Lessons for English speakers

Learn to read Romanian

A short, active path into reading Romanian: decode real words from a small sound guide, learn why the word for “the” is welded onto the end of the noun, meet the past that fables are told in, and read a whole fable before opening your first book.

13 core sections · ≈ 34 min + 3 optional lookups · ≈ 49 min with everything

The word for “the” is welded onto the end

≈ 4 min

What you'll learn

No separate word for “the” — it is an ending: lup a wolf, lupul the wolf.
“A” stays a separate word: un or o.
Which ending you see follows the last letter, not meaning.
Plurals take -i, -e or -uri, with the “the” on top.
With my and your the ending stays: casa mea is “the-house my”.

This explains half the unfamiliar-looking words on a Romanian page: there is no separate word for “the”. It is welded onto the end. Nouns also fall into three families — masculine, feminine, neuter — whose names say nothing about the thing: a house is feminine, a tree masculine. You never have to decide which family a word is in to read it.

The wolf is big.

Lupul este mare.

LOO-pool YES-teh MAH-reh

lup is the wolf; the -ul is the “the”. For “a wolf” the little word comes back out in front: un lupoon loop.

The ending, chosen by the last letter of the word

Ends in	a — one	the
consonant, masculine	un lup	lupulLOO-pool
consonant, masculine	un băiat	băiatulbuh-YAH-tool
-e, masculine	un șoarece	șoareceleSHWAH-reh-cheh-leh
-ă, feminine	o casă	casaKAH-sah
-ă, feminine	o fată	fataFAH-tah
-e, feminine	o vulpe	vulpeaVOOL-pyah

Three endings cover almost everything: -ul after a consonant, -le after a masculine -e, and -a swallowing a feminine ending. So copaculkoh-PAH-kool“the tree”, iepureleYEH-poo-reh-leh“the rabbit”, pasăreaPAH-suh-ryah“the bird”.

More than one, with and without the ending

lup · lupul

lupiLOO-p(y)“wolves” · lupiiLOO-pee“the wolves”

Masculine takes -i; the “the” doubles it to “ee”.

casă · casa

caseKAH-seh“houses” · caseleKAH-seh-leh“the houses”

Feminine usually takes -e, then -le.

un lup · o casă

niște lupiNEESH-teh LOO-p(y)“some wolves” · niște case“some houses”

“Some” is niște — one shape for every family, and no “the” on the end.

un lucruoon LOO-kroo“a thing”

două lucruriDOH-wuh LOO-kroor(y)“two things”

The third family, neuter, is the easy one: masculine when alone, feminine in a group. It asks no decision of you — un in front, -uri or -e behind.

My friend is a fox.

Prietenul meu este o vulpe.

PRYEH-teh-nool MEH-oo YES-teh oh VOOL-peh

Word for word, “the-friend my”: the “the” stays where English drops it. Feminine takes meaMYAH — casa meaKAH-sah MYAH“my house”.

Peel the ending off, then read

lupul
The “the” is welded on the end.
Show answer +Hide answer −
lupulLOO-pool“the wolf”
casa
The ă has become a plain a.
Show answer +Hide answer −
casaKAH-sah“the house”
vulpea
A feminine -e takes -a.
Show answer +Hide answer −
vulpeaVOOL-pyah“the fox”
Why un lup but o casă?
Show answer +Hide answer −
lup is masculine, so “a” is un; casă is feminine, so o.