for Singular updated 2018-10-25

De nite article - Nominative-Accusative, Singular

One particularity of Romanian is the de nite article. Along with a few other languages like Bulgarian,
Macedonian, Norwegian, the de nite article gets attached to the end of the noun. In other words, instead of
having it in the beginning like in the cat, Romanian has a speci c ending.
The de nite article is used to tell that its noun is particular and identi able by person listening. (It's not just a
game, it's the game.)

During this lesson we only deal with the nominative-accusative form., with the dative-genitive form coming in
a later lesson.

Masculine

Masculine nouns fall into the following rules.

English No article De nite article Rule

carrot morcov morcovul cons. + ul

dad tată tatăl ă+l

lion leu leul u+l

claw clește cleștele e + le

Feminine

While feminine ones fall into these other rules.

English No article De ninte article Rule

cheese brânză brânza ă→a

salt sare sarea cons. + e + a

tomato roșie roșia ie → ia

coffee cafea cafeaua ea + ua

De nite Article for Plural updated 2018-10-25

De nite article - Nominative-Accusative, Plural

During this lesson we only deal with the nominative-accusative form., with the dative-genitive form coming in
a later lesson.

Masculine

Masculine plural nouns' de nite article is a simple i to the end of the plural form.

bărbați - bărbații (men - the men)

vulturi - vulturii (eagles - the eagles)

Feminine

Feminine plural nouns are just as easy. One only needs to add le at the end of the plural form.

femei - femeile (women - the women)

supe - supele (soups - the soups)

Verbs: In nitive updated 2018-10-25

Verb moods
In Romanian, verbs have moods that help a speaker express attitude towards something. (command, wish,
etc.) Two important moods that you will use and should probably remember are indicative and in nitive.

Indicative is the default mood use for factual statements and is the most common one. Compared to English,
in nitive is less used in Romanian (it has more specialized moods instead), but it's very useful in recognizing
conjugation groups.

Conjugation groups

All Romanian verbs fall into four conjugation groups which help when conjugating. Unfortunately, these
groups are divided into further groups, but they still help form four rough conjugation sets of rules that work
for all regular verbs with very minor exceptions.

The four groups are identi ed by the way verbs end when in the in nitive mood.

Group Ending

I a

II ea

III e

IV i or î

Irregular verbs

Irregular verbs have different conjugations that don't fall in the aforementioned rules, but they are usually
learned on the y as they are not many.

A few examples are a (to be), a avea (to have), a vrea (to want), a da (to give), a lua (to take), a ști (to know), a
mânca (to eat), a face (to do), and a few more.

Possessive Adj.&Pron. updated 2018-10-25

Possessive pronouns

Like in English, Romanian distinguishes between two types of possessive pronouns named relative and
absolute.

Relative possessive pronouns are used when only wanting to replace the owner.

El e prietenul meu. (He is my friend.)

Absolute possessive pronouns, on the other hand, are used instead of the owner and the owned object or
person.

Nu e al tău. (It's not yours.)

The absolute form is formed by adding the possessive article to the relative form according to the gender and
number of the replaced noun (neuter nouns are masculine when singular, and feminine when plural):

Number Masculine Feminine

Singular al a

Plural ai ale

Relative possessive pronouns

Relative possessive pronouns change form according to the owner's person and number, and to the owned
object or person's gender and number.

Owner English Owned masc. sg. Owned fem. sg. Owned masc. pl. Owned fem. pl.

1st person, sg. my meu mea mei mele

2nd person, sg. your tău ta tăi tale

3rd person, masc. sg. his său/lui sa/lui săi/lui sale/lui

3rd person, fem. sg. her său/ei sa/ei săi/ei sale/ei

1st person, pl. our nostru noastră noștri noastre

2nd person, pl. your vostru voastră voștri voastre

3rd person, pl. their lor lor lor lor

Absolute possessive pronouns

Like in the case of relative possessive pronouns, they change form according to the owner's person and
number, and to the owned object or person's gender and number, while also adding the possessive article in
front.

Owner English Owned masc. sg. Owned fem. sg. Owned masc. pl. Owned fem. pl.

1st person, sg. mine al meu a mea ai mei ale mele

2nd person, sg. yours al tău a ta ai tăi ale tale

3rd person, masc. sg. his al său/lui a sa/lui ai săi/lui ale sale/lui

3rd person, fem. sg. hers al său/ei a sa/ei ai săi/ei ale sale/ei

1st person, pl. ours al nostru a noastră ai noștri ale noastre

2nd person, pl. yours al vostru a voastră ai voștri ale voastre

3rd person, pl. theirs al lor a lor ai lor ale lor

Genitive-dative form

Possession can also be expressed by not replacing the owner with a possessive pronoun and using the noun's
genitive-dative form which is similar to 's you would add in English to signal possession.

Nu găsesc portofelul lui. (I can't nd his wallet.)

Nu găsesc portofelul bunicului. (I can't nd grandfather's wallet.)

In the example above, we are keeping the owner, bunicului, instead of using a pronoun-originating adjective,
lui.

The genitive-dative form is better explained in a further lesson. The introduction here is only meant to give
you a bigger picture when it comes to possession in Romanian.

Numbers 1 updated 2018-10-25

Numerals up to ten

The parts of speech that refer to numbers directly are called numerals.

Up to the number ten, they have speci c names:

English Romanian
 zero zero

one unu

two doi

three trei

four patru

ve cinci

six șase

seven șapte

eight opt

nine nouă

ten zece

Numerals up to nineteen

Numerals between eleven and nineteen are formed from the numbers euqivalent to their last digit and the
ending sprezece (spre zece means towards ten) with a few small exceptions.

English Romanian

eleven unsprezece

twelve doisprezece

thirteen treisprezece

fourteen paisprezece

fteen cincisprezece

sixteen șaisprezece

seventeen șaptesprezece

eighteen optsprezece

nineteen nouăsprezece

Tens

Numerals of tens are formed by adding zeci (tens) to the numbers equivalent to their rst digit.

English Romanian

twenty douăzeci

thirty treizeci

forty patruzeci

fty cincizeci

sixty șaizeci

seventy șaptezeci

eighty optzeci

ninety nouăzeci

In-between tens

To form numerals that are between tens, you need to start with the lower boundary (23's lower boundary is
20) and add și (and) followed by the last digit.
 douăzecișitrei (twenty-three) - douăzeci + și + trei
patruzecișișase (forty-six) - patruzeci + și + șase

Larger numerals

Apart from the above, all other numerals will be composed from separate words which are not hyphenated. To
form them, you need to remember a few multiples and their plural forms.

