A demonstrative pronoun points at something and stands in for its noun: English this one, that one, these, those. "Which jacket?" — "That one." Romanian has a rich set: the formal acesta / acela family (this one / that one), the everyday colloquial ăsta / ăla family, and a third pronoun, cel / cea / cei / cele, meaning "the one(s)" — cel de acolo ("the one over there"). The key thing to keep straight is that these are pronouns — they stand alone, with no noun after them — as opposed to the demonstrative determiner (acest om, omul acesta), which modifies a noun that is present. The pronoun even has a slightly different shape from the determiner, and noticing that shape is half the battle. This page lays out the three sets and keeps them apart from the determiner.
The formal set: acesta / acela
These are the standard-register "this one / that one." They agree in gender and number, and they are identical to the postposed form of the demonstrative determiner — but used alone, with no noun.
| "this one" (near) | "that one" (far) | |
|---|---|---|
| masc. sg. | acesta | acela |
| fem. sg. | aceasta | aceea |
| masc. pl. | aceștia | aceia |
| fem. pl. | acestea | acelea |
Watch the spellings closely — they trip up natives too: feminine singular aceasta (this one) vs. aceea (that one, two e's), and the masculine plurals aceștia (with ș) vs. aceia.
Dintre toate rochiile, aceasta îmi place cel mai mult.
Of all the dresses, I like this one the most.
Nu vreau telefonul acela, prefer pe acesta.
I don't want that phone, I prefer this one.
Prietenii tăi au plecat, dar aceștia mai rămân puțin.
Your friends left, but these (people) are staying a bit longer.
Notice in the second example that a definite/animate pronoun object takes pe, just like a definite noun object: prefer pe acesta ("I prefer this one"). The demonstrative pronoun behaves like a full noun phrase for case-marking purposes.
The colloquial set: ăsta / ăla
In real spoken Romanian, almost nobody says acesta and acela aloud for ordinary "this one / that one." Everyday speech uses the reduced forms ăsta (from acesta) and ăla (from acela). They are (informal) but completely standard in conversation.
| "this one" (informal) | "that one" (informal) | |
|---|---|---|
| masc. sg. | ăsta | ăla |
| fem. sg. | asta | aia |
| masc. pl. | ăștia | ăia |
| fem. pl. | astea | alea |
— Care tort îl iei? — Ăsta, cu ciocolată.
— Which cake are you getting? — This one, the chocolate one.
Ăla de acolo e fratele meu, cel cu ochelari.
That one over there is my brother, the one with glasses.
Astea nu mai sunt bune, aruncă-le.
These aren't any good anymore, throw them out.
The neuter "this / that" used to refer to a whole situation or unnamed thing is asta (and aia): Asta e problema ("That's the problem"), Nu-mi place asta ("I don't like this"). This is the most common demonstrative pronoun in all of spoken Romanian.
Asta nu se face, să întârzii o oră fără să suni.
This isn't done — being an hour late without calling.
cel / cea / cei / cele: "the one(s)"
This is a distinct demonstrative pronoun that English renders as "the one / the ones." It nominalizes — turns a modifier into a standalone "the [X] one" — and is followed by a describing phrase (an adjective, a de-phrase, or a relative clause).
| "the one(s)" | |
|---|---|
| masc. sg. | cel |
| fem. sg. | cea |
| masc. pl. | cei |
| fem. pl. | cele |
Care pix? Cel roșu sau cel albastru?
Which pen? The red one or the blue one?
Copilul cel mic doarme deja.
The little one (child) is already asleep.
Cei care vin mâine să anunțe din timp.
Those who are coming tomorrow should let us know in advance.
Dintre cele două variante, o aleg pe cea de-a doua.
Of the two options, I'll pick the second one.
So cel answers "which one?" by pointing through a quality: cel mic ("the little one"), cei de acolo ("those over there"), cea care a câștigat ("the one who won," fem.). It is the workhorse for "the one(s) that…" and is essential for relative-clause "those who."
Pantofii mei s-au stricat, îi iau pe cei din vitrină.
My shoes are ruined, I'll take the ones in the window.
Pronoun vs. determiner: the shape gives it away
This is the line the whole page defends. The demonstrative determiner modifies a noun that is right there, and before the noun it uses the short form: acest om ("this man"). The demonstrative pronoun stands alone, replacing the noun, and uses the long form: acesta ("this one"). The postposed determiner happens to look like the pronoun (omul acesta), but a noun is present, so it is still a determiner.
| Construction | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Determiner, before noun | short: acest | acest om (this man) |
| Determiner, after noun | long: acesta + articled noun | omul acesta (this man) |
| Pronoun, alone | long: acesta | acesta (this one) |
Acest film e bun, dar acesta e mai bun.
