This is the reference hub for Romanian personal pronouns — the page to bookmark. English gets by with three shapes per person ("I / me / my"), and Romanian asks for more: a single person can show up in up to five different forms, depending on its grammatical job. "I/me," for instance, fans out into eu (subject), pe mine (strong object), mă (clitic object), mie (strong recipient), and îmi (clitic recipient). That sounds daunting written out, but the system is regular, and seeing the whole grid at once turns five scattered words into one tidy row. The detailed mechanics — placement, fusion, doubling — live on the individual pages; this page exists to show the shape of the system and let you look up any cell fast.
The master grid
Here is the complete system. Each row is one person; each column is one grammatical job. Read across a row to see how that person changes shape from subject to object to recipient.
| Person | Nominative (subject) | Accusative strong (after prep. / emphasis) | Accusative clitic (direct object) | Dative strong (emphasis / after prep.) | Dative clitic (recipient) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg "I / me" | eu | (pe) mine | mă | mie | îmi |
| 2sg "you" | tu | (pe) tine | te | ție | îți |
| 3sg m. "he / him" | el | (pe) el | îl | lui | îi |
| 3sg f. "she / her" | ea | (pe) ea | o | ei | îi |
| 1pl "we / us" | noi | (pe) noi | ne | nouă | ne |
| 2pl "you" | voi | (pe) voi | vă | vouă | vă |
| 3pl m. "they / them" | ei | (pe) ei | îi | lor | le |
| 3pl f. "they / them" | ele | (pe) ele | le | lor | le |
How to read the grid
A few habits make the table usable rather than overwhelming.
The two cases. Romanian object pronouns split by case. The accusative is the direct object ("he sees me") and also the object of most prepositions ("with me"). The dative is the recipient or "interested party" ("he gives me the book," "I like it" = literally "it pleases to me"). Columns 2–3 are accusative; columns 4–5 are dative.
Strong vs clitic. Within each case there are two shapes. The clitic (mă, te, îl…, îmi, îți, îi…) is the short, unstressed form that glues to the verb — it is the everyday workhorse and appears in almost every sentence. The strong form (mine, tine…, mie, ție…) is the long, stressed form used after prepositions, for emphasis, or standing alone. Choosing between them has its own decision page.
The pe in parentheses. The strong accusative wears pe only when it's a direct object (Pe mine mă vezi). After any other preposition the pe drops (cu mine, despre tine, pentru ei).
Eu îl văd pe el, dar el nu mă vede pe mine.
I see him, but he doesn't see me. (subject eu/el; clitic îl/mă; strong pe el/pe mine for contrast)
Îmi place orașul, dar lor nu le place deloc.
I like the city, but they don't like it at all. (dative clitics îmi, le; strong lor for contrast)
Reading three sample rows
Take three rows slowly, because seeing the logic on a few examples makes the whole grid click.
"I / me" → eu / pe mine / mă / mie / îmi. As subject, eu (Eu plătesc). As a direct object, the clitic mă (Mă vezi?) or, after a preposition / for stress, mine (cu mine, Pe mine mă vezi). As a recipient, the clitic îmi (Îmi place) or the strong mie (Mie nu mi-a spus nimeni).
Mă cheamă Andrei, dar prietenii îmi spun Andi.
My name is Andrei, but my friends call me Andi. (clitic acc. mă; clitic dat. îmi)
"she / her" → ea / pe ea / o / ei / îi. Note the two famous traps in this row: the accusative clitic is o (not îl), and the o attaches after the participle in the perfect (Am văzut-o). And the dative clitic îi is shared with "he/him" — only context and the strong forms (ei for her, lui for him) disambiguate.
Am văzut-o pe Maria la piață și i-am dat numărul tău.
I saw Maria at the market and gave her your number. (acc. clitic o after the participle; dat. clitic i- = îi for her)
"they / them" → ei/ele / pe ei/ele / îi/le / lor / le. The plural keeps the gender split in the nominative and accusative (ei/îi masc., ele/le fem.) but collapses it in the dative: both genders use lor (strong) and le (clitic). So "to them" is le / lor whether the group is men or women.
