Romanian has two words that both translate as English "that" when they introduce a subordinate clause: că and să. This page is the inventory: which verbs and expressions select că, which select să, and what unites each list. The short version is factivity — că introduces a clause you treat as a fact (and the verb inside stays indicative), while să introduces a clause you want, require, fear, or merely entertain as possible (and the verb inside goes subjunctive). If you just need the quick decision recipe, the că vs să decision guide is the flowchart; here we map the whole territory so you can place any new verb on it.
că = factual / asserted complements (indicative)
A verb takes că when its complement reports something the speaker presents as real — known, said, perceived, or believed true. The verb inside the că-clause is an ordinary indicative (present, past, future — whatever the timeline requires). These are the factive and assertive predicates.
Verbs of knowing and finding out: a ști (know), a afla (find out), a-și aminti (remember), a uita (forget — that something is the case), a observa (notice), a-și da seama (realize).
Verbs of saying and reporting: a spune / a zice (say), a declara (declare), a recunoaște (admit), a promite (promise — when reporting a content), a răspunde (answer).
Verbs of perceiving: a vedea (see), a auzi (hear), a simți (feel/sense).
Verbs of opinion and belief: a crede (believe), a (i) se părea (seem), a fi sigur (be sure), a fi convins (be convinced).
Impersonal fact-asserting expressions: e adevărat că (it's true that), e clar / evident că (it's clear that), e cert că (it's certain that), se știe că (it's known that), se vede că (one can see that).
Știu că vine cu trenul de seară, mi-a scris adineauri.
I know he's coming on the evening train, he just texted me.
Mi-am dat seama că uitasem cheile abia în lift.
I only realized in the lift that I'd forgotten the keys.
E adevărat că prețurile au crescut, dar nu chiar atât de mult.
It's true that prices have risen, but not quite that much.
Se vede că n-a dormit toată noaptea.
You can tell he didn't sleep all night.
In each case the embedded content is offered as part of reality. Even a crede ("believe") and a (i) se părea ("seem") count as factive for the speaker: when you say cred că ai dreptate, you are putting the proposition "you're right" forward as something you hold to be so. That is why they take că, not să.
să = non-factual: desired, required, or possible (subjunctive)
A verb takes să when its complement is not asserted as a fact but rather wanted, ordered, needed, feared, allowed, or floated as a possibility. The verb inside goes subjunctive (in practice, identical to the indicative except in the 3rd person, where the ending flips to -e/-ă: vine → să vină, pleacă → să plece). These are the volitional, deontic, and modal predicates.
Verbs of wanting and wishing: a vrea (want), a dori (wish), a prefera (prefer), a-și dori (long for).
Verbs of needing and obligation: a trebui (must/need), a fi nevoie (be necessary), a fi obligat (be obliged).
Verbs of asking, ordering, advising: a cere (ask/demand), a ruga (request), a porunci (command), a sfătui (advise), a propune (propose), a sugera (suggest).
Verbs of fearing and preventing: a se teme (fear), a-i fi frică (be afraid), a evita (avoid), a împiedica (prevent).
Verbs of allowing and forbidding: a lăsa (let), a permite (allow), a interzice (forbid).
Impersonal possibility / necessity / evaluation expressions: e posibil să (it's possible), se poate să (it may be), e nevoie să (it's necessary), e bine / mai bine să (it's good/better), merită să (it's worth), e timpul să (it's time).
Vreau să vină și el cu noi la munte.
I want him to come to the mountains with us too.
Trebuie să plec, am întârziat deja la o ședință.
I have to go, I'm already late for a meeting.
Profesorul ne-a cerut să predăm tema până luni.
The teacher asked us to hand in the homework by Monday.
E posibil să plouă diseară, ia o umbrelă.
It might rain tonight, take an umbrella.
None of these report something true. Wanting him to come does not mean he is coming; needing to leave is not the same as having left; "it might rain" leaves the rain entirely open. The action lives in the realm of wishes, demands, and possibilities — exactly what the subjunctive exists to mark.
Minimal pairs: same verb, two readings
The cleanest proof of the factivity rule is a handful of verbs that accept both complementizers, with the meaning shifting accordingly. The mood does the semantic work.
a spera (to hope) — că frames the hope as a near-certainty you are counting on; să frames it as a genuinely open wish.
Sper că vine — mi-a promis că ajunge la opt.
I'm counting on him coming — he promised he'd be here at eight. (asserted, confident)
Sper să vină, dar cu el nu se știe niciodată.
I hope he'll come, but with him you never know. (open wish)
a (se) gândi (to think) — că = "I reckon / it occurs to me that" (a held thought); să = "I'm considering / thinking of doing" (a plan, not yet real).
Mă gândesc că ar fi mai bine să-l sunăm întâi.
I reckon it'd be better to call him first.
Mă gândesc să mă mut anul viitor în alt oraș.
I'm thinking of moving to another city next year.
A negated verb of belief can also slide toward să, because negation opens up doubt: Nu cred că vine ("I don't think he's coming", still leaning factual) vs the more tentative Nu cred să vină ("I doubt he'll come"). The să version foregrounds the uncertainty the negation introduced.
