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 lucrez | I work |
| Tu lucrezi | You work |
| El, Ea lucrează | He, she works |
| Noi lucrăm | We work |
| Voi lucrați | You work (plural) |
| Ei, Ele lucrează | They 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 creez | I create |
| Tu crezi | You create |
| El, Ea creeaza | He, She creates |
| Noi creăm | We create |
| Voi creați | You create (plural) |
| Ei, Ele creează | They create |
A scrie – to write (3rd conj.)
| Eu scriu | I write |
| Tu scrii | You write |
| El, Ea scrie | He, She writes |
| Noi scriem | We write |
| Voi scrieți | You write (plural) |
| El, Ele scriu | They 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 vorbesc | I speak | Eu fug | I run |
| Tu vorbești | You speak | Tu fugi | You run |
| El, Ea vorbește | He, she speaks | El, Ea fuge | He, she runs |
| Noi vorbim | We speak | Noi fugim | We run |
| Voi vorbiți | You speak | Voi fugiți | You run |
| Ei, Ele vorbesc | They speak | Ei, Ele fug | They 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)