Once you can say where things are, conversation opens up — and Romanian's position words map onto a tidy spatial grid: peste (over/across), sub (under), lângă (next to/beside), între (between two things), and printre (among several). Most of these are simple prepositions that take a plain (accusative) noun: sub masă, lângă casă, între noi. But the "above" idea splits in two — peste (over, + accusative) and deasupra (above, + genitive) — and that split, plus the între / printre contrast, is where learners stumble. This page sorts them out.
The accusative position words
Peste, sub, lângă, între, printre are simple prepositions: the noun after them stays in its plain (accusative) form, exactly like cu, la, în, pe. No case ending changes.
| Preposition | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| peste | over / across / on top of | peste râu — across the river |
| sub | under / beneath | sub masă — under the table |
| lângă | next to / beside | lângă casă — next to the house |
| între | between (two) | între noi — between us |
| printre | among (several) | printre copaci — among the trees |
sub — under
Pisica s-a ascuns sub masă când a sunat la ușă.
The cat hid under the table when the doorbell rang.
Cheile erau sub covor tot timpul.
The keys were under the rug the whole time.
lângă — next to
Note the diacritic: lângă has the internal â (word-internal position), not î.
Stai lângă mine, e mai cald aici.
Sit next to me, it's warmer over here.
Farmacia e chiar lângă stația de autobuz.
The pharmacy is right next to the bus stop.
peste — over, across, on top of
Peste covers motion across a surface, something laid over something else, and (figuratively) "more than" with numbers.
Am trecut peste pod și am ajuns în cealaltă parte a orașului.
We crossed over the bridge and reached the other side of town.
Pune o pătură peste copil, i s-a făcut frig.
Put a blanket over the child, he's gotten cold.
Locuiește peste drum de noi, la numărul 14.
She lives across the street from us, at number 14.
între vs printre — between two, among many
This is the contrast English collapses. Între is between two items or a defined pair; printre is among several / in the midst of many. The mental test: if you can name exactly two endpoints, use între; if the thing is surrounded on all sides by a crowd of things, use printre.
Magazinul e între bancă și farmacie.
The shop is between the bank and the pharmacy. (two named endpoints)
Asta rămâne între noi, te rog.
This stays between us, please. (a defined pair)
Am găsit scrisoarea printre hârtiile vechi din sertar.
I found the letter among the old papers in the drawer. (lost in a crowd of papers)
Mergeam printre oameni căutându-te în mulțime.
I was walking among the people, looking for you in the crowd.
Între also frames a range with two endpoints — între cinci și șapte ("between five and seven"), între București și Cluj ("between Bucharest and Cluj") — which is why it pairs naturally with time and distance. Printre never does this; it has no endpoints, only a surrounding mass. For printre's fuller life (and its cousin prin), see prin, printre, peste.
peste vs deasupra — and the genitive twist
Both peste and deasupra land near English "over/above," but they differ in meaning and in case. Peste (accusative) implies crossing or contact — going over, lying on top of. Deasupra (genitive) implies hovering above with a gap — no contact, pure verticality.
The case difference is the crux. Deasupra governs the genitive, so the noun changes form: masă → mesei, oraș → orașului. This is because deasupra is historically a complex preposition with a buried noun, and its object behaves like a possessor (see prepositions governing the genitive).
| Preposition | Case | Sense | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| peste | accusative | over/across, with contact | peste masă — across the table |
| deasupra | genitive | above, no contact | deasupra mesei — above the table |
| sub | accusative | under, with/near contact | sub masă — under the table |
| dedesubtul | genitive | underneath, below | dedesubtul podului — beneath the bridge |
Un avion a zburat deasupra orașului spre aeroport.
A plane flew above the city toward the airport. (deasupra + genitive, no contact)
Lampa atârnă deasupra mesei din sufragerie.
The lamp hangs above the dining-room table.
Apa curge pe undeva pe dedesubtul podului.
Water flows somewhere beneath the bridge. (dedesubtul + genitive)
Notice the symmetry: just as "above" splits into accusative peste (contact/crossing) and genitive deasupra (no contact), "below" splits into accusative sub (the everyday "under") and the more formal genitive dedesubtul (beneath, often literary or technical).
Common Mistakes
❌ Lampa e deasupra masa.
Incorrect — deasupra governs the genitive: deasupra mesei.
✅ Lampa e deasupra mesei.
The lamp is above the table.
❌ Am găsit-o între cărțile de pe raft, erau zeci.
Incorrect — lost among many things is 'printre', not 'între'.
✅ Am găsit-o printre cărțile de pe raft, erau zeci.
I found it among the books on the shelf, there were dozens.
❌ Stai langa mine.
Incorrect spelling — it's lângă, with internal â and final ă.
✅ Stai lângă mine.
Sit next to me.
❌ Norii sunt deasupra noi.
Incorrect — with a pronoun, deasupra takes a possessive: deasupra noastră.
✅ Norii sunt deasupra noastră.
The clouds are above us.
❌ Secretul ăsta rămâne printre noi doi.
Incorrect — exactly two people is 'între', not 'printre'.
✅ Secretul ăsta rămâne între noi doi.
This secret stays between the two of us.
Key Takeaways
- Peste, sub, lângă, între, printre take the plain accusative — no ending change.
- între = between two / a defined pair (and ranges: între cinci și șapte); printre = among many.
- "Over/above" splits: peste (+acc., crossing or contact) vs deasupra (+genitive, hovering above).
- "Below" mirrors it: everyday sub (+acc.) vs formal dedesubtul (+genitive).
- With a pronoun, deasupra takes a possessive: deasupra mea, deasupra noastră.
- Spelling: lângă (internal â, final ă), între (initial î).
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Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- Romanian Prepositions: OverviewA1 — The lay of the land: most everyday Romanian prepositions (la, în, pe, cu, de, din, până, spre, fără, pentru, despre) govern the accusative — which for nouns looks identical to the nominative — while a class of relational prepositions demands the genitive (deasupra) or dative (datorită), and all of them take the strong form of a pronoun (cu mine, never *cu eu).
- Location and Direction: la, în, spre, până laA1 — How Romanian carves up space: la marks a point, activity, or destination (la școală, la doctor, la mare), în marks enclosure (în casă, în oraș), spre marks direction toward (spre nord), and până la marks the limit reached (până la gară) — with pe for surfaces (pe masă).
- prin, printre, peste: Path and DistributionB1 — prin is the all-purpose 'through / via / around' — path (prin pădure), means (prin e-mail), and approximation (prin martie). printre is specifically 'among several' (printre copaci, printre altele). How prin also approximates time and number, like pe la.
- Prepositions Governing the GenitiveB2 — A class of spatial and relational prepositions — deasupra, în fața, în jurul, împotriva, de-a lungul — require the genitive, while datorită/grație/mulțumită take the dative; how to recognize and use them.
- Nominative and AccusativeA2 — Why Romanian's subject case and direct-object case share a single noun form, and how word order plus the 'pe' object marker and clitic doubling recover the subject/object distinction that case-marking alone can't make.
- From and To: de la, până la, dinspre, înspreA2 — How Romanian expresses motion and range: de la (from a point, person, or time), până la (up to / until), dinspre (from the direction of), înspre/spre (toward), de pe (from on top of). The de la...până la frame for ranges, and why 'from' splits into de la (a point) and din (an interior or origin).