Romanian Grammar

If you're trying to learn the most essential topics about Romanian you will find some useful resources including a course about adjectives, adverbs, articles, gender (feminine, masculine...), negation, nouns, numbers, phrases, plural, prepositions, pronouns, questions, verbs, vocabulary, excercises... to help you with your Romanian grammar Enjoy our courses!

Romanian Lessons

Learning Romanian can help you communicate with other people who speak Romanian. The following courses will provide you with some help based on the lessons you choose. Here is a list of what we offer:

1-    Plural Lesson

While in English, the plural is formed by adding (s) to the singular. In Romanian, to form the plural of nouns we have to differentiate first between masculine, feminine and neuter nouns:

a.    Plural of masculine nouns:

a). nouns ending in –e,-i or –u replace the –e, -i or –u with –i:

burete becomes bureti (sponge)

leu becomes lei (lion)

b). nouns ending in –iu form the plural in –ii:

camionagiu becomes camionagii (carter)

c). nouns ending in a consonant form the plural by adding –i after the consonant, which it modifies depending on the case:

pas becomes paşi (step)

d). nouns ending in –ă form the plural in –i:

popă becomes popi (priest)

e). irregular plural: soră becomes surori (sister)

b.    Plural of feminine nouns:

a). feminine nouns ending in –a form the plural in –ale:

tarla becomes tarlale (strip ground)

b). feminine nouns ending in –ea form the plural in –ele:

cafea becomes cafele (coffee)

c). the only feminine noun ending in –i forms the plural in –le:

zi becomes zile (day)

d). –uri appears at some feminine noun plurals:

ceartă-certuri (fight)

e). feminine nouns with singular ending in –e which define abstract notions or lifeless objects form the plural in –i:

pădure becomes păduri (forest)

f). feminine nouns ending in –ie preceded by a consonant form the plural in –ii:

bestie becomes bestii (beast)

g). feminine nouns ending in –ie preceded by a vocal form the plural in one –i:

baie becomes băi (bathroom)

h). feminine nouns ending in -că or –gă form the plural in –i:

fabricaă becomes fabric (factory)

c.    Plural of neuter nouns:

a). neuter nouns ending in –e form the plural in –e:

nume is still nume (names)

b). neuter nouns naming objects and which have one of the following endings: -ar, -er, -or, -sor, -tor, form the plural in –e:

dictionary becomes dictionare (dictionary )

c). neuter nouns ending in –ent, -ment form the plural in –e:

accent becomes accente (accent)

d). most of the neuter nouns ending in –aj form the plural in –e:

bagaj becomes bagaje (luggage)

e). neuter nouns ending in –ăt and –et form the plural in –e

lacăt  becomes lacăte (lock)

f). neuter nouns ending in –u preceded by 2 consonants, the second one being –r, form the plural in –e:

teatru becomes teatre (theater)

g). neuter nouns ending in –ism form the plural in –e:

liberalism becomes liberalisms (liberalism)

h). neuter nouns ending in –iu form the plural in –ii:

concediu becomes concedii (vacation)

i). neuter nouns ending in –o, ou form the plural in –uri:

radio becomes radiouri (radios)

2-    Adverbs Lesson

While in English adverbs are usually formed by adding (-ly) to adjectives. In Romanian adverbs are words on their one:

-adverbs of time: acum (now), apoi (then), azi (today), etc.

- adverbs of place: acasa (home), aici (here), acolo (there), etc.

- adverbs of manner: bine (well), doar (just), foarte (very), etc.

- adverbs of affirmation: bineinteles (of course), sigur (sure), etc.

- adverbs of negation: nici (neither), dimpotriva (on the contrary).

3-    Adjectives Lesson

While in English an adjective doesn’t change when the noun changes, in Romanian an adjective should agree in gender and number with the noun. For example:

a)    Masculine to feminine example:

Acesta este baiatul meu mic (this is my little son) becomes: Aceasta este fata mea mica (this is my little daughter)

As you can see from the example above, the adjective comes after the noun and also takes the feminine form.

b)    Singular to plural example:

Aceasta este pisica mea alba (this is my white cat) becomes: Acestea sunt pisicile mele albe (these are my white cats).

As you can see from the example above, the adjective comes after the noun and also takes the plural form.

 

4-    Numbers Lesson

In Romanian numbers from 1 to 20 are unique and therefore need to be memorized individually. Numbers from 21 and upwards are formed by using the following pattern: for example 21 can be formed by using 20 + 1 while connecting them. 22 = douazeci si doi. 45 can be formed by using 40 + si + 5 while connecting them: 45 = Patruzeci si cinci.

 

5-    Articles Lesson

 

Definite Article:

Unlike English, which has only one definite article “the", Romanian has 4 definite articles:

Ul (masculine singular), baiatul (the boy)

A (masculine singular) fata (the girl)

I (masculine plural) baietii (the boys)

Le (feminine plural) casele (the houses)

 

Indefinite Article:

While we have (a / an / some) in English as indefinite articles, we also have un/ o. unii/ unele in Romanian .

In general, whenever (a, an) are used in English you, you need to use (un) or (o) to say the equivalent in Romanian.