Le-am scris fetelor, dar nu mi-au răspuns încă.
I wrote to the girls, but they haven't replied to me yet. (dat. clitic le = to them; mi- = to me)
What's NOT in this grid
Two reminders so you don't go looking in the wrong place. First, there is no genitive column: pronouns don't form a possessive the way nouns do (cartea băiatului). "My / your / his" is handled by separate possessive adjectives (cartea mea, cartea ta, cartea lui). Second, the reflexive forms (se, își for the 3rd person) are a separate set — they point back at the subject and don't live in this grid; see reflexive pronouns. The deeper "why pronouns kept their cases" story is on the case marking on pronouns page.
Cartea lui e pe masă, a mea e în geantă.
His book is on the table, mine is in the bag. (possessives lui / a mea — not part of the case grid)
Common Mistakes
Using a strong form where the verb needs a clitic:
❌ Văd tine.
Wrong — a direct object on the verb is the clitic: Te văd. The strong tine only appears after a preposition or with a doubling clitic.
✅ Te văd.
I see you.
Using a clitic after a preposition:
❌ cu mă
Wrong — after a preposition use the strong accusative: cu mine.
✅ cu mine
with me
Using the nominative (subject) form as an object:
❌ Cunoști eu?
Wrong — eu is subject-only; the object clitic is mă: Mă cunoști?
✅ Mă cunoști?
Do you know me?
Confusing the accusative and dative clitics ("I like" takes the dative):
❌ Mă place ciocolata.
Wrong — 'liking' uses the dative pronoun: Îmi place ciocolata.
✅ Îmi place ciocolata.
I like chocolate.
Forgetting that the feminine accusative clitic is o, not îl:
❌ Îl cunosc pe Maria.
Wrong gender — Maria is feminine, so the clitic is o: O cunosc pe Maria.
✅ O cunosc pe Maria.
I know Maria.
Key Takeaways
- Each person has up to five shapes: nominative, strong & clitic accusative, strong & clitic dative — one row of the grid = one person doing all five jobs.
- The clitic is the unstressed verb-hugging workhorse; the strong form is for prepositions, emphasis, or standing alone.
- Watch the overlaps: îi (dat. him/her; acc. them-m.), le (dat. them; acc. them-f.), ne/vă (acc. = dat.).
- The dative collapses the plural gender (lor / le for any "them"); the nominative and accusative keep it (ei/îi vs ele/le).
- Pronouns have no genitive (use possessive adjectives) and the reflexive se/își is a separate set — neither belongs in this grid.
Now practice Romanian
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Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- 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.
- Subject Pronouns and the Politeness SystemA1 — The nominative pronouns (eu, tu, el, ea, noi, voi, ei, ele), why Romanian is pro-drop so they're usually omitted and used only for emphasis or contrast (EU plătesc, nu tu), and the politeness ladder — dumneata (semi-formal, singular verb), dumneavoastră (formal, plural verb), and dânsul/dânsa (polite he/she).
- Strong Accusative Pronouns (pe mine, pe tine)A2 — The stressed accusative pronouns — (pe) mine, tine, el/ea, noi, voi, ei/ele — are the forms that appear after every preposition (cu mine, pentru tine, fără noi) and for emphasis (Pe mine mă cunoști). They never replace the clitic; they reinforce it.
- 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).
- Strong Dative Pronouns (mie, ție, lui, ei)B1 — The stressed dative pronouns — mie, ție, lui/ei, nouă, vouă, lor — supply emphasis (Mie îmi place — as for ME), stand alone in answers (— Cui? — Mie!), and follow the handful of dative-governing prepositions (datorită ție, grație lor). They reinforce the clitic; they don't replace it.
- Dative Clitic Pronouns (îmi, îți, îi, ne, vă, le)A2 — The dative clitics — îmi, îți, îi, ne, vă, le — mark the recipient ('to/for me'). They power Îmi place, Îți spun, Îi dau; they OBLIGATORILY double a full dative noun (Îi spun Mariei); and 'îi' is a double agent meaning both 'to him/her' and 'them' (acc. masc.).