So far the negation pages have negated ordinary finite verbs — present, past, future — by parking nu in front of them. But Romanian negates commands and non-finite forms too, and these throw up a striking asymmetry that catches every English speaker. The headline: the negative singular command does not use the affirmative imperative at all — it uses nu + the infinitive. Pleacă! ("Leave!") becomes Nu pleca! ("Don't leave!"); Fă! ("Do it!") becomes Nu face! ("Don't do it!"). The plural, the conjunctiv, the infinitive, and the gerund each have their own negation pattern, and the prefix ne- lets you negate a word internally. This page gathers all of them in one place so you can see the system whole; the negative imperative itself has a fuller drill on its dedicated page.
The negative singular command: nu + infinitive
This is the unique one. To tell one person (familiar tu) not to do something, use nu + the short infinitive — the infinitive minus its a particle. The affirmative imperative form is irrelevant here.
| Verb | Affirmative 2sg | Negative 2sg (nu + infinitive) |
|---|---|---|
| a pleca (to leave) | Pleacă! | Nu pleca! |
| a vorbi (to speak) | Vorbește! | Nu vorbi! |
| a face (to do) | Fă! | Nu face! |
| a veni (to come) | Vino! | Nu veni! |
| a fi (to be) | Fii! | Nu fi! |
Nu pleca încă, mai stai puțin.
Don't leave yet, stay a little longer.
Nu vorbi cu gura plină.
Don't talk with your mouth full.
Nu fi supărat pe mine.
Don't be upset with me.
The contrast is at its sharpest with the short irregular verbs: affirmative Fă! but negative Nu face! — completely different forms for the same verb. This is a genuine, must-memorize irregularity, not a pattern you can reason your way to.
The negative plural command: nu + indicative
For more than one person (or the polite singular), the surprise vanishes: you simply put nu in front of the affirmative plural, which is the indicative 2pl. The plural negates exactly as you'd expect.
Nu plecați fără mine!
Don't leave without me! (to several people)
Nu vorbiți toți deodată, vă rog.
Don't all talk at once, please.
Nu vă faceți griji, totul e în regulă.
Don't worry, everything's fine. (polite/plural reflexive)
So the imperative splits cleanly: singular = nu + infinitive (Nu pleca!), plural = nu + indicative (Nu plecați!).
Negative conjunctiv: să nu
The subjunctive (conjunctiv) is negated by placing nu after the să marker: să nu + verb. This is how you express negative wishes, commands relayed through să, and purpose ("so that … not"). The order is fixed — să first, then nu, then the verb.
Vreau să nu uiți de întâlnire.
I want you not to forget about the meeting.
Să nu spui nimănui!
Don't tell anyone! (a softened or relayed negative command)
Am închis geamul ca să nu intre frigul.
I closed the window so the cold wouldn't get in.
Note that Să nu spui! is a common, slightly softer alternative to the bare imperative Nu spune! — both forbid, but the conjunctiv version can feel more like an urgent plea ("don't you dare tell!").
Negative infinitive: a nu
The long infinitive keeps its a particle, and nu slots between them: a nu + verb. You meet it in formal instructions, signs, and after verbs/prepositions that govern the infinitive.
Vă rugăm a nu fuma în incintă.
Please do not smoke on the premises. (formal — sign/notice register)
A nu se lăsa la îndemâna copiilor.
Keep out of reach of children. (formal — product warning)
E mai bine a nu insista.
It's better not to insist. (literary/formal)
This a nu construction is decidedly (formal) — in everyday speech Romanians prefer să nu (E mai bine să nu insiști). You will see a nu on warning labels and official notices far more than in conversation.
Negative gerund: ne- + gerund
The gerund (the -ând / -ind form) is not negated with nu. Instead the prefix ne- attaches directly to the front: fiind ("being") → nefiind ("not being"); știind ("knowing") → neștiind ("not knowing"). This is a tidy case where Romanian negates a non-finite form morphologically rather than with the particle.
Neavând bani de taxi, am mers pe jos.
Having no money for a taxi, I walked. (neavând — 'not having')
Nefiind sigur de adresă, am sunat înainte.
Not being sure of the address, I called ahead.
Neștiind ce să răspundă, a tăcut.
Not knowing what to answer, he stayed silent.
