Adverbs of Degree (foarte, prea, cam, tot mai) | Romanian Grammar

Degree adverbs tune the strength of an adjective or another adverb — how much, to what extent. Romanian's core set is small and high-frequency: foarte ("very"), prea ("too, excessively"), destul de ("quite, fairly"), cam ("a bit, rather"), atât de ("so"), and aproape / abia ("almost" / "barely"). Two of them deserve special attention because English speakers systematically under-use them: the hedging downtoner cam, which has no clean single-word English equivalent, and the construction tot mai + adjective, which means "more and more / increasingly."

The position rule is simple and reliable: the degree adverb goes immediately before the word it modifies. Foarte frumos, prea scump, cam obosit. No agreement — these adverbs are invariable.

foarte (very) — the neutral intensifier

Foarte is the default booster. It raises the degree of a quality without any side meaning. It can sit before adjectives and before other adverbs alike.

Filmul a fost foarte bun, ți-l recomand.

The film was very good, I recommend it to you.

Vorbește foarte bine românește pentru doar un an de studiu.

She speaks Romanian very well for just one year of study.

E foarte cald azi, hai la mare.

It's very hot today, let's go to the seaside.

prea (too) — excess, almost always negative

Prea does not mean "very." It means too much — a degree that exceeds what is acceptable or desirable. Because it carries this evaluative, usually negative load, swapping it for foarte changes the meaning entirely. Foarte scump = "very expensive" (a neutral observation); prea scump = "too expensive" (so expensive I won't buy it).

E prea scump, nu-mi permit acum.

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

Nu mânca prea repede, o să te doară burta.

Don't eat too fast, you'll get a stomachache.

Ești prea bun cu el, profită de tine.

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

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Foarte describes an amount; prea judges it. Foarte mult ("very much") simply notes a large quantity; prea mult ("too much") says it's more than is good. If you can add "...and that's a problem" to the English, you want prea.

destul de (quite, fairly) and atât de (so)

Destul de means "fairly, rather, quite" — a mid-strength booster, weaker than foarte. Note the obligatory de: it is never just destul before an adjective.

Apartamentul e destul de mare pentru noi doi.

The apartment is quite big for the two of us.

Atât de means "so" in the sense of "to such a degree," often setting up a consequence with că/încât ("that").

Eram atât de obosit, că am adormit pe canapea.

I was so tired that I fell asleep on the couch.

De ce ești atât de supărat pe mine?

Why are you so upset with me?

cam — the hedging downtoner

This is the one to study closely. Cam softens — it is a downtoner meaning roughly "a bit, rather, kind of, sort of, somewhat." English has no single dedicated word for it; we patch the gap with "a bit," "rather," "kind of," or a vague trailing "-ish." Romanian uses one tidy word, and uses it constantly in speech.

Cam does three related jobs:

Soften an adjective/adverb: cam obosit ("a bit tired"), cam târziu ("rather late").
Approximate a quantity or comparison: cam zece lei ("about ten lei"), cam așa ("something like that, roughly so").
Hedge a claim politely, taking the edge off a criticism: E cam scump ("it's a bit pricey," gentler than prea scump).

Sunt cam obosit azi, n-am dormit bine.

I'm a bit tired today, I didn't sleep well.

— Cât costă? — Cam o sută de lei.

— How much is it? — About a hundred lei.

Cam așa ceva voiam să spun, dar nu chiar.

That's sort of what I wanted to say, but not exactly.

E cam frig aici, putem închide geamul?

It's a bit cold in here, can we close the window?

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Cam is your politeness tool. Romanians use it to blunt a complaint or an opinion: E cam mult ("that's a bit much") is far softer than E prea mult ("that's too much"). Reaching for cam instead of stacking blunt intensifiers is one of the quickest ways to sound like a native speaker rather than a textbook.

tot mai + adjective (increasingly, more and more)

To say a quality is growing over time, Romanian uses tot mai before the adjective or adverb. Literally "still more," it renders the English "more and more / increasingly." You can also reduplicate the comparative — din ce în ce mai — for the same effect, slightly more emphatic.

Tot mai mulți oameni lucrează de acasă.

More and more people work from home.

Îmi merge tot mai bine la cursul de pian.

I'm doing better and better at my piano lessons.

Zilele devin din ce în ce mai lungi primăvara.

The days get longer and longer in spring.

The pattern is tot + mai + [comparative quality]. Because Romanian comparatives are already built with mai (see the comparison pages), tot mai is just tot ("still, keeps") prefixed to an ordinary comparative — "keeps getting more X." Learners who never meet this construction end up saying the clunky din ce în ce alone or rephrasing entirely; tot mai is the crisp everyday choice.

aproape and abia (almost, barely)

Aproape as a degree adverb means "almost, nearly" (distinct from its place sense "near"); abia means "barely, scarcely" (and also "only just" in time).

Sunt aproape gata, mai am două minute.

I'm almost ready, just two more minutes.

Abia se ține pe picioare de oboseală.

He can barely stand from exhaustion.

Common Mistakes

The classic transfer error: using foarte where excess is meant, or prea where neutral intensity is meant:

❌ Cafeaua e foarte fierbinte, nu pot s-o beau.

If you mean 'too hot to drink,' foarte (very) understates it — use prea.

✅ Cafeaua e prea fierbinte, nu pot s-o beau.

The coffee is too hot, I can't drink it.

Stacking foarte with a comparative, as if it were English "very much more":

❌ E foarte mai bine acum.

Incorrect — foarte doesn't modify comparatives. Use mult mai bine or tot mai bine.

✅ E mult mai bine acum.

It's much better now.

Dropping the de from destul de:

❌ E destul scump.

Incorrect — before an adjective you need destul de.

✅ E destul de scump.

It's quite expensive.

Translating "more and more" word-for-word as mai și mai:

❌ Sunt mai și mai mulți turiști.

Not idiomatic — use tot mai or din ce în ce mai.

✅ Sunt tot mai mulți turiști.

There are more and more tourists.

Overlooking cam and producing blunt, un-hedged opinions:

❌ Mâncarea ta este prea sărată. (to a host, meaning a mild 'a bit salty')

Too blunt — prea sounds like a real complaint. Soften with cam.

✅ Mâncarea e cam sărată, dar îmi place.

The food is a bit salty, but I like it.

Key Takeaways

foarte = neutral "very"; prea = evaluative "too much." Never interchange them.
destul de ("quite") always keeps its de; atât de ("so") sets up a consequence clause.
cam is a hedging downtoner ("a bit, rather, about, sort of") with no single English equivalent — your main politeness tool.
tot mai + adjective (or din ce în ce mai) means "increasingly, more and more."

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