This film is good, but this one is better. (acest film = determiner; acesta = pronoun)
That sentence puts the contrast in one line: acest film (determiner, noun present) vs. acesta (pronoun, noun replaced). The full account of the determiner — both word orders and the article that comes with the postposed form — is on the acest/acel determiner page.
Băiatul ăsta e prietenul meu; ăla nu-l cunosc.
This boy is my friend (ăsta = determiner with băiatul); that one I don't know (ăla = pronoun, standing alone).
Common Mistakes
❌ Vreau acest. (meaning 'I want this one')
Incorrect — standing alone you need the long pronoun form: Vreau pe acesta / Vreau ăsta.
✅ Vreau pe acesta. / Vreau ăsta.
I want this one.
❌ acesta om
Wrong form before a noun — the preposed determiner is the short acest: acest om (or postposed omul acesta).
✅ acest om / omul acesta
this man
❌ Prefer aceea, cu flori. (for a masc. sg. thing)
Wrong gender — for a masculine singular 'that one' use acela; aceea is feminine.
✅ Prefer pe acela, cu flori.
I prefer that one, with flowers.
❌ Care pix? Roșu.
Incomplete — to say 'the red one' as a standalone answer you need cel: Cel roșu.
✅ Care pix? Cel roșu.
Which pen? The red one.
❌ Aia care vin mâine. (for 'those who come')
Wrong pronoun — for 'those who…' use cei/cele (relative), not the deictic aia: cei care vin mâine.
✅ Cei care vin mâine.
Those who are coming tomorrow.
Key Takeaways
- The demonstrative pronoun stands alone: formal acesta/aceasta/aceștia/acestea (this one/these), acela/aceea/aceia/acelea (that one/those).
- Spoken Romanian uses the (informal) ăsta/asta/ăștia/astea and ăla/aia/ăia/alea; asta is the default for "this/that thing/situation."
- cel/cea/cei/cele = "the one(s)," nominalizing a description: cel mic, cei de acolo, cei care vin.
- Keep the pronoun apart from the determiner: short acest om (before noun) and omul acesta (after noun) both modify a present noun; the long acesta alone is the pronoun.
- A definite demonstrative pronoun object takes pe: Vreau pe acesta.
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- Possessive Pronouns (al meu, ai tăi)B1 — A Romanian possessive pronoun ('mine, yours, his') stands in for a whole noun phrase: it is the genitival article al/a/ai/ale + the possessive — al meu, a mea, ai mei, ale mele — and the al/a/ai/ale agrees with the POSSESSED thing, not the owner. Cartea e a mea ('the book is mine'); pantofii sunt ai mei ('the shoes are mine'). Distinct from the possessive DETERMINER cartea mea ('my book').
- Romanian Pronouns: An OverviewA1 — A map of the whole pronoun system — personal pronouns (eu/tu/el) with separate strong (mine, ție) and clitic (mă, îți) forms for accusative and dative, plus reflexive clitics, possessives, demonstratives, relatives, interrogatives and indefinites — and why the clitic system is the hard core, because pronouns preserve the full case system that nouns mostly lost.
- Case Marking on PronounsB1 — Why Romanian pronouns preserve a far richer case system than nouns — distinct nominative (eu, tu, el), accusative (mă/pe mine, te/pe tine), and dative (îmi/mie, îți/ție) forms, split into clitic and strong sets — and how this is where most of the real case-learning happens.
- The Genitival Article (al, a, ai, ale)B1 — The distinctively Romanian genitival article al/a/ai/ale links a possessed noun to its possessor when the two aren't glued together by a definite article — un prieten al meu, o carte a Mariei, prietenii mei și ai tăi. It agrees with the POSSESSED noun, and surfaces when an indefinite, an intervening word, or a standalone possessive breaks the default adjacency.
- Accusative Clitic Pronouns (mă, te, îl, o, ne, vă, îi, le)A2 — The unstressed direct-object clitics — mă, te, îl, o, ne, vă, îi, le — sit BEFORE the finite verb (Te văd, Îl cunosc), fuse with the perfect auxiliary (M-a văzut, L-am chemat), and hide one famous irregular: the feminine 'o' attaches AFTER the participle (Am văzut-o).