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.
Verb lookup: the full shapes, when an ending blocks you
- Open this when an ending stops you mid-sentence. The readings ahead use only shapes the core path showed you.
- A dictionary lists a verb with a in front of it: a merge, a vedea.
- The story past is the same two-word build for every verb; only the second word has to be learned.
- One să shape differs from the ordinary present, and it covers he-or-she and they alike.
You do not need this section to finish the lesson. Open it when an ending stops you mid-sentence and you want to see where that shape sits in its family. The two stories at the end use only shapes the core sections already showed you, so no table here has to be memorised — find the row, then go back to the line you were reading.
To be and to have, in full
| English | a fi“to be” | a avea“to have” |
|---|---|---|
| I | sunt | am |
| you | ești | ai |
| he, she, it | este | are |
| we | suntem | avem |
| you — more than one | sunteți | aveți |
| they | sunt | au |
The a avea column doubles as the little word in front of a story past: am mers, ai mers, a mers.
Three ordinary verbs, in full
| Who | a vedea“to see” | a merge“to go” | a veni“to come” |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | văd | merg | vin |
| you | vezi | mergi | vii |
| he, she, it | vede | merge | vine |
| we | vedem | mergem | venim |
| you — more than one | vedeți | mergeți | veniți |
| they | văd | merg | vin |
The “I” row and the “they” row are the same word in all three. Reading the rest of the sentence, not the verb, is what settles which.
The two pasts, and the să shapes
| Who | Story past — a merge | Describing past — a merge | With să |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | am mers | mergeam | să merg |
| you | ai mers | mergeai | să mergi |
| he, she, it | a mers | mergea | să meargă |
| we | am mers | mergeam | să mergem |
| you — more than one | ați mers | mergeați | să mergeți |
| they | au mers | mergeau | să meargă |
Three things fall out of this grid. The second word of the story past never changes. For most verbs the să column holds one shape the ordinary present does not, and it fills both the he-or-she row and the “they” row. And the describing past is where a fable puts its scenery.
The second word of the story past, for the verbs on this path
| a fi“to be” → a fost · a avea“to have” → a avut · a vedea“to see” → a văzut |
| a merge“to go” → a mers · a veni“to come” → a venit · a cădea“to fall” → a căzut |
| a spune“to say” → a spus · a întreba“to ask” → a întrebat · a răspunde“to answer” → a răspuns |
| a vrea“to want” · a putea“to be able” · a trebui“to have to” · a se numi“to be called” |
The last row is the three door-opening verbs plus the one a fable introduces its characters with; they are listed here in the shape a dictionary uses.