In the English language infinitive form of the verb starts from the particle “to” (e.g. to work, to play, to do, etc.) and in the Romanian language it is similar, but all Romanian verbs in the infinitive form start from the particle “a”: a fugi, a începe, a dansa, a scrie. Romanian verbs have 4 conjugations. They are identified by verb endings:

1st conjugation – [-a]: a lucra – to work, a iua – to take*, a mânca – to eat, a studia – to study, a invata – to learn.

2nd conjugation -[-ea]:  a vedea – to see*, a bea – to drink, a crea – to create, a avea – to have*, a cădea – to fall.

3rd conjugation – [-e]: a scrie – to write, a merge – to go, a crede – to believe, a pune – to put, a conduce – to drive.

4th conjugation – [-i]/[- î]: a citi – to read, a sări – to jump, a veni – to come*, a construi – to build, a gândi – to think.

*- irregular verbs

Conjugation of Romanian verbs in the present tense

Let’s consider how to conjugate Romanian verbs in the present tense in each of these conjugations.

A lucra – to work (1st. conj.)

Eu lucrezI work
Tu lucreziYou work
El, Ea lucreazăHe, she works
Noi lucrămWe work
Voi lucrațiYou work (plural)
Ei, Ele lucreazăThey work

The pronouns Ei, Ele both mean “They”. However, Ei is used when one speaks about men or men with women, and Ele is used when one speaks only about women.

A crea – to create (2nd conj. )

Eu creezI create
Tu creziYou create
El, Ea creeazaHe, She creates
Noi creămWe create
Voi creațiYou create (plural)
Ei, Ele creeazăThey create

A scrie – to write (3rd conj.)

Eu scriuI write
Tu scriiYou write
El, Ea scrieHe, She writes
Noi scriemWe write
Voi scriețiYou write (plural)
El, Ele scriuThey write

A vorbi – to speak, a fugi – to run (4th conj.)

There are verbs in this conjugation that have postfix –sc at conjugation with Eu (I) and Ei, Ele (they) and the suffix –es with Tu(you) and El, Ea(he, she). There is no exact rule to determine whether a verb has this suffix or not.

Eu vorbescI speakEu fugI run
Tu vorbeștiYou speakTu fugiYou run
El, Ea vorbeșteHe, she speaksEl, Ea fugeHe, she runs
Noi vorbimWe speakNoi fugimWe run
Voi vorbițiYou speakVoi fugițiYou run
Ei, Ele vorbescThey speakEi, Ele fugThey run

In this lesson, we considered only regular Romanian verbs in the present tense. In the next lesson, we will consider irregular verbs and other constructions. Now let’s consider some examples.

Examples

Eu vorbesc limba Română – I speak Romanian language (limba – language, Română – Romanian)

El scrie o scrisoare – He writes a letter (scrisoare – letter)

Noi dormim puțin – We sleep a little (puțin – a little)

Ei construiesc  o casă – They build a house (casă – house)