English Romanian Plural

hundred sută sute

thousand mie mii

million milion milioane

billion miliard miliarde

Here are a few examples. It's also common in Romanian to use the prepositon de between multiples (apar
from sută) in order to form larger numerals but it is not necessary.

șaizecișitrei (de) milioane două sute optzecișiuna (de) mii trei sute paisprezece (63,281,314)
un milion șapte (1,000,007)

1, 2 and 12

You may have noticed until now that the numerals for 1, 2 and 12 change form. The reason why this happens
is because they have different forms when agreeing with masculine and feminine nouns in case it is used
where you would normally use an adjective.

For example:

un bărbat / o femeie (one man / one woman)

doi bărbați / două femei (two men / two women)

This also applies when using multiples (sute, mii, milioane) which are all feminine.

English Masculine Feminine

one un o

two doi două

twelve doisprezece douăsprezece

In case you're wondering why unu is missing from the table above, it's because this particular form is used
only when talking about the mathematic number one or quantities whose name is not provided. In other
words, unu is used only in the case of pure numerals, not adjectives form from numerals.

Am doar unul. (I have just one.) - numeral

Un om și jumătate. (One and a half men.) - adjective formed from numeral

Clothing updated 2018-10-25

Verbs for clothing

When it comes to clothes, in Romanian we use verbs like:

a purta/to wear
 English Romanian

I wear eu port

you wear tu porți

he / she wears el / ea poartă

we wear noi purtăm

you wear (pl.) voi purtați

they wear (masc. / fem.) ei / ele poartă

a (se) îmbrăca/to dress

English Romanian

I dress eu îmbrac

you dress tu îmbraci

he / she dresses el / ea îmbracă

we dress noi îmbrăcăm

you dress (pl.) voi îmbrăcați

they dress (masc. / fem.) ei / ele îmbracă

In Romanian, we use its re exive form (re exive pronoun + verb) :

mă îmbrac I am getting dressed

te îmbraci You are getting dressed

se îmbracă He/She/It is getting dressed

ne îmbracăm We are getting dressed

vă îmbracați You are getting dressed

se îmbracă They are getting dressed

Other verbs that require the same form:

a (se) trezi/ to wake up

a (se) spăla/ to wash
a (se) bucura/ to enjoy etc.

Different verbs need different forms when translated into English

Eu mă spăl I am washing myself

Tu te trezești You are waking up

El/Ea se bucură He/She/It enjoys Adjective

Comparison updated 2019-05-01

Degrees of comparison

Unlike English, Romanian has only one way of comparing adjectives, and it involves no irregulars. It does,
however, involve some degree of in ection just like in the case of adjectives.
Comparative

Comparative type English Romanian

of superiority more pronounced mai pronunțat

of inferiority less pronounced mai puțin pronunțat

of equality as pronounced la fel de pronunțat

Superlative

Relative superlative requires the use of the demonstrative pronoun cel which has 4 forms that differ by
gender and number. The pronoun has to agree with noun that the adjective describes.

Number Masculine Feminine

singular cel cea

plural cei cele

Relative superlative type English Romanian (masc. sg.)

of superiority most pronounced cel mai pronunțat

of inferiority least pronounced cel mai puțin pronunțat

Absolute superlative is straightforward; it is constructed by prepending foarte (very).

foarte pronunțat (very pronounced)

Verbs: Present 1 updated 2018-10-25

Present tense

Present tense verbs are used for indicating the fact that an action takes place in the moment of speaking.

a lucra/to work

English Romanian

I work eu lucrez

you work tu lucrezi

he / she works el / ea lucrează

we work noi lucrăm

you work (pl.) voi lucrați

they work (masc. / fem.) ei / ele lucrează

a tăia/to cut

English Romanian

I cut eu tai

you cut tu tai

he / she cuts el / ea taie

we cut noi tăiem

you cut (pl.) voi tăiați

 they cut (masc. / fem.) ei / ele taie

a măsura/to measure

English Romanian

I measure eu măsor

you measure tu măsori

he / she measures el / ea măsoară

we measure noi măsurăm

you measure (pl.) voi măsurați

they measure (masc. / fem.) ei / ele măsoară

a cumpăra/to buy

English Romanian

I buy eu cumpăr

you buy tu cumperi

he / she buys el / ea cumpără

we buy noi cumpărăm

you buy (pl.) voi cumpărați

they buy (masc. / fem.) ei / ele cumpără

The letters written in italics are called desinences (desinențe) and they indicate the person (I,II,III) and the
number (sg./pl).

Present tense can mark future or past actions in order to bring them in present time.

Mâine mergem acasă. | Tomorrow we are going home.

Becul se inventează în 1897. | The light bulb is invented in 1879.**

Colors updated 2018-10-25

Adverb or adjective?

roșu/red

Mărul roșu este al meu. | The red apple is mine.

In this case the word roșu is an adjective, because it modi es a noun (mărul/the apple).

El vede roșu în fața ochilor | He sees red in front of his eyes.

In this case the word roșu is an adverb, because it modi es a verb (vede/sees).

Different forms

Colors can have different forms when acting like an adjective, according to number/person:

câine negru black dog

câini negri black dogs

 pisică neagră black cat

pisici negre black cats

EXCEPTIONS:

mov (mauve)
roz (pink)
maro (brown)
gri (gray)

These colors keep the same form, exactly like in English.

câine gri (gray dog) | câini gri (gray dogs)

pisică gri (gray cat) | pisici gri (gray cats)

Numbers 2 updated 2018-10-25

Ordinal Numbers

How are they formed?

masculine: al [cardinal number] + -le + -a

feminine: a [cardinal number] -a

English Masculine Feminine

second al doilea a doua

third al treilea a treia

fourth al patrulea a patra

fth al cincilea a cincea

sixth al șaselea a șasea

seventh al șaptelea a șaptea

eighth al optulea a opta

ninth al nouălea a noua

tenth al zecelea a zecea

eleventh al unsprăzecelea a unsprăzecea

twentieth al douăzecilea a douăzecea

twenty- rst al douăzeci și unulea a douăezci și un a

First does not comply with the rules and has distinct formes:
primul/întâiul (masc. sg.) / primii/întâii (masc. pl.)
prima/întâia (fem. sg.) /primele/întâile (fem. pl.)

