Appendix:Romanian verb conjugation

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Romanian verbs

Conjugation types

There are four basic conjugation types in Romanian.

Type 1 — verb infinitive ending in -a
Type 2 — verb infinitive ending in -ea
Type 3 — verb infinitive ending in -e
Type 4 — verb infinitive ending in -i or -î

There are variations within each class. For instance, some type 3 verbs have past participles ending in -ut while others end in -s. More information on such differences can be found in the respective appendices for conjugation. ^{Types: 1 - 2 - 3 4}

Moduri impersonale (Impersonal/Non-personal moods)

Infinitiv (Infinitive)

The infinitive is the basic form of a verb that you would find in a dictionary.

Prezent (Present)

Examples:

a iubi — to love
a cânta — to sing
a putea — to be able
a spune — to say

Trecut (Past)

The past infinitive is formed by combining a fi and the past participle of a verb. Examples:

a fi iubit — to have loved
a fi cântat — to have sung
a fi putut — to have been able
a fi spus — to have said

Gerunziu (Gerundive)

Examples:

L-am auzit cântând — I heard him singing
L-am auzit cântându-i fetei — I heard him singing to the girl
L-am auzit cântându-le fetelor — I heard him singing to the girls
Am auzit-o cântându-i prietenului ei — I heard her singing to her friend
El cântă folosind cuvinte din limbi străine — He sings using words from foreign languages

As with the participle, gerunds are negated with the prefix "ne-".

Examples:

Ea cântă nefolosind cuvinte din limbi străine — She sings without using words from foreign languages

Participiu (Past participle)

Positive

Examples:

cântat — sung
vorbit — spoken

Negative

Negative past participles are only used as adjectives. For instance, you can not say "eu am nevorbit" if you mean "I have not spoken." The correct way to say this would be "eu nu am (or n-am) vorbit."

Examples:

necântat — unsung
un cuvânt nevorbit — an unspoken word
o melodie necântată — an unsung melody
cuvintele nevorbite — the unspoken words

Adjectival usage

Past participles can also be used as adjectives. In these cases, they are declined in the same manner as 4-form adjectives.

cântați — sung (masculine plural)
vorbită — spoken (feminine singular)
necântat — unsung (masculine & neuter singular)
nevorbite — unspoken (feminine & neuter plural)

Supin (Supine)

The supine is formed simply by adding de before the past participle, although its use without "de" is possible, in which case it acts as a sort of noun.

am nevoie de ceva de mâncat — I need something to eat
dacă aveam de ales — If I had to choose

Moduri personale (Personal moods)

Indicativ (Indicative)

Prezent (Present)

present tense endings
singular				plural
	first	second	third	first	second	third
type	eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
1. ex. cânta	-	+i	+ă	+ăm	+ați	+ă
1. ex. cânta	cânt	cânți	cântă	cântăm	cântați	cântă

1. (-ez-) ex. deranja	+ez	+ezi	+ează	+ăm	+ați	+ează
1. (-ez-) ex. deranja	deranjez	deranjezi	deranjează	deranjăm	deranjați	deranjează

2. ex. vedea	-	+i	+e	+em	+eți	-
2. ex. vedea	văd	vezi	vede	vedem	vedeți	văd

3. ex. plânge	-	+i	+e	+em	+eți	-
3. ex. plânge	plâng	plângi	plânge	plângem	plângeți	plâng

4. i ex. dormi	-	+i	+e	+im	+iți	-
4. i ex. dormi	dorm	dormi	doarme	dormim	dormiți	dorm

4. i (-esc-) ex. vorbi	+esc	+ești	+ește	+im	+iți	+esc
4. i (-esc-) ex. vorbi	vorbesc	vorbești	vorbește	vorbim	vorbiți	vorbesc

4. î ex. omorî	-	+i	+ă	+âm	+âți	+ă
4. î ex. omorî	omor	omori	omoară	omorâm	omorâți	omoară

4. î (-ăsc-) ex. urî	+ăsc	+ăști	+ăște	+âm	+âți	+ăsc
4. î (-ăsc-) ex. urî	urăsc	urăști	urăște	urâm	urâți	urăsc

Examples:

eu cânt — I sing, I am singing
tu cânți — you sing, you are singing
eu citesc — I read, I am reading
el citește — he reads, he is reading

Imperfect (Imperfect)

imperfect endings
singular			plural
first	second	third	first	second	third
eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
-am	-ai	-a	-am	-ați	-au

Examples:

eu cântam — I was singing
tu cântai — you were singing
eu citeam — I was reading
el citea — he was reading

Perfect simplu (Simple perfect, Preterite)

Oltenia, the main region in which the simple perfect tense is used most.

preterite endings
singular			plural
first	second	third	first	second	third
eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
-i	-și	-	-răm	-răți	-ră

Outside of the region of Oltenia (in South-West Romania) this tense is not commonly used. In most parts of Romania, the Perfect compus (or compound perfect) is preferred. In places where the compus is preferred, when the simple perfect is used, it generally indicates that an action was completed in the very near past.

Examples:

eu cântai — I sang
tu cântași — you sang
eu citii — I read
el citi — he read

Mai mult ca perfect (Pluperfect)

pluperfect endings
singular			plural
first	second	third	first	second	third
eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
-sem	-seși	-se	-serăm	-serăți	-seră

note that in all cases except for the 1st person singular, the pluperfect is formed by adding -se- before the preterite ending.

