Intensifying Adjectives (foarte, tare, prea) | Romanian Grammar

To say how much of a quality something has, Romanian places a small set of degree words in front of the adjective: foarte bun (very good), prea scump (too expensive), cam obosit (rather tired). These intensifiers are all invariable — they never agree with anything — and they almost always sit directly before the adjective. The hard part for English speakers is not the grammar but the meanings: Romanian draws sharp lines between "very," "too," and "rather" that English sometimes blurs, and one word, cam, has no clean single-word English match at all.

foarte — "very" (the neutral default)

Foarte is the workhorse intensifier, the exact equivalent of English very. It is neutral: it simply turns the volume up on the adjective without any positive or negative judgment. It works in every register, from texting to academic prose.

E o carte foarte bună, ți-o recomand.

It's a very good book, I recommend it to you.

Apartamentul e foarte mic, dar îmi ajunge.

The apartment is very small, but it's enough for me.

Sunt foarte obosită, abia aștept să ajung acasă.

I'm very tired, I can't wait to get home.

Note that foarte stays foarte regardless of the gender or number of what follows: foarte bun, foarte bună, foarte buni, foarte bune. Only the adjective agrees.

prea — "too" (negative excess)

Prea does not mean "very." It means "too / too much", with the same implication of unwanted excess that English too carries: the quality has gone past the acceptable point and there's a problem. Prea scump doesn't mean "very expensive" — it means "too expensive," i.e. more than I can afford or am willing to pay.

E prea scump, nu îmi permit acum.

It's too expensive, I can't afford it right now.

Cafeaua e prea fierbinte, mai aștept puțin.

The coffee is too hot, I'll wait a bit longer.

Ești prea bun cu el, profită de tine.

You're too good to him, he takes advantage of you.

This is the single biggest meaning trap on the page. English learners, reaching for an intensifier, often grab foarte when the meaning is really "too." Compare:

Filmul e foarte lung, dar merită.

The film is very long, but it's worth it. (neutral — long is fine)

Filmul e prea lung, am adormit.

The film is too long, I fell asleep. (excess — the length is a problem)

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foarte = very (neutral, no judgment); prea = too (excess, something's wrong). If you can add "...but that's fine," use foarte. If you'd add "...and that's a problem," use prea. Don't say foarte scump when you mean you can't afford it — that's prea scump.

tare — "very" (colloquial, emphatic)

Tare literally means "hard / loud / strong," and as an intensifier it means roughly "really / very," but it is decidedly (informal) — it belongs to casual speech, not formal writing. Tare frumos is "really pretty," with a warm, spoken-language flavor. Using tare in an essay or official document would sound out of place; use foarte there instead.

E tare frumos afară azi!

It's really lovely out today! (informal)

Mi-a fost tare dor de tine.

I missed you so much. (informal, affectionate)

Băiatul ăsta e tare deștept.

This boy is really smart. (informal)

atât de / așa de — "so"

Atât de (and its more colloquial cousin așa de) corresponds to English so: it intensifies an adjective, often in an exclamation or before a consequence clause ("so... that...").

E atât de frig încât îngheață și apa în casă.

It's so cold that even the water freezes indoors.

Ești așa de drăguță că nu pot să mă supăr pe tine.

You're so sweet that I can't stay mad at you. (informal)

De ce ești atât de supărat?

Why are you so upset?

destul de — "quite / fairly / enough"

Destul de (literally "enough of") means "quite / fairly / reasonably" — a moderate intensifier, weaker than foarte. It hits the middle of the scale: more than neutral, less than "very."

Restaurantul e destul de bun, am mai fost o dată.

The restaurant is quite good, I've been once before.

E destul de departe, ar fi bine să luăm un taxi.

It's fairly far, we'd better take a taxi.

cam — "rather / somewhat" (hedging, mildly negative)

Cam is the one with no clean English equivalent. It means roughly "rather / somewhat / a bit," and it almost always carries a mild, hedging, slightly negative undertone — you're softening a criticism or admitting a flaw without committing fully. Cam obosit means "kind of tired / rather tired," gentler than foarte obosit (very tired). It is everyday spoken Romanian and nearly impossible to translate with a single English word.

Sunt cam obosit, hai să mergem mai devreme.

I'm rather tired, let's leave a bit earlier.

Mâncarea e cam sărată, dar se mănâncă.

The food is a bit too salty, but it's edible.

E cam scump, nu crezi?

It's a bit pricey, don't you think? (hedged criticism)

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cam softens; it's the polite way to flag a flaw. E cam scump ("it's a bit pricey") is gentler and more diplomatic than the blunt e prea scump ("it's too expensive"). Romanians use cam constantly to avoid sounding harsh.

The intensity scale at a glance

Modifier	Meaning	Strength / tone	Register
cam	rather, a bit	mild, hedging, slightly negative	informal
destul de	quite, fairly	moderate	neutral
foarte	very	strong, neutral	all registers
tare	really, very	strong, emphatic	informal
atât de / așa de	so	strong, exclamatory	neutral / informal
prea	too	excess (a problem)	all registers

All of these are invariable and go before the adjective. The adjective itself still agrees with its noun: o casă foarte mare, niște prețuri prea mari.

Sunt niște prețuri prea mari pentru cartierul ăsta.

Those are prices that are too high for this neighborhood.

Common Mistakes

Using foarte (very) when the meaning is really prea (too / excess):

❌ Nu cumpăr telefonul, e foarte scump.

Wrong nuance — 'foarte scump' just means 'very expensive'; if it's beyond your budget you mean prea scump.

✅ Nu cumpăr telefonul, e prea scump.

I'm not buying the phone, it's too expensive.

Making the intensifier agree with the noun (it's invariable):

❌ niște fete foarți frumoase

Incorrect — foarte never changes; only the adjective agrees.

✅ niște fete foarte frumoase

some very beautiful girls

Putting the intensifier after the adjective, English word order aside:

❌ E o problemă mare foarte.

Incorrect — the intensifier comes before the adjective.

✅ E o problemă foarte mare.

It's a very big problem.

Using colloquial tare in formal writing where foarte is expected:

❌ Rezultatele studiului sunt tare importante.

Too colloquial for academic register — use foarte.

✅ Rezultatele studiului sunt foarte importante.

The results of the study are very important. (academic)

Reaching for prea (too) where the meaning is just neutral foarte (very) — over-correcting in the other direction:

❌ Mulțumesc, ești prea amabil!

This actually means 'you're too kind' (excessively) — fine as a set phrase, but for plain praise use foarte amabil.

✅ Mulțumesc, ești foarte amabil!

Thank you, you're very kind!

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