Romanian verbs
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This article on Romanian verbs is related to the Romanian grammar and belongs to a series of articles on the Romanian language.
Unlike English but similar to other Indo-European languages, verbs in Romanian are highly inflective. They conjugate according to mood, tense, voice, person and number. Aspect is not an independent feature in Romanian verbs. Also, gender is only distinct in adjective-like forms of the verb.
Verb paradigm
There are nine moods a verb can be put into, with five of them being personal — having a different form for each person — and four non-personal. As an example, the tables below show the verb a face (to do) at all moods, tenses, persons and numbers. Only positive forms in the active voice are given. The corresponding personal pronouns are not included; unlike English verbs, Romanian verbs generally have different forms for each person and number, so that pronouns are most often dropped or only used for emphasis. The English equivalents in the tables (one for each mood and tense) are only an approximative indication of the meaning.
| Personal moods | ||||||||
| Mood | Tense | Number and person | English equivalent (only sg. 1st) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |||
| Indicative | Pluperfect | făcusem | făcuseşi | făcuse | făcuserăm | făcuserăţi | făcuseră | I had done |
| Imperfect | făceam | făceai | făcea | făceam | făceaţi | făceau | I was doing | |
| Compound perfect | am făcut | ai făcut | a făcut | am făcut | aţi făcut | au făcut | I did | |
| Simple perfect | făcui | făcuşi | făcu | făcurăm | făcurăţi | făcură | I (just) did | |
| Future in the past | aveam să fac | aveai să faci | avea să facă | aveam să facem | aveaţi să faceţi | aveau să facă | I was going to do | |
| Present | fac | faci | face | facem | faceţi | fac | I do, I am doing | |
| Future | voi face | vei face | va face | vom face | veţi face | vor face | I will do | |
| Future (popular, 1) | am să fac | ai să faci | are să facă | avem să facem | aveţi să faceţi | au să facă | I'll do | |
| Future (popular, 2) | o să fac | o să faci | o să facă | o să facem | o să faceţi | o să facă | I'll do | |
| Future perfect | voi fi făcut | vei fi făcut | va fi făcut | vom fi făcut | veţi fi făcut | vor fi făcut | I will have done | |
| Subjunctive | Past | să fi făcut | să fi făcut | să fi făcut | să fi făcut | să fi făcut | să fi făcut | that I did, to have done |
| Present | să fac | să faci | să facă | să facem | să faceţi | să facă | that I do, to do | |
| Optative & Conditional | Past | aş fi făcut | ai fi făcut | ar fi făcut | am fi făcut | aţi fi făcut | ar fi făcut | I would have done |
| Present | aş face | ai face | ar face | am face | aţi face | ar face | I would do | |
| Presumptive | Past | oi fi făcut | oi fi făcut | o fi făcut | om fi făcut | oţi fi făcut | or fi făcut | I might have done |
| Present | oi face | oi face | o face | om face | oţi face | or face | I might do | |
| Present progressive | oi fi făcând | oi fi făcând | o fi făcând | om fi făcând | oţi fi făcând | or fi făcând | I might be doing | |
| Imperative | Present | – | fă! | – | – | faceţi! | – | do! (2nd person only) |
| Non-personal moods | |||
| Mood | Tense | Verb forms | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | Past | a fi făcut | to have done |
| Present | a face | to do | |
| Participle | Past | făcut (sg., masc.) făcută (sg., fem.) făcuţi (pl., masc.) făcute (pl., fem.) | done |
| Gerund | – | făcând | doing |
| Supine | – | de făcut | (something) to do |
Verbs in the past participle usually behave like adjectives, and thus must agree in number, gender, and case with the noun they determine.
Conjugation groups
Romanian verbs are categorized into four large conjugation groups depending on the ending in the infinitive mood.
| Conjugation | Ending | Examples | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | –a | a da (to give) a cânta (to sing) a crea (to create) | verbs ending in hiatus ea are included here |
| II | –ea | a putea (can) a cădea (to fall) a vedea (to see) | only when ea is a diphthong |
| III | –e | a vinde (to sell) a crede (to believe) a alege (to choose) | |
| IV | –i or –î | a şti (to know) a veni (to come) a hotărî (to decide) |
Most verbs fall in the first conjugation group with another large number ending in –i (fourth group).
This classification only partially helps in identifying the correct conjugation pattern; each group is further split into smaller classes depending on the actual morphological processes that occur. For example, verbs a cânta (to sing) and a lucra (to work) both belong to the first conjugation group, but their indicative first person singular forms are eu cânt (I sing) and eu lucrez (I work), showing completely different conjugation mechanisms.
External links
- [Detailed Romanian grammar] with a good section on verbs (PDF, 183 pages, 4.6 MB)
- [Verbix.com: Romanian verbs conjugation] (Attention: Generally good output, but a few verbs are not conjugated correctly.)
- [Castingsnet.com: Romanian ↔ English online dictionary] also providing a Romanian verb conjugator (few mistakes)
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