The prefix ne-: lexical negation
The same ne- that negates the gerund is Romanian's general negating prefix, turning adjectives, participles, and nouns into their opposites: fericit ("happy") → nefericit ("unhappy"); plăcut ("pleasant") → neplăcut ("unpleasant"); adevăr ("truth") → neadevăr ("untruth"). This is lexical negation — it negates a word, not a clause — and it does not interact with nu or the concord system. It has its own prefixes page; the point here is to recognize it as the morphological cousin of the clausal nu.
A fost o experiență neplăcută, dar am învățat ceva.
It was an unpleasant experience, but I learned something.
E o problemă nerezolvată de ani de zile.
It's a problem that's gone unsolved for years. (nerezolvată — 'unresolved')
Common Mistakes
Using the indicative for the negative singular command (the classic calque of "Don't + verb"):
❌ Nu pleci!
Incorrect — that's the indicative 'you don't leave'; the singular command is nu + infinitive: Nu pleca!
✅ Nu pleca!
Don't leave!
Sticking nu on the affirmative command form:
❌ Nu fă asta!
Incorrect — the negative singular of 'a face' uses the infinitive: Nu face asta!
✅ Nu face asta!
Don't do that!
Putting nu before să in the conjunctiv:
❌ Vreau nu să uiți.
Incorrect — nu goes after să: Vreau să nu uiți.
✅ Vreau să nu uiți.
I want you not to forget.
Negating the gerund with nu instead of the prefix ne-:
❌ Nu știind ce să fac, am așteptat.
Incorrect — the gerund takes the prefix ne-: Neștiind ce să fac, am așteptat.
✅ Neștiind ce să fac, am așteptat.
Not knowing what to do, I waited.
Using the conversational să nu where a formal notice wants a nu (a register mismatch):
❌ Vă rugăm să nu fumați. (on a formal printed sign)
Understandable, but the fixed notice register is: Vă rugăm a nu fuma. (să nu is fine in speech.)
✅ Vă rugăm a nu fuma în incintă.
Please do not smoke on the premises.
Key Takeaways
- The negative singular command is the asymmetry: nu + infinitive (Nu pleca!, Nu face!), not nu
- the affirmative imperative.
- The negative plural command is regular: nu + indicative 2pl (Nu plecați!).
- The conjunctiv negates as să nu (Vreau să nu uiți); the long infinitive as a nu (a nu fuma — formal, for signs and notices).
- The gerund negates morphologically with the prefix ne- (nefiind, neștiind), not with nu.
- The prefix ne- is general lexical negation (nefericit, neplăcut) — a word-level negator separate from clausal nu and the concord system.
Now practice Romanian
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- Negation: An OverviewA1 — How Romanian says 'no' and 'not'. The preverbal nu negates any verb (Nu vorbesc 'I don't speak'); nu / ba nu answers 'no'; and — the feature English speakers must rewire — Romanian uses obligatory NEGATIVE CONCORD, where words like nimic, nimeni, niciodată, niciun co-occur WITH nu rather than replacing it (Nu văd nimic 'I see nothing'). This page maps the whole system before the detail pages.
- The Negator 'nu' and Its ContractionsA1 — Where nu goes and how it contracts. The negator sits strictly BEFORE the verb, ahead of any object pronouns (Nu te văd, Nu îmi place). Before a vowel it elides to n- (nu am → n-am), and before clitics it fuses (nu îmi → nu-mi, nu îl → nu-l, nu este → nu-i). This page drills the placement and the everyday contractions in the present and perfect.
- The Negative ImperativeA2 — The crucial asymmetry: the negative singular command uses nu + the short infinitive (Nu cânta!, Nu veni!), not the affirmative form — while the negative plural uses nu + the indicative 2pl.
- The Imperative: OverviewA2 — An introduction to the Romanian imperative — its two genuine forms (2sg familiar and 2pl/polite), and why everything else falls to the conjunctiv.
- Lexical Negation (ne-, in-, des-)B1 — How Romanian negates inside a single word rather than across a clause: the native, fully-productive prefix ne- (necunoscut 'unknown', neînțeles 'misunderstood'), the bookish Latinate in-/im- (incorect, imposibil), and des-/dez-, which marks REVERSAL of an action (a face → a desface) rather than mere negation. When to build a ne- word instead of reaching for nu.
- Negative Concord (Double Negation)A1 — Romanian piles up negatives that all agree, and the verbal nu is non-negotiable. Where English uses one negative ('I never tell anyone anything'), Romanian marks every element negative AND keeps nu on the verb: Nu spun nimănui niciodată nimic. What English calls a 'double-negative error' is the REQUIRED form here. This page teaches the system and how the negatives stack.