English Masculine Feminine

100th al o sutălea a (o) suta

101st al o sută unulea a o sută un a

200th al două sutelea a două suta

300th al trei sutelea a trei suta

1000th al o mielea a (o) mia

2000th al două miilea a două mia

50000th al cincizeci miilea a cincizeci mia

 1000000th al (un) milionulea a milioan a

Masculine ordinal numbers that are formed from eight, milion, bilion etc.:

al [cardinal number] -lea + -u : al optulea, al un milionulea.

Feminine ordinal numbers that are formed from two, four, thousand, milion etc. :

-a substitutes the nal vowel of the cardinal number: patru/a patra.

*Ordinal numbers that are formed from compound cardinal numbers:

we add -lea and -a only to the last numeral: al douăzeci și cincilea, al o sută douăzecilea.

Verbs: Present 2 updated 2018-10-25

Present tense

a vrea/to want

English Romanian

I want eu vreau

you want tu vrei

he / she wants el / ea vrea

we want noi vrem

you want (pl.) voi vreți

they want (masc. / fem.) ei / ele vor

Tips and tricks: a vrea=a voi=to want

Even if a vrea and a voi mean the same thing, they have different forms for present, past and future.

English Romanian

I want eu voiesc

you want tu voiești

he / she wants el / ea voiește

we want noi voim

you want (pl.) voi voiți

they want (masc. / fem.) ei / ele voiesc

The problems with a vrea and a voi begin, even for native speakers, when we use past time (in
Romanian- timpul imperfect)

a vrea a voi wrong alternative

(eu) vream (eu) voiam (eu) vroiam

(tu) vreai (tu) voiai (tu) vroiai

(el/ea) vrea (el/ea) voia (el/ea) vroia

(noi) vream (noi) voiam (noi) vream

(voi) vreați (voi) voiați (voi) vroiați

(ei/ele) vreau (ei/ele) voiau (ei/ele) vroiau

a face/to do

English Romanian

I do eu fac

you do tu faci

he / she does el / ea face

we do noi facem

you do (pl.) voi faceți

they do (masc. / fem.) ei / ele fac

a răspunde/to answer

English Romanian

I answer eu răspund

you answer tu răspunzi

he / she answers el / ea răspunde

we answer noi răspundem

you answer (pl.) voi răspundeți

they answer (masc. / fem.) ei / ele răspund

a (a)dormi/to sleep

English Romanian

I sleep eu (a)dorm

you sleep tu (a)dormi

he / she sleeps el / ea (a)doarme

we sleep noi (a)dormim

you sleep (pl.) voi (a)dormiți

they sleep (masc. / fem.) ei / ele (a)dorm

The main difference between a dormi and a adormi:

a dormi= to sleep
a adormi= to fall asleep

a trăi/to live

English Romanian

I live eu trăiesc

you live tu trăiești

he / she lives el / ea trăiește

we live noi trăim

you live (pl.) voi trăiți

they live (masc. / fem.) ei / ele trăiesc

Dates & Time updated 2018-10-25

Weekdays/Zilele săpămânii

English Romanian

Luni Monday

Marți Tuesday

Miercuri Wednesday

Joi Thursday

Vineri Friday

Sâmbătă Saturday

Duminică Sunday

Adverbial forms:

lunea = on Mondays
Example: Lunea mergem la școală= We go to school on Mondays.
marțea = on Tuesdays
miercurea = on Wednesdays
joia = on Thursdays
vinerea = on Fridays
sâmbăta = on Saturdays
duminica = on Sundays

Did you know?

Luni Luna The Moon

Marți Marte Mars

Miercuri Mercur Mercury

Joi Jupiter Jupiter

Vineri Venus Venus

Sâmbătă Saturn Saturn

Duminică Soare The Sun

Weekdays in Romanian originate from Latin, where every day was named after a planet.

Months of the year/Lunile anului

English Romanian Folk names

Ianuarie January Gerar

Februarie February Făurar

Martie March Mărțișor

Aprilie April Prier

Mai May Florar

Iunie June Cireșar

Iulie July Cuptor

August August Gustar

Septembrie September Răpciune

 Octombrie October Brumărel

Noiembrie November Burmar

Decembrie December Undrea

The folk names come from legends, agriculture, symbols of one season or another, or weather particularities.

How to write the date with numbers?

In Romanian we use this system: dd.mm.yyyy.

Family updated 2018-10-25

Basic rules

English Romanian

stepmother mamă vitregă

stepfather tată vitreg

stepdaughter ică vitregă

stepson u vitreg

Three i rule:

Articulated and unarticulated forms of the masculine plural nouns and adjectives ending in -iu, the noun
child (copil) and the adjective roșu (red) receive a three i termination:

Singular Plural Plural articulated

copil (child) copii (children) copiii (the children)

u (son) i (sons) ii (the sons)

roșu (red) roșii (pl.) roșiii (pl. art.)

Tips and tricks: synonymy

The Romanian word vitreg also means hostile, rough, ruthless.

Verbs

a (se) mărita= a (se) căsători= a (se) însura= to marry

to marry a (se) mărita

I marry Eu (mă) mărit

You marry Tu (te) măriți

He/She marries El/Ea (se) mărită

We marry Noi (ne) mărităm

You marry (pl.) Voi (vă) măritați

They marry (masc./fem.) Ei/Ele (se) mărită

to marry a (se) căsători

I marry Eu (mă) căsătoresc

You marry Tu (te) căsătorești

He/She marries El/Ea (se) căsătorește

 We marry Noi (ne) căsătorim

You marry (pl.) Voi (vă) căsătoriți

They marry (masc./fem.) Ei/Ele (se) căsătoresc

to marry a (se) însura

I marry Eu (mă) însor

You marry Tu (te) însori

He/She marries El/Ea (se) însoară

We marry Noi (ne) însurăm

You marry (pl.) Voi (vă) însurați

They marry (masc./fem.) Ei/Ele (se) însoară

a boteza/to baptize

to baptize a boteza

I baptize Eu botez

You baptize Tu botezi

He/She baptizes El/Ea botează

We baptize Noi botezăm

You baptize (pl.) Voi botezați

They baptize (masc./fem.) Ei/Ele botează

Tips and tricks: differences

There are differences between a (se) mărita and a (se) însura.

a (se) mărita is used when we talk about women.
a (se) însura is used when we talk about men.

Traditions

In Romania, in the wedding day, the couple receives some special names:

The man becomes mire (groom), the woman becomes mireasă (bride). Togheter they are called miri (the
wedded couple).

