The connectors on this page do a different job from the conjunctions that join clauses inside a single sentence. These are discourse connectors (sometimes called sentence adverbs or conjunctive adverbs): they link one whole sentence to the next, signposting the logical relationship between them — so, therefore, however, moreover, besides. They are the words that give a paragraph its argumentative shape. Two practical things matter most: where they sit (typically at the front of the sentence, set off by a comma) and what register they signal (the gulf between casual deci and formal așadar is something a native hears immediately).
The "therefore" group: deci, prin urmare, așadar, de aceea
These all draw a conclusion from what came before. They differ mainly in register and weight.
deci is the everyday, all-purpose "so / therefore." It is the most frequent and the most neutral, equally at home in speech and ordinary writing.
Magazinul e închis lunea, deci venim mâine.
The shop is closed on Mondays, so we'll come tomorrow.
prin urmare and așadar mean "consequently / therefore" and belong to formal and written register — essays, reports, speeches, careful argumentation. Așadar often carries a summing-up, "and so, to conclude" flavor.
Cifrele nu se confirmă; prin urmare, propunerea va fi respinsă.
The figures do not check out; consequently, the proposal will be rejected. (formal)
Toate condițiile sunt îndeplinite. Așadar, putem semna contractul.
All the conditions are met. Therefore, we can sign the contract. (formal)
de aceea means "that's why / for that reason" and points back to a cause just stated. It is neutral and very common, slightly more concrete than deci because it names the previous sentence as the reason.
Nu mi-a răspuns la telefon. De aceea am venit direct la birou.
He didn't pick up when I called. That's why I came straight to the office.
The contrast group: totuși, pe de altă parte
totuși is the workhorse "however / nevertheless / still." It signals that what follows runs against the expectation set up by the previous sentence. It is register-neutral and can sit at the front or float to the middle of the clause.
Era foarte obosit; totuși, a terminat tot raportul în noaptea aceea.
He was very tired; however, he finished the whole report that night.
Mi-a promis că vine. N-a apărut, totuși.
He promised he'd come. He didn't show up, though.
pe de altă parte ("on the other hand") introduces a competing consideration, often as the second half of the pe de o parte… pe de altă parte correlative covered on the correlative conjunctions page, but freely usable on its own. It belongs to neutral-to-formal register.
Prețul e bun. Pe de altă parte, livrarea durează trei săptămâni.
The price is good. On the other hand, delivery takes three weeks.
The additive group: în plus, de altfel
în plus means "moreover / on top of that / additionally" — it stacks a further point onto the previous one in the same direction. Neutral register, very common.
Apartamentul e spațios și luminos. În plus, e foarte aproape de metrou.
The flat is spacious and bright. On top of that, it's very close to the metro.
de altfel is a subtler connector meaning "besides / for that matter / incidentally" — it adds a supporting remark that the speaker treats as already known or self-evident, often confirming the previous point. It leans slightly formal and is a mark of fluent, well-organized speech.
N-am fost surprins de rezultat; de altfel, mă așteptam la asta.
I wasn't surprised by the result; besides, I'd been expecting it. (neutral/formal)
Position and punctuation
Discourse connectors most naturally sit at the front of the sentence they introduce, followed by a comma: Prin urmare, …; Așadar, …; De aceea, …; În plus, …. Several of them — notably totuși and deci — can also slide into the middle or to the end of the clause, where they are set off by commas on both sides (or just before, at the end):
A fost, totuși, o decizie grea.
It was, however, a hard decision.
When a connector follows a semicolon (a common pattern in formal writing), it still takes its comma: …; prin urmare, …. Note that the connector does not replace a clause conjunction: you do not need și or dar in addition to it.
The double life of deci: connector vs filler
Here is the register point worth dwelling on. deci leads two lives. In writing and careful speech it is the logical "therefore." But in casual conversation, deci has become an extremely common filler / discourse opener, much like spoken English "so…" at the start of a turn — used to launch a sentence, gather thoughts, or resume a story, with no real "therefore" meaning at all.
Deci, ce facem diseară?
So, what are we doing tonight? (filler — no 'therefore' meaning)
Deci eu am ajuns acolo și nu era nimeni.
