This page collects the conjunctions that anchor a clause in time ("when", "while", "until", "after", "since", "as soon as") or in a condition ("if"). They are everyday, high-frequency words, but each comes with a tense rule that English speakers routinely get wrong — most of all the fact that in a real condition the dacă-clause takes the plain indicative, never the conditional ("Dacă pot, vin" — not Dacă aș putea for something genuinely possible). The other thing to internalize early: dacă does double duty as both "if" and "whether".
dacă = "if" and "whether"
Dacă is the workhorse. It introduces a condition ("if") and also an indirect yes/no question ("whether"). Same word, two jobs — context tells them apart.
As "if" (a real or open condition), both clauses are indicative, often with the future or present:
Dacă vii mâine, mergem împreună la piață.
If you come tomorrow, we'll go to the market together.
Dacă pot, te sun diseară.
If I can, I'll call you tonight.
As "whether" (an embedded question after a ști, a întreba, a verifica, a vedea), dacă introduces what is being asked or doubted — again with the indicative:
Nu știu dacă vine sau nu.
I don't know whether he's coming or not.
Întreabă-l dacă a primit mailul.
Ask him whether he got the email.
This second use is invisible to many learners because English can swap in "whether"; Romanian keeps dacă. If you can substitute "whether" in English, you are in the indirect-question sense — but the Romanian word does not change.
For an unreal condition, the result clause takes the conditional and the dacă-clause takes the conditional too in the colloquial pattern: Dacă aș avea bani, aș călători ("If I had money, I'd travel"). That hypothetical machinery is its own topic — see the conditional in if-clauses and imperfect or conditional. On this page, the headline is the real condition: keep it indicative.
când = "when"; pe când / în timp ce = "while"
Când locates an event in time ("when"). For a future "when", Romanian uses a future or present indicative — there is no special tense backshift, but note that English present-for-future ("when I get home") maps to a Romanian future or present too.
Când ajung acasă, îți trimit pozele.
When I get home, I'll send you the photos.
Aveam zece ani când ne-am mutat aici.
I was ten when we moved here.
For simultaneous, ongoing actions ("while"), use în timp ce (neutral) or pe când (slightly more literary; pe când also means "whereas" in contrasts). These pair naturally with the imperfect for background action.
În timp ce găteam, a sunat cineva la ușă.
While I was cooking, someone rang the doorbell.
Pe când eram student, locuiam într-un cămin.
While I was a student, I lived in a dorm.
până = "until"; până să = "before"
Până ("until") marks the endpoint of an action. Watch two related but distinct forms:
- până (+ indicative) = "until": Aștept până vine. — "I'll wait until he comes."
- până când = the same "until", spelled out.
- până să (+ subjunctive) = "before / by the time": Până să ajung eu, plecaseră toți. — "By the time I arrived, everyone had left." Here până să takes the subjunctive, because the clause names an event the main action precedes or races against.
Stai aici până mă întorc.
Stay here until I get back.
Până să apuc să răspund, închisese deja telefonul.
Before I could even answer, he'd already hung up.
There is also înainte să / înainte ca…să ("before") with the subjunctive, the natural opposite of după ce: Spală-te pe mâini înainte să mănânci ("Wash your hands before you eat").
după ce = "after"; de când = "since"
După ce ("after") introduces a completed prior event and normally takes a past or future indicative. De când ("since / ever since") marks a starting point in time — and, like dacă, it has a second life as "since when".
După ce termin treaba, ieșim la o cafea.
After I finish work, we'll go out for a coffee.
De când s-a mutat la țară, e mult mai relaxat.
Ever since he moved to the countryside, he's much more relaxed.
"as soon as" and "whenever"
Two more high-value connectors:
îndată ce / imediat ce / de îndată ce = "as soon as". Îndată ce is slightly more formal/literary; imediat ce is the everyday version.
ori de câte ori = "whenever / every time that" (and the shorter de câte ori = "every time").
Imediat ce primesc răspunsul, te anunț.
As soon as I get the answer, I'll let you know.
Ori de câte ori plouă, se inundă strada noastră.
Whenever it rains, our street floods.
Reference table
| Conjunction | Meaning | Mood / note |
|---|---|---|
| dacă | if · whether | indicative (real condition / indirect question) |
| când | when | indicative (incl. present/future for future events) |
| în timp ce / pe când | while (· whereas) | indicative, often imperfect |
| până / până când | until | indicative |
| până să | before / by the time | subjunctive |
| înainte să / înainte ca…să | before | subjunctive |
| după ce | after | indicative |
| de când | since · since when | indicative |
| îndată ce / imediat ce | as soon as | indicative |
| ori de câte ori | whenever | indicative |
Common Mistakes
❌ Dacă aș putea, vin diseară.
Inconsistent — for a genuinely possible condition use the plain indicative throughout: Dacă pot, vin diseară. The conditional (aș putea) belongs to unreal conditions, where the result is also conditional (aș veni).
✅ Dacă pot, vin diseară.
If I can, I'll come tonight.
❌ Nu știu că vine sau nu.
Wrong connector — an indirect yes/no question ('whether') uses dacă, not că: Nu știu dacă vine sau nu.
✅ Nu știu dacă vine sau nu.
I don't know whether he's coming or not.
❌ Când voi ajunge acasă, te sun.
Overmarked — for a future 'when', everyday Romanian uses the present in the when-clause: Când ajung acasă, te sun. The heavy future voi ajunge sounds stilted here.
✅ Când ajung acasă, te sun.
When I get home, I'll call you.
❌ Spală-te pe mâini înainte mănânci.
Incorrect — 'before' as a conjunction needs înainte să + subjunctive: înainte să mănânci. (Bare înainte de takes a noun: înainte de masă.)
✅ Spală-te pe mâini înainte să mănânci.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Key Takeaways
- dacă = both "if" (real condition → indicative) and "whether" (indirect question → indicative). The conditional mood is for unreal conditions only.
- când
- present/future is normal for future "when"; în timp ce / pe când handle ongoing "while".
- până ("until", indicative) vs până să / înainte să ("before / by the time", subjunctive) — the să versions name an event the main action precedes.
- Learn the high-frequency extras as units: după ce (after), de când (since), imediat ce (as soon as), ori de câte ori (whenever).
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Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- 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.
- Concessive Conjunctions (deși, cu toate că, măcar că)B1 — How Romanian expresses 'although' and 'even if' — deși (factual default), cu toate că and măcar că (factual), chiar dacă (hypothetical even-if), and în ciuda + genitive (despite) — and why the reality status of the obstacle decides which one you use.
- Conditionals: dacă-clauses and the Conditional MoodB1 — How the conditional mood pairs with dacă (if) clauses across the three conditional types — real, hypothetical, and past counterfactual — and why Romanian uses the plain indicative, not a special form, after dacă in real conditionals.
- Imperfect or Conditional for HypotheticalsB1 — Romanian counterfactuals can use the full aș-conditional (Dacă aș avea timp, aș veni) or a double imperfect (Dacă aveam timp, veneam) with the same meaning — the first is the formal/written norm, the second the colloquial-spoken norm. A register choice, not an error.
- Mixed and Implicit ConditionalsC1 — Conditional meaning in Romanian is not confined to dacă-clauses. This page covers the implicit conditionals — imperative-and-result (Spune-i și o să vină), coordinate-and chains (Mai mergi puțin și ajungi), gerund conditions, the literary de-conditional (De-ai ști!) — and the genuinely tricky mixed-time counterfactual (Dacă aș fi plecat ieri, aș fi acum acolo), where the if-clause and the result clause sit in different time frames.