Another tradition is the wedding vows renewal:

nunta de argint (silver wedding): 25 years anniversary.
nunta de aur (golden wedding): 50 years anniversary.
nunta de diamant (diamond wedding): 75 years anniversary.

Accusative Pronouns updated 2018-10-25

Basic rules

Accusative pronouns can have two forms:

accented form
unaccented form: it may appear linked by a hyphen

pers./num. acc. unacc. English

I sg. (pe) mine mă-, m- me

 II sg. (pe) tine te, te- you

III sg. (pe) el/ea îl, l-, o, o- him/her

I pl. (pe) noi ne,ne- us

II pl. (pe) voi vă, v-, vă- you

III pl. (pe) ei/ele le, i-, le- them

Examples:

Pe tine te întreb.- I ask you.

Vouă nu vă place nimic.- You do not like anything.
El ne-a sfătuit ieri.- He advised us yesterday.
Ele i-au iubit. They have loved them.

Tips and tricks: pe

As you see, we use the preposition pe for accented forms of acusative pronouns.

In English, pe can be also translated as:

on: The book is on the table- Cartea este pe masă.
by: He walks by foot- El merge pe jos.
upon: It was based upon two principles- A fost bazat pe două principii.
per: On this road should run two cars per band.- Pe acest drum ar trebui să circule două mașini. pe/per bandă.
to: The cat is to their liking.- Pisica este pe placul lor.
over: The milk was all over me- Laptele era peste tot pe mine.
along: We are driving along a narrow road.- Conducem pe un drum îngust.
onto: They went up onto the ridge. - Ei s-au urcat pe creastă.

Occupations 1 updated 2018-10-25

Noun gender

Most nouns have a well-established gender. However, some nouns are formed by adding a gender suf x:

feminin from masculine:

doctor (doctor)- doctoriță (female doctor)
lup (wolf)- lupoaică (she-wolf)

masculine from feminine:

vuple (fox)- vulpoi (male fox)
vrabie (sparrow)- vrăbioi (male sparrow)

Tips and tricks: neuter nouns

Neuter nouns are usually naming objects. You can recognize them by counting like this:
un [masc.]/o [fem.]

Or if it admits an demonstrative pronominal adjective:

acest [masc.]/acest[fem.]

un creion/one crayon două creioane/two crayons

acest creion/this crayon aceste creioane/these crayons

Pre xoids/Suf xoids

Pre xoid= groups of letters that are placed at the begining of the word, but that don't have the characteristcs
of a pre x.
Suf xoid= groups of letters that are placed at the end of the word, but that don't have the characteristcs of a
suf x.

Pre xoid Romanian English

arhi arhiplin crammed

hemo hemoglobină hemoglobin

foto fotosinteză photosynthesis

tele telecomandă remote control

hidro hidrocentrală hydropower plant

hipo hipoglicemie hypoglycaemia

hiper hiperactiv hyperactive

ultra ultracunoscut well-known

Suf xoid Romanian English

log psiholog psychologist

l cine l lm fan

fob claustrofob claustrophobic

cid insecticid insecticide

Occupations 2 updated 2018-10-25

Lexical family

The lexical family consists of a main word and all the other words that can be formed from that word

președinte president

președinție presidency

vicepreședinte vicepresident

copreședinte copresident

președințial presidential

preot priest

preoție priesthood

preoteasă priestess

preoțesc sacerdotal

a (se) preoți to become a priest

inginer engineer

inginerie engineering

ingineresc regarding engineering

inginerește as engineers do

pescar sher

pescuit shing

a pescui to sh

pescărie shery
 pescărește as shers do

șofer chauffeur/driver

șoferie driving

a șofa to drive

șoferiță driver (fem.)

Tips and tricks: președinție vs. președenție

Lots of native speakers are using the word președenție when talking about presidency. This version is wrong.
The correct one is președinție, word derived from președinte.

Prepositions 1 (for Acc.Case) updated 2018-10-25

Basic rules

The main role of the presposition is to realize a connecation relation between words.

Even if the concept is the same in Romanian as it is in English, our prepositions can have several
corresponding words in English, depending on context.

Romanian English

pe on, by, at, over, upon, along, on to

la to, at, in, on, for, with, about

de of, by, for, to, from, with, since, about, regarding

între between, among, amid, from

din of, in, from, out of, on, off, at, among, upon

în in, to, into, on, at, under, over, until, within

ca like, for, in

cu with, by, of, in, on, into

fără without, less, ex, besides

pentru for, to, on, toward(s)

lângă near, next, by, beside, over

sub under, in, below, beneath, underneath

peste over, above, across, after, through

după after, by, for, to, on, from

către by, to, toward(s), near, for

printre through, among, between, amid

despre about, on, concerning, to

prin by, through, in, via, with, over, around

Tips and tricks: hyphen

When writing in Romanian, you should be concerned about using the hyphen. At rst glance, the same word,
written with and without a hyphen, may seem a little bit confusing. Be careful, because the hyphen really
makes a difference.

The rule is simple: we use the hyphen when the words have meaning by themselves
Example: la vs l-a
Eu merg la București- I go to Bucharest.
Ea l-a văzut ieri pe MIhai.- She saw Mihai yesterday.

Now the explanation: l-a merges two words:

l-- unaccented form of the personal pronoun el(he)
a- auxiliary form of a avea (to have), which formes with the main verb timpul perfect compus

Did you know?

When it comes to poetry, Romania is on the Olympic podium. The hyphen has a very important role in rhyme
and meter.

O, rămâi, rămâi la mine,

Te iubesc atât de mult!
Ale tale doruri toate
Numai eu ştiu să le-ascult;
(O rămâi- Mihai Eminescu)

O remain, dear one, I love you,

Stay with me in my fair land,
For your dreamings and your longings
Only I can understand.

In this case, the hypen is used to merge the unaccented form of the personal pronoun ele (they) and the verb
a asculta (to listen), but only in order to maintain the meter. In everyday talking and writing we use the form le
ascult (I listen to them).

Demonstrative Pronouns and Pronominal Adjectives updated 2018-10-25

Basic rules

In order to become a pronominal adjective, a demonstrative pronoun and a noun should agree in number,
gender and grammatical case.

