Three small Romanian words cover the territory of English "who," "what," "which," and "that": cine, ce, and care. The core distinction in one sentence: cine asks "who" about an unknown person, ce asks "what" about an open identity or a thing, and care picks "which one" out of a known set — and care also serves as the all-purpose relative pronoun "that." Get the first mapping right (cine ↔ who, ce ↔ what, care ↔ which) and most sentences fall into place; the trick is remembering that the relative slot — English "the man that came," "the book that I read" — belongs to care, not ce.
The quick mapping
| Romanian | English | Refers to | Core sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| cine | who(m) | persons only | asking the identity of an unknown person |
| ce | what | things, open identity, kind | open-ended; no fixed set to choose from |
| care | which / that / who(m) | persons or things | selecting from a known set; the relative pronoun |
cine — who, for unknown persons
cine asks about the identity of a person when there is no predefined set to choose from. It is invariable and refers only to people. The English match is "who" (or "whom" / "whose," via case forms cui).
Cine vine la cină diseară?
Who's coming to dinner tonight?
Cine a lăsat ușa deschisă?
Who left the door open?
Cu cine ai vorbit la telefon?
Who were you talking to on the phone?
Note that cine is for the open question "who?" — when you are choosing among specific, already-known people, you switch to care ("which of them?").
ce — what, for things and open identity
ce asks "what" — about things, about open-ended identity, or about kind/type. It does not assume a fixed set; the answer could be anything. Ce is also invariable and can act as a determiner before a noun ("what / which kind of").
Ce vrei să mănânci diseară?
What do you want to eat tonight? (open — any food)
Ce s-a întâmplat aici?
What happened here?
Ce carte citești?
What book are you reading? (open identity — could be any book)
Ce fel de muzică îți place?
What kind of music do you like?
The contrast between ce and care as determiners is subtle but real. Ce carte? asks "what book?" with no assumption — you have no idea which book it might be. Care carte? asks "which book?" — implying a known, limited set (these three on the table, say). When in doubt about a thing with no obvious set, ce is the safer choice.
care — which (selection) and the relative "that"
care has two jobs, and both revolve around a known set or a known antecedent.
As an interrogative: "which?"
When you are choosing among specific, identifiable options, use care. It can stand alone or modify a noun, and it can refer to people or things.
Care dintre voi a spart geamul?
Which of you broke the window? (choosing from a known group)
Avem ceai verde și ceai negru — pe care îl vrei?
We have green tea and black tea — which one do you want? (a defined set of two)
As a relative pronoun: "that / which / who(m)"
This is where care earns the label "all-purpose." Whenever you attach a clause to a noun already mentioned — "the man that came," "the book which I read," "the woman who lives next door" — Romanian uses care, regardless of whether the antecedent is a person or a thing. Standard Romanian does not use ce in this slot, even though English freely uses "that."
Omul care stă lângă fereastră este directorul.
The man who's standing by the window is the director.
Filmul care a câștigat premiul nu mi-a plăcut deloc.
The film that won the prize I didn't like at all.
Cartea pe care mi-ai dat-o este excelentă.
The book (that) you gave me is excellent. (relative object referring to a thing → pe care + clitic)
Vecina care locuiește deasupra noastră are o pisică.
The neighbor who lives above us has a cat.
Decision matrix
| You want to ask / link… | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Who? (unknown person, open) | cine | Cine a sunat? |
| What? (thing, open identity) | ce | Ce cauți? |
| What kind of? / What X? (open) | ce
| Ce film vezi? |
| Which one? (from a known set) | care | Care îți place? |
| Relative "that / which / who" | care | omul care vine |
Gray areas
ce as an exclamation. Outside questions and relatives, ce is the exclamatory word for "what (a)…" / "how…": Ce frumos! Ce zi minunată! ("How lovely! What a wonderful day!"). This is unrelated to the question/relative system but worth recognizing.
ceea ce — "that which / what." When the antecedent is a whole idea rather than a noun ("the thing that," "what"), Romanian uses the fixed phrase ceea ce, not bare care: Nu înțeleg ceea ce spui ("I don't understand what you're saying"). Here ce survives, but only inside this set relative formula.
Spune-mi exact ceea ce s-a întâmplat.
Tell me exactly what happened. ('what' = 'that which' → ceea ce)
cel care — "the one who/that." To say "the one who," Romanian combines the demonstrative cel/cea/cei/cele with care: Cel care a venit primul. ("The one who came first.")
Common Mistakes
English speakers misfire mainly by using care for an open "what," using cine for "which," and importing English "that" as ce into relative clauses.
Don't use care for an open-ended "what" with no set:
❌ Care vrei să mănânci?
Incorrect — with no defined set this is open 'what,' so use ce.
✅ Ce vrei să mănânci?
What do you want to eat?
Don't use cine when you mean "which (of these people)":
❌ Cine dintre voi a terminat primul?
Incorrect — choosing from a known group is 'which,' so use care.
✅ Care dintre voi a terminat primul?
Which of you finished first?
Don't use ce as the relative pronoun where English uses "that":
❌ Omul ce vine acolo este unchiul meu.
Substandard — the relative pronoun is care, not ce, in standard Romanian.
✅ Omul care vine acolo este unchiul meu.
The man (who is) coming over there is my uncle.
Don't use bare care for an idea-level "what"; use ceea ce:
❌ Nu cred care spui.
Incorrect — for clause-level 'what / that which' use ceea ce.
✅ Nu cred ceea ce spui.
I don't believe what you're saying.
Key Takeaways
- cine = who (unknown person, open question), persons only.
- ce = what (things, open identity, kind) — and exclamatory "what a…!"
- care = which (selection from a known set) and the relative "that / which / who."
- The relative slot is care's, even where English says "that" — omul care vine, never omul ce vine in standard Romanian.
- For clause-level "what / that which," use the fixed ceea ce.
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- Relative Pronoun care (who, which, that)B1 — care is the all-purpose Romanian relative pronoun covering English who, which, and that — invariable as a subject (omul care vine), but a direct object takes pe care plus a doubling clitic (cartea pe care o citesc), and possession uses the inflected genitive a cărui / a cărei / ale căror and the dative căruia / căreia / cărora.
- Relative Pronouns cine, ce, ceea ceB1 — The headless relatives that need no antecedent: cine ('whoever', persons only — Cine vine, plătește), ce ('what / that' — tot ce știu), and ceea ce ('which', referring back to a whole clause — A plouat, ceea ce ne-a bucurat) — and how all three differ from care, which always attaches to a noun.
- Interrogative Pronouns (cine, ce, care, cât)A2 — The question words cine (who), ce (what), care (which one), and cât (how much/many) — and how Romanian splits English's caseless 'who' into a full case paradigm: Pe cine? (whom, accusative), Cui? (to whom, dative), Al cui? (whose, genitive).
- When to Use 'pe' (Object Marking)B1 — Deciding when a Romanian direct object needs the marker pe and a doubling clitic — definite humans and pronouns yes, things and vague humans no.
- sau vs ori vs fieB1 — Choosing the right Romanian 'or' — sau as the neutral default, ori as the bookish/correlative option, fie…fie for explicit alternatives and 'whether…or'.