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In this lesson of Romanian language you will learn to conjugate some irregular verbs in present tense, conjugate Romanian verbs in past tense, and learn question words.
A fi – to be, this is the most irregular verb in Romanian language, as well as in all other languages. Just memorize its conjugation.
| Eu sunt | I am |
| Tu ești | You are |
| El, Ea este | He, She is |
| Noi suntem | We are |
| Voi sunteți | You are |
| Ei, Ele sunt | They are |
And we have to memorize these two Romanian irregular verbs:
A avea – to have
| Eu am | I have |
| Tu ai | You have |
| El, Ea are | He, She has |
| Noi avem | We have |
| Voi aveți | You have |
| Ei, Ele au | They have |
A lua – to take
| Eu iau | I take |
| Tu iei | You take |
| El, Ea ia | He, She takes |
| Noi luăm | We take |
| Voi luați | You take |
| Ei, Ele iau | They take |
Romanian past tense
The Romanian past tense considered in this lesson is called “Imperfect”, or just analogue of English past tense that has –ed verb endings. This tense is easier to memorize than present one – you need to memorize only three rules:
For Romanian verbs ending in –A or –E, the stem in past tense looks the same as the verb in infinitive form.
A învăța – to learn, past stem – învăța-
| Eu învățam | I learned |
| Tu învățai | You learned |
| El, Ea învăța | He, She learned |
| Noi învățam | We learned |
| Voi învățati | You learned |
| Ei, Ele învățau | They learned |
Romanian verbs ending in –i will have –i replaced with –e.
A munci – to work, past stem – munce-
| Eu muncam | I worked |
| Tu munceai | You worked |
| El, Ea muncea | He, She worked |
| Noi munceam | We worked |
| Voi munceați | You worked |
| Ei, Ele munceau | They worked |
And verbs ending in î will just have –î cut off.
A hotărî – to decide, past stem – hotăr-
| Eu hotăram | I decided |
| Tu hotărai | You decided |
| El, Ea hotărea | He, She decided |
| Noi hotăram | We decided |
| Voi hotărați | You decided |
| Ei, Ele hotărau | They decided |
Romanian irregular verbs “A fi”, “A avea”, “A lua” in past tense
Among these three irregular Romanian verbs, only one is irregular in this past tense – A fi – to be.
| Eu eram | I was |
| Tu erai | You were |
| El, Ea era | He, She was |
| Noi eram | We were |
| Voi erați | You were |
| Ei, Ele erau | They were |
And the verbs A avea – to have and A lua – to take are regular here:
| A avea – to have | A lua – to take |
| Eu aveam | Eu luam |
| Tu aveai | Tu luai |
| El, Ea avea | El, Ea lua |
| Noi aveam | Noi luam |
| Voi aveați | Voi luați |
| Ei, Ele aveau | Ei, Ele luau |
Memorize Romanian question words
Ce? – What?
Cine? – Who?
Unde? – Where?
Când – When?
De ce? – Why?
Cât? – How?
Cât de mult? – How much/many?
Examples
Ea învăța limba rusă – She learned Russian language (învăța – to learn)
Ele erau ocupați – They were busy (ocupat – busy)
Ce (tu) vedeai acolo? – What did you see there? (a vedea – to see, acolo – there)
Ei beau bere cu mine – They drank beer with me (a bea – to drink, cu – with, mine – me)
Eu nu amintesc când călătoream acolo – I don’t remember when I traveled there (a amintea – to remember, călători – to travel, acolo – there)