Demonstrative pronoun is: proximity pronoun: acesta (this)

distance pronoun: acela (that) * identity pronoun: același (same)

The position of a pronominal adjective:

the proximity adjectival pronouns and the distance pronouns can be placed before and after the noun

the identity adjectival pronouns can only be placed before the noun

The form of the proximity and distance pronominal adjective that is placed before the noun is with the nal -
a: acest munte (this mountain), acel munte (that mountain), această casă (this house), acea casă (that house)

Nominative Case/Acusative Case

gender/ number pronume de apropiere proximity pronoun

masc. sg. acesta this

masc. pl. aceștia these

fem. sg. aceasta this

fem. pl. acestea these

gender/ number pronume de depărtare distance pronoun

 masc. sg. acela/celălalt that/other

masc. pl. aceia/ceilalți those/other

fem. sg. aceea/cealaltă that/other

fem. pl. acelea/celelalte those/other

gender/ number pronume de intentitate identity pronoun

masc. sg. același same

masc. pl. aceiași same

fem. sg. aceeași same

fem. pl. aceleași same

Dative Case/Genitive Case

gender/ number pronume de apropiere proximity pronoun

masc. sg. acestuia its

masc. pl. acestora their

fem. sg. acesteia its

fem. pl. acestora their

gender/ number pronume de depărtare distance pronoun

masc. sg. aceluia/celuilalt to him/other

masc. pl. acelora/celorlalți to them/other

fem. sg. aceleia/celeilalte to her/other

fem. pl. acelora/celorlalte to them/other

gender/ number pronume de identitate identity pronoun

masc. sg. aceluiași isame

masc. pl. acelorași same

fem. sg. aceleiași same

fem. pl. acelorași same

Tips and tricks: short forms

Do not mistake the short forms of the demonstrative pronoun with mood adverbs or demonstrative articles:

demonstrative pronoun
Cei din clasă au răspuns.- Those in class responded.

demonstrative article
Ei sunt cei mai buni prieteni.- They are the best friends.

Tips and tricks: traditional forms

There are some traditional forms of these pronouns, used just in some areas of our country. We also taught
some of these forms as they are used by speakers of Romanian often.

ăsta this (masc. sg.)

ista this (masc. sg.)

ălălalt other (masc. sg.)

 aia that (fem. sg.) aialaltă

other (fem. pl.) Units of Measurement updated 2018-10-25

Basic rules

Units of Measurement in International System of Units (SI):

metre for length

kilogram for mass

second for time

ampere for electric current

kelvin for temperature

candela for luminous intensity

mole for amount of substance

In Romania we usually use these units of measurement. However, there are some exceptions:

Time/Timp

In spoken language, we express time in hours (ore) and minutes (minute).

oră minut secundă

hour minute second

Temperature/Temperatură

We express temperature in degrees Celsius:

1 degree Celsius = 33.8 degrees Fahrenheit = 274.15 degrees Kelvin

grad degree

termometru thermometer

vreme wheater

climă climate
Lenght/Lungime

Submultiples of meter

Romanian English Value

decimetru decimeter 0,1 meters

centimetru centimeter 0,01 meters

milimetru milimeter 0,001 meters

Multiples of meter

Romanian English Value

 decametru decametre 10 meters

hectometru hectometre 100 meters

kilometru kilometre 1000 meters

Tips and tricks: Metric System vs Imperial System

1 mile (milă) = 1.609,344 m = 1.760 yards (yarzi) = 63.360 inches (țoli)

1 inch (țol) = 25,4 milimeters

1 foot (picior) = 12 inches (țoli) = 30,48 centimeters = 0,3048 meters

Mass/Masă

Submultiples of gram

Romanian English Value

decigram decigram 0,1 grams

centigram centigram 0,01 grams

miligram miligram 0,001 grams

Multiples of gram

Romanian English Value

decagram decagram 10 grams

hectogram hectogram 100 grams

kilogram kilogram 1000 grams

Be careful! The Kilogram is the unit of measurement of mass. When measuring weight we should use another
unit of measurement, the Newton.

Tips and tricks: Franctional Numbers

Fractional numbers indicate one part of a whole.

How are they formed?

with the suf x -ime: pătrime (1/4), doime (1/2);

the ones written with percentages: doi la sută=2%;

jumătate (half), sfert (quarter), trei sferturi (three quarters)

Objects updated 2019-02-12

Basic rules: Paronyms

Paronyms - words with similar forms and pronunciations, but with different meaning.

original (original) & originar (native)

emigrant (a person who leaves their own country in order to settle permanently in another.) & imigrant
(a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country.)

literal (word by word) & literar (which refers to literature)

 temporal (which indicates time) & temporar (temporary)

solidar (united) & solitar (lonely)

eminent(very intelligent) & iminent (something that is about to happen)

Did you know?

In Romania we have three of cially recognized untranslatable words:

dor: Strong desire to see or meet again someone or something dear or even pain caused by love for
someone or something that is far way.

doină: Category of poetry and traditional Romanian slow folk music, expressing a feeling of longing,
grief, pain, melancholy, rebellion, love.

colindă: Traditional Christmas song, which is sung by groups of people, especially children, that are
walking from house to house.

Tips and tricks: prepositions

In English we say She is on the television when referring to someone being on a TV team, while in Romanian
we say from the TV"...
Example: Femeia de la radio este tânără.- The woman from the radio is young.

Dative Pronouns updated 2018-10-25

Basic rules

Like for the accusative, the personal pronoun has two sets of forms in the dative: stressed (full) forms and
unstressed forms.

Please pay attention to the following facts:

1. In the 3rd person singular there are two stressed dative forms, one for masculine (lui) and one for
feminine (ei); the unstressed forms are identical (îi, -i, i-, -i-)

2. In the 3rd person plural there is no gender opposition.

3. The unstressed forms of the personal pronouns in the dative, like those in the accusative, always
accompany a verb: — Îmi aduce Dan cartea. (Dan is bringing me the book.)

4. The unstressed forms beginning with î- (îmi, îţi, îi) occur as separate words: — Îmi explici asta? (Can you
explain this to me?)

5. The unstressed short forms without î- (with the î- elided) are always attached to another word that
begins or ends in a vowel: Mi-a explicat asta. (He explained this to me.)

6. The stressed forms of the personal pronouns in the dative are used independently, in isolated
constructions, or as a repetitive element, for emphasis: — Îmi aduce Dan cartea. (Dan is bringing me the
book.) — Ţie? (To you?) — Da, îmi aduce cartea mie, nu ţie! (He's bringing the book to me, not to you!)