The inventory at a glance
| Semantic class | Complementizer | Mood inside | Typical members |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knowing / finding out | că | indicative | a ști, a afla, a-și da seama |
| Saying / reporting | că | indicative | a spune, a zice, a declara |
| Perceiving | că | indicative | a vedea, a auzi, a simți |
| Believing / seeming | că | indicative | a crede, a (i) se părea, a fi sigur |
| Wanting / wishing | să | subjunctive | a vrea, a dori, a prefera |
| Needing / obligation | să | subjunctive | a trebui, a fi nevoie |
| Asking / ordering / advising | să | subjunctive | a cere, a ruga, a sfătui, a propune |
| Fearing / preventing | să (nu) | subjunctive | a se teme, a evita, a împiedica |
| Allowing / forbidding | să | subjunctive | a lăsa, a permite, a interzice |
| Possibility / evaluation | să | subjunctive | e posibil, se poate, e bine, merită |
| Hoping / considering (dual) | că = confident · să = open | matches choice | a spera, a se gândi |
Why this is the subjunctive's deeper logic
The split is not bookkeeping you must memorize verb by verb — it falls straight out of what the subjunctive is (see the subjunctive overview). The subjunctive marks actions that live in the realm of wishes, doubts, and possibilities rather than established reality. So any predicate that opens that irrealis realm — wanting, ordering, fearing, allowing, judging possible — reaches for să. Any predicate that simply reports reality has no irrealis to mark, so it takes că. This means you can predict the complementizer for a verb you have never met: a new verb meaning "to insist (that someone do something)" will obviously take să; a new verb meaning "to confirm" will obviously take că.
For an English speaker the trap is that one word, "that", covers both jobs: "I know that he's coming" and "I'm asking that he come" use the same connector, and English only hints at the difference through its rare mandative subjunctive ("that he come", "that she be present"). Romanian forces the distinction into the open in every sentence, and the verb form changes with it. Treat the choice of că vs să as the very first decision you make when building a complement clause.
Common Mistakes
❌ Vreau că plec mai devreme azi.
Incorrect — a vrea expresses a wish, not a fact, so it needs să: vreau să plec.
✅ Vreau să plec mai devreme azi.
I want to leave earlier today.
❌ Știu să vine cu trenul.
Incorrect for reporting a fact — that's că + indicative. Știu să vine would be read as 'I know how to come', a different (odd) sense.
✅ Știu că vine cu trenul.
I know he's coming by train.
❌ E posibil că plouă diseară.
Incorrect — possibility is non-factual, so it takes să: e posibil să plouă. (E posibil că… is not idiomatic here.)
✅ E posibil să plouă diseară.
It might rain tonight.
❌ Cred să ai dreptate.
Incorrect — a crede reports a held belief, a fact to the speaker: cred că ai dreptate.
✅ Cred că ai dreptate.
I think you're right.
❌ Mi-a cerut că vin mai devreme.
Incorrect — a cere is a demand, not a report: mi-a cerut să vin mai devreme.
✅ Mi-a cerut să vin mai devreme.
He asked me to come earlier.
Key Takeaways
- că + indicative = a complement you assert as a fact (know, say, perceive, believe). It is obligatory even where English drops "that".
- să + subjunctive = a complement that is wanted, required, feared, allowed, or merely possible.
- Sort any new predicate by factivity: does it report reality (că) or steer toward something not-yet-real (să)?
- Dual verbs a spera and a se gândi — and negated belief verbs — switch sense with the complementizer: că = confident/factual, să = open/tentative.
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- că vs să (Complementizers)A2 — The factivity test that decides between că and să — că introduces facts you assert or report (Știu că vine, with the indicative), să introduces actions you want, command, fear, or treat as uncertain (Vreau să vină, with the subjunctive).
- Conjunctions: An OverviewA1 — A map of the Romanian conjunction system — the coordinators (și, sau/ori, dar/iar/însă, deci, nici) that join equals, and the subordinators (că, să, dacă, când, pentru că, deși) that hang one clause off another. The organizing insight is the că vs să split: că introduces asserted facts and takes the indicative, while să introduces wanted, possible, or commanded actions and takes the conjunctiv — the very same fact/non-fact decision that runs the whole mood system.
- The Conjunctiv (să-Subjunctive): OverviewA2 — An introduction to Romanian's most important feature — the să + verb construction that replaces the infinitive after want, can, and must.
- Conjunctiv in Purpose Clauses (ca să, pentru ca să)B1 — How Romanian expresses purpose ('in order to'): ca să + conjunctiv, the bare să after motion verbs, pentru ca…să with an intervening element, and the formal pentru a + infinitive alternative.
- să-Subjunctive vs InfinitiveB1 — When to chain verbs with the să-subjunctive (Vreau să plec) and the narrow set of cases where Romanian still uses the bare infinitive — almost exclusively after prepositions (pentru a reuși, fără a ști) and after a putea.