So, I got there and there was nobody. (spoken filler, opening a story)
This second use is fine in speech but should be kept out of formal writing, where it reads as conversational clutter. And here is the register signal: a speaker who reaches for așadar or prin urmare is marking the discourse as careful and elevated, while a stream of *deci*s marks it as relaxed and spoken. Choosing among them is one of the clearest ways Romanian encodes register — see spoken vs written register.
Quick reference
| Connector | Meaning | Register |
|---|---|---|
| deci | so / therefore (also a spoken filler) | neutral; filler use (informal) |
| prin urmare | consequently | (formal) / written |
| așadar | therefore, and so (summing up) | (formal) / written |
| de aceea | that's why, for that reason | neutral |
| totuși | however, nevertheless, still | neutral |
| pe de altă parte | on the other hand | neutral / formal |
| în plus | moreover, on top of that | neutral |
| de altfel | besides, for that matter | neutral / formal |
Common Mistakes
❌ Era obosit dar totuși a terminat raportul, deci foarte bine.
Cluttered — stacking dar + totuși is redundant (both mark contrast); and the trailing deci is a filler. Pick one contrast word.
✅ Era obosit, totuși a terminat raportul.
He was tired, yet he finished the report.
❌ Deci, în concluzie, prin urmare propunerea se aprobă.
Overloaded — three conclusion markers in a row. Choose one: Așadar, propunerea se aprobă.
✅ Așadar, propunerea se aprobă.
Therefore, the proposal is approved.
❌ Raportul e gata prin urmare îl trimitem azi.
Missing comma — a sentence connector at the head of a clause is set off by a comma: …gata; prin urmare, îl trimitem azi.
✅ Raportul e gata; prin urmare, îl trimitem azi.
The report is done; consequently, we'll send it today.
❌ Cifrele nu se confirmă, deci, prin urmare, comisia respinge propunerea.
Conversational deci has no place in this formal sentence; prin urmare already carries the meaning.
✅ Cifrele nu se confirmă; prin urmare, comisia respinge propunerea.
The figures don't check out; consequently, the committee rejects the proposal.
Key Takeaways
- Discourse connectors link whole sentences, not clauses, and sit at the front of their sentence with a comma after them.
- The "therefore" group splits by register: deci (neutral/casual) vs prin urmare / așadar (formal, written); de aceea points back at a stated cause.
- totuși = however/nevertheless; pe de altă parte = on the other hand; în plus = moreover; de altfel = besides.
- deci has a second, filler life in speech ("so…") — natural in conversation, but to be cut from formal writing.
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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.
- Coordinators: și, iar, dar, însă, ciA2 — The Romanian coordinators that English flattens into 'and' and 'but'. și is plain 'and'; iar is a contrastive 'and' meaning roughly 'whereas' (Eu citesc, iar el doarme). Romanian then has three words for 'but': dar (the general one), însă (more formal, and unusually able to move inside the clause), and ci (the corrective 'but rather', which is obligatory after a negation: Nu e roșu, ci albastru).
- Causal Conjunctions (pentru că, fiindcă, deoarece, căci)A2 — The Romanian 'because' family — pentru că (neutral), fiindcă (colloquial), deoarece (formal/written), căci (literary), din cauză că / datorită faptului că — all taking the indicative, graded by register, plus the dangerous near-homonym pentru ca…să (so that).
- Correlative Conjunctions (atât...cât, nu numai...ci și)B2 — Romanian's paired connectors that work in two halves — atât... cât și (both... and), nu numai... ci și (not only... but also), nici... nici (neither... nor), fie... fie (either... or), pe de o parte... pe de altă parte (on the one hand... on the other), and cu cât... cu atât (the more... the more) — with the parallel-structure rule that keeps them balanced and the corrective ci that distinguishes 'not X but Y'.
- Spoken vs Written RomanianB2 — Medium (spoken vs written) and formality (informal vs formal) are two independent axes. Spoken Romanian favors the o-să future, ăsta/asta, dropped final -l, clitic fusion, fillers, repair, and dislocation (Cartea, am citit-o); written Romanian favors the voi-future, acesta, full forms, dense subordination, and — in narrative — the perfectul simplu. Crucially, even a formal SPEECH keeps some spoken features that a formal LETTER would not, so 'spoken vs written' is not the same cut as 'informal vs formal'.