Properties updated 2018-10-25

Basic rules

The four states of aggregation:

 solidă solid

lichidă liquid

gazoasă gaseous

plasmă plasma
Tips and tricks: Numerical pre xes

In Science, but not only Science, it is good to know the numerical pre xes in order to indicate how many sides
a geometrical gure has, for example:

bi- for two: Parlament bicameral (Bicameral Parliament)

tri- for three: triunghi (Geometrical gure with three sides and angles)

tetra- for four: tetrapod (animal with four legs)

penta- for ve: pentagon (polygon with ve angles and ve sides)

hexa- for six: hexaedru (six-sided polygon)

hepta- for seven: heptatlon (a track and eld event in which each competitor takes part in the same
prescribed seven events)

octa/o- for eight: octogenar (a person who is from 80 to 89 years old)

nona-/enea- for nine: eneadă (reunion of nine things or people- rar.)

deca- for ten: decadă (a period of ten years)

Tips and tricks : Vechime

This word refers to the age of an object (as in length of age). It is not to be confused with the age of a person
or a thing.

Genitive-Dative Nouns updated 2018-10-25

Basic rules

To begin with, the noun forms in the genitive and in the dative are identical. However, the dative is the case of
the indirect object, while the genitive is mainly the case of possession, belonging or origin..

Example:

Genitive: Cartea băiatului este aici. (The boy's book is here.)

Dative: Îi dau cartea băiatului! (I give the book to the boy!)

CASE FORMS:

If not modi ed by an adjective or pronominal adjective, the Romanian noun in the genitive or the dative will
always be accompanied by its article, de nite or inde nite. The element that changes in the genitive-dative
forms is the article. It is only the feminine nouns that take a particular ending in the genitive-dative singular.
This ending is identical in form to the ending for the nominative plural.

Declension with the inde nite article:

 masculine and neuter nouns (not considering the article) have:

(i) one form for the singular in all cases; and

(ii) one form for the plural in all cases.

Example:

-- Nominative-Accusative singular: un pom (a tree); un scaun (a chair)

-- Genitive-Dative singular: unui pom (to a tree/ of a tree); unui scaun (to a chair/ of a chair)

-- Nominative-Accusative plural: niște pomi (some trees); niște scaune (some chairs)

-- Genitive-Dative plural: unor pomi (to some trees/ of some trees); unor scaune (to some chairs/ of some
chairs).

feminine nouns (not considering the article) have:

(i) one form for the nominative-accusative singular; and

(ii) a different form for the genitive-dative singular and all the cases in the plural.

Example:

-- N-A sing.: o oare (a ower)

-- G-D sing.: unei ori (to a ower/ of a ower)

-- N-A pl.: niște ori (some owers)

-- G-D pl.: unor ori (to some owers/ of some owers).

the inde nite article has three genitive-dative forms: unui (masculine and neuter, singular), unei
(feminine, singular) and unor (plural for the three genders)

Declension with the de nite article:

masculine and neuter nouns (not considering the article) have:

(i) one form for the singular; and

(ii) one form for the plural in all cases.

Example:

-- N-A sing.:pomul (the tree); scaunul (the chair)

-- G-D sing.: pomului (to the tree/ of the tree); scaunului (to the chair/ of the chair)

-- N-A pl.: pomii (the trees); scaunele (the chairs)

-- G-D pl.: pomilor (to the trees/ of the trees); scaunelor (to the chairs/ of the chairs).

feminine nouns (not considering the article) have:

(ii) one form for the nominative-accusative singular; and

(ii) a different form for the genitive-dative singular and all the cases in the plural.
Example:

-- N-A sing.: oarea (the ower)

-- G-D sing.: orii (to the ower/ of the ower)

-- N-A pl.: orile (the owers)

-- G-D pl.: orilor (to the owers/ of the owers).

However, for the feminine nouns that take the ending -ii in the nominative-accusative plural, the ending
changes into -ie in the genitive-dative singular, and the article is attached to this form:

-- N-A sing.: o familie (a family)

-- N-A pl.: niște familii (some families)

-- G-D sing.: familiei (to the family/ of the family)

-- G-D pl.: familiilor (to the families/ of the families) |

the de nite article has three genitive-dative forms: -(u)lui (masculine and neuter, singular), -i (feminine,
singular) and -lor (plural for the three genders).

DIFFERENTIATING THE GENITIVE AND THE DATIVE:

The Genitive:
The case question of the genitive is al, a, ai, ale cui? (whose?).

In simple constructions or sentences, the noun in the genitive is placed after the noun that it modi es, in its
immediate proximity:

cartea profesorului (the professor's book);

mama Corinei (Corina's mother);

misterele Egiptului (the mysteries of Egypt).

In such simple combinations, the noun modi ed by the genitive takes the de nite article.

If the modi ed noun takes the inde nite article, or if it is modi ed by one or more adjectives or by a noun in
the accusative, the noun in the genitive will take the possessive or genitive article:

o carte a profesorului (a book of the professor);

cartea nouă a profesorului (the professor's new book);

mama minunată a Corinei (the wonderful mother of Corina);

misterele fermecătoare ale Egiptului (the enchanting misteries of Egypt).

The Dative:
The dative indicates the person or thing the action of the verb is directed to. The case question of the dative is
cui? (to whom?).

The dative comes after certain verbs related to the general idea of giving:
a da (to give)

a oferi (to offer)

a înmâna (to hand in)

a dărui (to give a gift)

a spune (to tell, to say)

a explica (to explain)

a promite (to promise)

a arăta (to show).

Places updated 2018-10-25

Useful words regarding places

Our country is organized by counties (județe) and each county has its own county seat (reședință de județ). It is
also devided by regions, nine in total.

Restaurants: useful words

chelner- waiter with the feminin form cheleneriță

bucătar- cook, but we also use chef(more formal)

tacâmuri- tableware, including furculiță (fork), cuțit (knife), lingură (spoon).