Un (masculine singular), un baiat (a boy)

O (masculine singular) o casa (a house)

Unii (masculine plural) unii baieti (some boys)

Unele (feminine plural) Unele case (some houses)

 

Example: cartile pe care le am sunt intr-o casa la un baiat (The books I have are in a house of a friend)

 

6-    Verbs Lessons

 

There are 8 moods a verb can be put into:

 

1.    Indicative. It has 7 times:

a.    Present: Citesc o carte – I am reading a book

b.    Imperfect: Citeam o carte – I was reading a book

c.    Simple perfect: Citi o carte – I read a book

d.    Compound perfect: Am citit o carte – I have read a book

e.    Future in the past: Aveam sa citesc o carte – I was going to read a book

f.     Future: Voi citi o carte- I will read a book

g.    Future perfect: Voi fi citit o carte -  I will have read a book

2.    Subjunctive:

a.    Present: Sa citesc o carte – To read a book

b.    Past: Sa fi citit o carte – To have read a book

3.    Optative and conditional:

a.    Present: As citi o carte – I would read a book

b.    Past: As fi citit o carte – I would have read a book.

4.    Imperative: Citeste! – Read! (only used in the second person)

5.    Infinitive: A citi o carte – To read a book

6.    Participle: past: Citit (M,sg), citita (F, sg), cititi (M, pl), citite (F, pl) – read

7.    Gerund: citind o carte – Reading a book

8.    Supine: de citit o carte – to read a book.

 

 

7-    Asking a Question Lesson

In Romanian there are 3 ways of asking a question to get a yes or no answer, and they are the following:

-Verb + pronoun: Unlike English, the auxiliaries do and does are not used. Are ea timp liber? (Does she have free time?)

-Pronoun + verb: Only the intonation makes the sentence interrogative: Ea are timp liber? (Does she have free time?)

-Finally you can also make a question by adding a tag question to the end of a statement. Ella tiene tiempo liber, nu?

Ella tiene tiempo libre, nu-i asa? (She has free time, doesn’t she)

 

8-    Negation Lesson

 

In Romanian, negation can be made simply by placing "No" before the main verb. But sometimes a double negative is required. "No" is the most common negative.

Nu pot sa o fac (I can't do this). 

Nu au nimic de facut (they don't have anything to do – Double Negative). 

Nu imi place (I don't like it)

 

9-    Feminine Lesson

You recognize feminine nouns:

a.    Nouns ending in –a, -ea, -ia, -i:

Zi (day); catea (dog)

b.    Nouns ending in –ă, except for popă (priest), tată (father):

c.    Nouns ending in –are, -ere, -ire: aparare (defense), cadere (fall)

d.    Nouns ending in –ătate, -etate, -itate: bunătate (goodness), varietate (variety)

e.    Nouns ending in –iune (except for tăaciune (coal): natiune (nation)

f.     Nouns ending in –ie (except for tataie (grandpa): baie (bathroom)

 

 

Note that some words cannot change into feminine; instead a whole new word should be used, example: Barbat (man), Femeie (woman).

 

10- Pronouns Lesson

In English personal pronouns are (I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they), and (me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them), In Romanian, the personal pronouns are:

Eu… (I), tu… (you), el… (he), ea… (she), 

Noi… (we), ei… (they masc.), ele… (they fem.)

Examples: eu invat (I learn), tu inveti (you learn), el invata (he learns), ea invata (she learns), Dumneavoastra invatati (you learn [polite]), noi invatam (we learn), voi invatati (you learn [plural, friendly]), ei invata (they learn-M), ele invata (they learn-F), dumneavoastra invatati (you learn [plural, polite]).

 

Reflexive pronouns

Pe mine/\ma (me), pe tine/te (you), pe el/pe ea il/o (him, he), pe noi/ne (us), pe voi/va (you), pe ei/ii (them):

Examples: Te iubesc (I love you).

 

Possessive Pronouns:

Al meu (mine masc.), a mea (mine fem.), ai mei (mine, plural masc.), ale mele (mine, plural fem.), al tau/a ta (yours), a lui, a ei (his, hers), al nostru-M, a noastra-F (ours), al vostru-M, a voastra-F (yours), al lor (theirs).

Demonstrative Pronouns:

Pronouns of proximity: acesta –M, sg – this; aceasta –F, Sg - that

                                     Acestia – M,pl – these; acestea – F, Pl – these

Pronouns of remoteness: acela – M,sg – that; aceea – F,sg - that

                                          Aceia – M, pl – those, acelea – F, pl – those

Intensive pronouns:

Insumi –M,N sg-myself 

Insămi – F, sg – myself 

Insuţi – M, N sg – yourself

Insăti – F, sg – yourself

Inşine – M, pl – Ourselves

Insene – F, N, pl – Ourselves

Inşiva – M, pl – Yourselves

Inseva – F, N pl – Yourselves

Inşişi – M, pl – themsemves

Inseşi – F, N pl - themselves

Relative and Interrogative pronouns:

Cine? –who?

a/al/ai/ale cui? – whose, to whom?

Care?-which?

Pe care? – which/whom?

Ce? – which/whom?

a/al/ai/ale carui/a carei/a caror?- whose? To whom?

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