Examples:

eu cântasem — I had sung
tu cântaseși — you had sung
eu citisem — I had read
el citise — he had read

Viitorul indicativ (Future indicative)

Viitor I (Future)

future auxiliaries
singular			plural
first	second	third	first	second	third
eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
voi	vei	va	vom	veți	vor

The above auxiliaries are used with infinitives to form the literary future.

Examples:

eu voi cânta — I will sing
ei vor cânta — they will sing

Viitor 2 (Future perfect)

The future perfect is formed by using the above auxiliaries with fi and the past participle.

Examples:

eu voi fi cântat — I will have sung
ei vor fi cântat — they will have sung

Future (popular)

Popular 1

The first type of popular future is formed simply by adding "o" to the subjunctive form of a verb.

Examples:

el o să cânte ceva pentru noi — he will sing something for us.
el o să citească - he is going to read

Popular 2

present tense of avea
singular			plural
first	second	third	first	second	third
eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
am	ai	are	avem	aveți	au

The second type of popular future is slightly more complicated than the first type. It is formed simply by adding the present tense form of avea to the subjunctive form of a verb.

Examples:

el are să cânte ceva pentru noi — he will sing something for us.
el are să citească - he is going to read

Popular 2 is often used when it would be easy to confuse forms were they in the Popular 1.

Examples:

o să mor vs. o să mori — ??? (Spoken, this may cause confusion due to the fact that the "i" in mori would be nearly whispered, making it sound very similar to mor.)
am să mor vs. ai să mori — I am going to die vs. You are going to die

Future in the past

imperfect tense of avea
singular			plural
first	second	third	first	second	third
eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
aveam	aveai	avea	aveam	aveați	aveau

The "future in the past" is formed with the imperfect tenses of avea (seen above) with the subjunctive form of a verb.

Examples:

aveam să cânt — I was going to sing
avea să cânte — He was going to sing
aveați să citiți? — Were you going to read?
aveau să vină — They were going to come

Conjunctiv (Subjunctive)

Subjunctives, as in many other languages, suggest an uncertain action or occurrence. When used alone, subjunctives are usually translated with "should."

The subjunctive is identified by the conjunction să.

Examples:

Present:
- el să cânte ceva pentru noi — he should sing something for us.
- eu vreau că el să cânte ceva pentru noi — I want him to sing something for us.
Past:
- noi să fi stat acasă ieri — We should have stayed home yesterday
- nu mi-amintesc să fi fost cu tine ieri — I don't remember being with you yesterday
- nu mi-amintesc să fi văzut acest film niciodată — I don't remember ever seeing this film

Prezent (Present)

In most cases, the subjunctive forms of verbs in 1st and 2nd persons, singular and plural, are the same as their present tense counterparts. (One exception that comes to mind is the verb a fi, "to be," in which every person and number has another subjunctive form.) In the 3rd person, however, almost all verbs change slightly. The general rule is that ă will change to e and vice-versa. 3rd person subjunctives share one form for plural and singular.

Examples:

el cântă → el să cânte
el deranjează → el să deranjeze
el vine → el să vină
el citește → el să citească
el urăște → el să urască

Trecut (Past)

The subjunctive past is formed by combining să fi with the past participle of the verb in question.

Examples:

el cântă → el să cânte → el să fi cântat
el vine → el să vină → el să fi venit

Imperativ (Imperative)

The imperative only exists for the 2nd person in Romanian. The 2nd person singular imperative is generally the same as the 3rd person singular present form; aside from this, there is no one rule for forming this imperative. The 2nd person plural imperative is almost always the same as the 2nd person plural present form.

Examples:

el cântă (he sings) → cântă! (sing!)
el vorbește (he speaks) → vorbește! (speak!)

In the 2nd person singular, the imperative is not simply negated with "nu". Instead, the infinitive is used. The plural does not go through such a change.

Examples:

cântă! (sing!) → nu cânta! (don't sing!)
vorbește! (speak!) → nu vorbi! (don't speak!)

For both singular and plural, the word order also changes slightly.

Examples:

dă-mi-o! (give it to me!) → nu-mi-o da! (don't give it to me!)

Perfect compus (Compound perfect)

auxiliaries for forming the compus
singular			plural
first	second	third	first	second	third
eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
am	ai	a	am	ați	au

The above auxiliaries are used with past participles to form the perfect compus.

Examples:

eu am cântat — I have sung
ei au cântat — they have sung

Condițional (Optative/Conditional)

conditional auxiliaries
singular			plural
first	second	third	first	second	third
eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
aș	ai	ar	am	ați	ar

Prezent (Present)

The above auxiliaries are used with infinitives to form the present optative/conditional.

Examples:

eu aș cânta dacă aș ști versurile — I would sing if I knew the lyrics
ei ar cânta — they would sing

Trecut (Past)

The past conditional is formed by combining one of the above auxiliaries with fi and the past participle of the verb.

Examples:

eu aș fi cântat — I would have sung
ei ar fi cântat — they would have sung

Prezumtiv (Presumptive)

presumptive auxiliaries
singular			plural
first	second	third	first	second	third
eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
oi	oi	o	om	oți	or

Prezent (Present)

The above auxiliaries are used with infinitives to form the present presumptive.

Examples:

eu oi cânta — I might sing
ei or cânta — they might sing

Trecut (Past)

The past presumptive is formed by combining one of the above auxiliaries with fi and the past participle of the verb.

Examples:

eu oi fi cântat — I might have sung
ei or fi cântat — they might have sung

Conjugations of specific types of verbs