șervețel- table napkin

notă de plată- bill

Hotels: useful words

recepție- reception

cameristă- maid

parcare- parking lot

seif- safe-deposit box

room service is used in Romanian too

Churces: useful words

icoană- icon

rugăciune- prayer

preot- priest

altar is used in Romanian too

lumânare- candle

Markets: useful words

fructe- fruits

legume- vegetables

ori- owers

a negocia- to negotiate

Museums: useful words

tablou- painting

statuie- statue

artă- art

ghid- guide

a contempla- to contemplate

Theatres: useful words

piesă de teatru- play

actor- actor, with the feminine form actriță

comedie- comedy

tragedie- tragedy

Cinemas: useful words

bilet- ticket

loc- seat

lm- movie

oricele de porumb- popcorn, but more often we use popcorn too

acțiune- action

regizor- director

Libraries: useful words

carte- book

autor- author

literatură universală- universal literature

a împrumuta- to borrow

beletristică- ction

poezie- poetry

Schools: useful words

elev- student
 profesor- professor

director adjunct- deputy director

manual- textbook

temă- homework

orar- schedule

Shops: useful words

rest- change

raion- departament

reducere- discount (also used in Romanian)

a plăti- to pay

Nationalites & Foreign Languages updated 2018-10-25

Basic rules

Prepositions

When talking about visiting a country or another, the right preposition is în:

Plec în Suedia- I go to Sweden

When moving from a country, the right preposition is din:

Mă mut din Italia- I move from Italy

Grammatical agreement

locuitorii Suediei- inhabitants of Sweden

locuitorii Argentinei- inhanitans of Argentine

locuitorii Statelor Unite ale Americii- inhabitants of the United States of America

locuitorii Danemarcei- inhabitants of Denmark

Be careful! the form Danemarcăi is wrong!

locuitorii Țării Galilor- inhabitants of Wales

literatură daneză Danish literature

literatură argentiniană Argentinean literature

literatură americană American literature

literatură galeză Welsh literature

costum rusesc Russian out t

costum englezesc English out t

 costum brazilian Brazilian out t
costum românesc Romanian out t
Tips and tricks:
phobias (fobii)

In Romanian we call xenofobie the irrational dislike or fear of new (including other countries or people from
other countries).

Every phobia in our language is ended in -fobie, wich is a suf xoid that means fear, distase

Politics updated 2018-10-25

Manners of adress

for king: Sire or Majestatea Voastră (Your Majesty)

for queen: Majestatea Voastră

for princess/for prince: Alteța Voastră Regală (Your Royal Highness)

for president/ for amabssador: Excelența Sa (His Excelence)

Tips and tricks: pleonasms

A pleonasm is the use of more words than are necessary to convey meaning, either as a fault of style or for
emphasis.

alegeri electorale | elegere= election & electoral= regarding election

dar totuși | dar= totuși= but, however etc.

perspectivă de viitor | perspectivă=perspective (and it can only be viewed in future) & viitor= future

aversă de ploaie | aversă= short, abundant rain & ploaie= rain

Did you know? Romanian politics

Our Parliament is divided into two chambers: Camera Deputaților (The Chamber of Deputies) and Senatul (The
Senate).

The President has a ve-year mandate, but a member of the Parliament has a four-year mandate. We have a
democratic vote, so everyone who is 18 years old or older can vote on election day.

Since we became a democracy, we only had four presidents (including our president in function, Mr. Klaus
Iohannis).

Crimes

furt theft

evaziune scală tax evasion

violență violence

abuz în serviciu abuse of power

amenințare threat
 abuz verbal verbal abuse
Tips and tricks: crime vs. murder

In English, the word crime is used for expressing an action that is punishable by law (generally speaking), and
the Romanian equivalent is delict.

The word crimă, (very similar with crime, but they don't have the same meaning) in Romanian, it means
murder.

Conjunctions updated 2018-10-25

Basic rules

Conjunctions can be:

coordinator conjunctions

și, nici and, neither

dar, iar, însă, ci but, and, however, but

sau, ori, e or

deci, așadar so, therefore

subordinate conjunctions

să ~ should

că that

dacă if

deși although
Phrases

precum și as well as

numai că only that

prin urmare if

pentru că therefore

fără să without

până să until
Tips and tricks

We use comma:

before dar, iar, însă & ci

before sau, ori, e used twice

Ori rămâi, ori pleci- Either you stay or you leave

before așadar, deci

 Adverbs updated 2018-10-25

Basic rules

The adverb is a word or phrase that modi es the meaning of an adjective, verb, or other adverb, expressing
manner, place, time, or degree

Types:

adverbe de loc (place): aici (here), acolo (there), sus (up)

adverbe de timp (time): azi (today), devreme (early), curând (soon)

adverbe de mod (manner): bine (well), da/nu (yes/no), agale (slowly)

Derived adverbs

Suf xes:

-ește: iepurește, românește

-iș: cruciș, pieptiș

âș: târâș

Compound adverbs

a) adverb + subs. (noun): azi-dimineaţă (this morning), ieri-noapte (yesterday night), mâine-seară (tomorrow
evening);

b) adverb + adverb: oriunde (anywhere), oarecum (somewhat), orişicând (anytime), târâş-grăpiş (with dif culty);

c) prep. (preposition) + adverb: de abia (barely), până când (until), până unde (how far), încotro (where).

Tips and tricks:

– nu îi … (lui/ei): Nu-i (nu îi) dă voie să vină.

– nu e/este: Nu-i (nu e/este) de acord.

Interrogative, Relative, Inde nite & Negative Pronouns updated 2018-10-25

Interrogative Pronouns

Example: Cine a cumpărat cărțile?- Who bought the books?

The main role of the Interrogative Pronoun is to replace the noun that is expected as an answer to the
question which includes the pronoun.

Pronoun forms:

cine?/cui? who?/whose?&whom?

ce? what?

care? which?

căruia?/cărora? whose?
 cât? how much?
Adjectival
Pronoun

Example: Pentru cine sunt cărțile?- For whom the books are?

Relative Pronouns

They have the same form as the interogative pronouns.

When the relative pronoun agrees with a noun, they become adjectival relative pronouns.

Be careful at the form of the adjectival pronoun:

Casa ale cărei geamuri sunt albe e mare.-The house whose windows are white is big.

In this situation we use ale because we have the noun geamuri in the plural, neutral form. The grammatical
agreement is made between this words.

Inde nite Pronouns

Pronoun forms:

Simple:

altul another

unul one
Compound (some examples):

ceva something?

oricine anyone

altceva something else

Some inde nite pronouns are invariable (ceva, altceva), but there are others that can vary depending on genre
( ecăruia/ ecăreia), or even case and number.

Negative Pronouns

Pronoun forms:

nimeni
niciunul/niciuna
nimic

Be careful! There is a big difference between niciunul and nici unul!

Examples: Niciunul din ei nu a primit slujba.- None of them got the job.

Nu a cumpărat nici un pepene, nici o portocală.- He neither bought a watermelon, nor an orange.

In the last case, un and o are inde nite articles.

