The Indefinite Article: un, o, niște | Romanian Grammar

The Romanian indefinite article is the easy one — it behaves almost exactly like English "a/an". It is a free-standing word placed before the noun, and unlike the definite article (which is glued onto the end of the noun), it never fuses. The only new thing for an English speaker is that it changes shape according to the noun's gender: un for masculine and neuter, o for feminine. In the plural, where English just uses a bare noun ("some apples" or simply "apples"), Romanian often reaches for niște ("some").

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The quick rule: un + masculine/neuter noun, o + feminine noun, niște + plural noun. If you don't yet know a noun's gender, learn it together with its indefinite article — say o casă, not just casă. That habit pays off everywhere else in the grammar.

The three forms

Form	Used with	Meaning	Example
un	masculine & neuter singular	a / an	un băiat, un tren
o	feminine singular	a / an	o fată, o casă
niște	plural (any gender)	some	niște mere, niște oameni

Un băiat a întrebat de tine la recepție.

A boy asked for you at the reception desk.

O fată stătea singură la masa din colț.

A girl was sitting alone at the corner table.

Am cumpărat niște mere pentru plăcintă.

I bought some apples for the pie.

un — masculine and neuter

Un covers two of Romanian's three genders in the singular: the masculine (people and animals that are male, plus many other nouns) and the neuter. Neuter nouns are a real category in Romanian, and a defining quirk of theirs is that in the singular they behave like masculines — so they too take un.

Mi-am luat un câine de la adăpost.

I got a dog from the shelter. (masculine)

A trecut un tren chiar acum.

A train just went by. (neuter — still un)

Vrei un măr? Sunt foarte dulci anul ăsta.

Do you want an apple? They're very sweet this year. (neuter — un)

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Neuter nouns are "masculine in the singular, feminine in the plural." Un tren (a train) takes the masculine un, but two trains is două trenuri with the feminine numeral două. That split is the heart of the Romanian neuter — see the neuter gender page. For now, just remember: in the singular, neuter rides with un.

o — feminine

O is the feminine singular indefinite article. It is also the place where English speakers slip most often, because English doesn't mark gender on "a", so there's nothing to remind you to switch.

Caut o farmacie deschisă la ora asta.

I'm looking for a pharmacy open at this hour.

A fost o zi lungă, vreau doar să dorm.

It was a long day, I just want to sleep.

Ne trebuie o masă pentru patru persoane.

We need a table for four people.

un is also the numeral "one"

Romanian doesn't have a separate word for the numeral "one" versus the article "a/an" — un does both jobs, just as English "a/an" historically grew out of "one". The feminine numeral is o as well (its fuller form una appears when counting in the abstract).

Mai vreau un bilet, te rog — doar unul.

I'd like one more ticket, please — just one.

Stau aici de un an și o lună.

I've lived here for one year and one month.

This overlap is rarely confusing in practice: context tells you whether un means "a" or "one". When you specifically want to stress the count, Romanian adds emphasis (doar unul = "just one") or the standalone pronoun forms unul / una.

niște — the plural "some"

In the plural, the indefinite article is niște ("some, a few"). Here Romanian and English part ways: English freely uses a bare plural ("I bought apples", "there are people outside"), whereas Romanian often prefers niște to introduce an indefinite quantity. Leaving it out isn't always wrong, but adding it is frequently more natural in speech.

Sunt niște oameni la ușă care întreabă de tine.

There are some people at the door asking for you.

Pune niște sare și piper, e cam fad.

Add some salt and pepper, it's a bit bland.

Am primit niște vești bune azi-dimineață.

I got some good news this morning.

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Niște is invariable — it never changes for gender. Niște mere (neuter), niște fete (feminine), niște băieți (masculine) all use the same niște. It also works as a partitive with uncountable nouns: niște apă ("some water"), niște pâine ("some bread").

When to leave the article out

Like English, Romanian drops the indefinite article in some predicate and prepositional contexts — most famously when stating someone's profession or after certain prepositions. This mirrors English "She is a doctor" turning into Romanian Ea e doctoriță (no article).

Sora mea e profesoară de fizică.

My sister is a physics teacher. (no article before the profession)

Am venit cu mașina, nu cu autobuzul.

I came by car, not by bus. (fixed prepositional phrases drop it)

This is a topic in its own right; for now, just notice that Romanian, like English, sometimes omits "a" where you might expect it.

Common Mistakes

❌ un casă

Incorrect — casă is feminine, so it takes o, not un.

✅ o casă

a house

❌ o tren

Incorrect — tren is neuter and behaves as masculine in the singular, so it takes un.

✅ un tren

a train

❌ Am văzut copii în parc. (meaning 'I saw some children')

Understandable but flat — for an indefinite 'some children' Romanian prefers niște copii.

✅ Am văzut niște copii în parc.

I saw some children in the park.

❌ niște un măr

Incorrect — niște is already the plural indefinite; you can't stack it with the singular un.

✅ niște mere

some apples

❌ Ea este o doctoriță.

Usually wrong — when simply stating a profession, Romanian drops the article.

✅ Ea este doctoriță.

She is a doctor.

Where to go next

You now have the front-of-noun half of the system. The harder, more distinctively Romanian half is the definite article, which attaches to the end of the noun — start with the masculine and neuter forms (-ul, -le). If the gender splits in un versus o feel shaky, the gender overview explains how to predict a noun's gender, and the neuter gender page untangles why un tren is "masculine" in the singular but "feminine" in the plural.

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