Prepositions 2 (GenDat cases) updated 2018-10-25

Prepositional Phrases

Prepositional phrases consist of one or two prepositions and another part of speech:

articulated or non-articulated noun: în urma (behind), în spatele (behind), în loc de (instead of);

articulated or non-articulated adverbs: pe dinaintea (before), aproape de (close to), în afară de (apart
from);

Tips and Tricks: preposition vs. adverb

Usually, prepositions and prepositional phrases are articulated, adverbs and adverbial phrases are non-
articulated.

Examples: Ei merg înainte.- They walk ahead (adverb)

Ei merg înaintea lui.- They walk before him (preposition)

Many prepositions can also consist of a personal pronoun (Dativ Case, unaccented form):

asupra-mi (asupra mea) on me

în juru-ți (în jurul tău) around you

în fața-ți (în fața ta) in front of you

Tips and tricks: care vs. pe care

Another frequent gramamtical mistake is forgetting the preposition pe in this structure and making the phrase
more than ambiguous.

Examples:
Oamenii CARE au venit sunt fericiți.- The people who came are happy.
Oamenii PE CARE i-am văzut sunt fericiți.- The people I have seen are happy.

Ea a venit cu o fată PE CARE o urăște.- She came with a gril that she hates.
Ea a venit cu o fată CARE o urăște.- She came with a girl that hates her.

As you can see, it is a big difference regarding the meaning, depending on who does the action and who
suffers it.

Human Body updated 2018-10-25

Diminutives and Augmentatives

Diminutives- nouns formed by derivation with diminutival suf xes, naming objects that are smaller than the
main object.

Main object Diminutive

deget ( nger) degețel

burtă (belly) burtică

palmă (palm) pălmuță

obraz (cheek) obrăjor

față (face) fețișoară

In Romanian, there are several diminutival suf xes: -aș, -el, -ic, -ișor etc. .
Examples: iepuraș (bunny), șoricel (mouse), lăptic (milk), peștișor ( sh);

Diminutives are also used for expressing sympathy.

Examples: mamă (mother)- mămică (mum)

Augmentatives- nouns formed by derivation with augmentative suf xes, naming objects that are bigger than
the main object.

Main object Diminutive

palmă (palm) pălmoaie

pumn ( st) pumn oi

Suf xes: -an, -andru, -oi, -oaie;

Examples: bogătan, cățelandru, cuțitoi, căsoaie;

Did you know?

In Romanian literature, diminutives and augmentatives are used as gures of speech, highlighting qualities or
was of one character or another.

Example: Atunci Gerilă su ă de trei ori cu buzișoarele sale cele iscusite și casa rămâne nici erbinte, nici rece
[...]
Ion Creangă- Povestea lui Harap Alb

Then Gerilă blew three times with his cunning little lips and the house remains neither hot, nor cold [...]
Ion Creangă- The story of Harap Alb

Tips and tricks: phrases & sayings

A-și lua inima-n dinți: To screw up one's courage.

A-l durea în cot: Couldn't care less

A sta cu ochii în patru: To be on the lookout

A ține piept: To withstand

A da din coate: To scramble

People updated 2018-10-25

Loanwords

Loanword- a word adopted from a foreign language with little or no modi cation.

In Romanian, we still use some words that come from the extinct Dacian language, such as:

amurg- twilight

brad- r tree

brânză- cheese

melc- snail

viscol- blizzard
The Slavic in uences are the most pronounced ones because the Slavonic language was once the main
language of the administration, diplomacy, also used in the religious cults.

Rai- Heaven

prieten- friend

vrăjmaș- enemy

bogat- rich

duh- spirit

The direct contacts between the Romanian culture and the Hungarian culture led to a signi cant in uence
regarding our lexicon.

chin- struggle

neam- nation

chipeș- handsome

a chibzui- to contemplate

pildă- parable

Turkish in uences began to manifest in the 16th century, because of the vassal relationship between Țara
Românească & Moldova and the Ottoman empire

dușman- enemy

chef- binge

murdar- dirty

dușumea- oor

cherhana- shery

Loanwords of Greek origin:

mănăstire- monastery

politicos- polite

a (se) plictisi- to get bored

ifose- airs

Patriarh- Patriarch

Loanwords of French origin:

alambicat- sophisticated

obsesie- obsession

grup- group

meditație- meditation
 cochet- coquettish

Loanwords of English origin:

site

job

airbag

clovn- clown

a scana- to scan

Tips and tricks: English words&expressions

to make sense

The correct translation in Romanian for this expression is a avea sens, with the verb a avea (to have) not * a
face sens, with a face* (to do).

hazard

The correct translation in Romanian is destin (destiny), not dezastru.

determination

The correct translation in Romanian is hotărâre (decision), not determinare.

Household updated 2018-10-25

Basic rules

In Romanian, we use the expressions:

a face curățenie (with the verb a face/to do) in order to express cleaning up (something).

a duce gunoiul (with the verb a duce/to carry) in order to express taking the rubbish out.

a face baie (with the verb a face/to do) in order to express taking a bath.

We also have some different words for living room (we use this form in Romanian too, we also use just living):
sufragerie, cameră de zi, cameră de oaspeți.

Related verbs&nouns:

Noun Verb

mătură (broom) a mătura (to sweep)

cuptor (oven) a coace (to bake)

aspirator (vacuum cleaner) a aspira (to vacuum)

er de călcat (iron) a călca (to iron)

mașină de spălat (washing machine) a spăla (to wash)

Physical and Emotional Sensations updated 2018-10-25

Basic Rules
Other forms for sensations:

FOAME

înfometat- starved

fomiță (diminutival form)- hunger

foamete- famine

SETE

însetat- thirsty

FRICĂ

înfricoșat- frightened

neînfricat- fearless

fricos- fearful

înfricoșător- scary

FRIG

înfrigurat- cold

friguț (diminutival form)

CALD

încălzit- heated

călduț (diminutival form)

călduros- warm(ly)

RUȘINE

rușinat- ashamed

rușinos- shameful

nerușinat- shameless

POFTĂ

pofticios- greedy

TEAMĂ

temător- fearful

SOMN

somnoros- sleepy

somnic (diminutival form)

somnolent- drowsy
LENE

a lenevi- to laze

leneș- lazy

INDIFERENT

indiferență- indifference

DRAG

drăguț- nice

drăgăstos- loving(ly)

Nature updated 2018-10-25

Explain difference between râu and uviu!

43 skills with tips and notes