A compound sentence glues together two clauses that could each stand on its own as a complete sentence. Plec acum ("I'm leaving now") and tu rămâi ("you're staying") are both whole sentences; join them with dar and you get one compound sentence, Plec acum, dar tu rămâi. This is different from a complex sentence, where one clause depends on another and can't stand alone. In coordination the two halves are equal partners. This page covers the everyday connectors that link them — și, dar, iar, sau/ori, ci, deci, însă — the comma rule that trips up English speakers, and when to repeat the shared subject versus let Romanian drop it.
The everyday connectors
Romanian coordinating conjunctions fall into a few meaning groups. Here is the working set, with their register and comma behavior, before we drill each one.
| Connector | Meaning | Comma before it? | Register |
|---|---|---|---|
| și | and | No | neutral |
| sau / ori | or | No | neutral (ori a touch more formal) |
| dar | but | Yes | neutral, everyday |
| iar | and / whereas (contrast) | Yes | neutral |
| ci | but rather (after a negative) | Yes | neutral |
| însă | however | Yes (or surrounding commas) | slightly more formal/literary |
| deci | so, therefore | Yes | neutral |
Adding: și (and)
Și joins two clauses (or two items) the way English "and" does. The thing to burn into memory now is the punctuation: no comma before a plain și. This is the opposite of the English habit of writing "I came home, and I cooked dinner."
Am ajuns acasă și am gătit cina.
I got home and cooked dinner. (no comma before 'și')
Ea cântă la pian și el cântă la chitară.
She plays the piano and he plays the guitar.
Deschide geamul și aprinde lumina, te rog.
Open the window and turn on the light, please.
The comma comes back only when și is part of a list of three or more, or when it links items inside a longer enumeration — but for the basic "clause + și + clause," leave it out.
Contrasting: dar, iar, însă, ci
This is where the comma reappears, and where English speakers most need to retrain their reflex. Dar ("but") is the everyday adversative, and Romanian puts a comma before it.
Am sunat de trei ori, dar nu a răspuns nimeni.
I called three times, but nobody answered.
Vreau să vin, dar nu am timp azi.
I want to come, but I don't have time today.
Iar is subtler. It often translates as "and," but it carries a flavor of contrast or shift of subject — "and on the other hand," "whereas." Use it when the second clause turns to a different subject or sets up a mild opposition. It also takes a comma.
Eu spăl vasele, iar tu ștergi masa.
I'll wash the dishes, and (meanwhile) you wipe the table.
Copiii s-au culcat, iar noi am mai stat de vorbă.
The children went to bed, while we stayed up talking.
The difference between și and iar is real: și simply adds, iar contrasts or hands off to a new subject. Eu spăl vasele *și usuc paharele* (same subject, pure addition: "I wash the dishes and dry the glasses") versus *Eu spăl vasele, iar tu usuci paharele* (subject shifts, contrast: "I wash, you dry").
Însă means "however" and is a slightly more formal/literary cousin of dar. It is flexible in position: it can open the clause (with a comma before) or sit inside it, after the first word, framed by commas.
Mâncarea era bună, însă serviciul a fost lent.
The food was good; however, the service was slow.
Mâncarea era bună; serviciul, însă, a fost lent.
The food was good; the service, however, was slow. (însă placed inside, with commas)
Ci is special: it means "but rather" and appears only after a negative first clause, correcting it. English splits this between "but" and "but rather"; Romanian reserves ci for the corrective case and would never use dar there.
Nu e supărat, ci doar obosit.
He's not angry, just (but rather) tired.
Nu am venit să mă cert, ci să te ajut.
I didn't come to argue, but to help you.
Choosing and concluding: sau/ori, deci
Sau and ori both mean "or." Sau is the everyday word; ori is a touch more formal and is also the one used in the doubled "either…or" frame (ori… ori…). Like și, a single sau/ori takes no comma before it.
Mergem cu mașina sau luăm trenul?
Shall we drive or take the train? (no comma before 'sau')
Ori vii acum, ori rămâi acasă.
Either you come now, or you stay home. (doubled 'ori… ori…')
Deci draws a conclusion — "so, therefore." The second clause is the consequence of the first, and deci takes a comma before it.
Magazinul e închis, deci mergem mâine.
The shop is closed, so we'll go tomorrow.
Nu răspunde la telefon, deci probabil doarme.
He's not answering the phone, so he's probably asleep.
Re-mentioning the subject vs dropping it
Because Romanian is pro-drop, you have a choice in the second clause: repeat the subject or let the verb ending carry it. The default, when both clauses share the same subject, is to drop it in the second clause — repeating it sounds heavy.
Andrei a deschis ușa și a intrat în cameră.
Andrei opened the door and went into the room. (one subject, dropped in the second clause — not 'și Andrei a intrat')
M-am trezit devreme, dar nu m-am dat jos din pat.
I woke up early but didn't get out of bed. (same subject, dropped)
When the subject changes, name it — and this is exactly where iar shines, signalling the handoff:
Eu fac cumpărăturile, iar tu te ocupi de cină.
I'll do the shopping, and you take care of dinner. (subject switches → name it, use 'iar')
So the two cues work together: same subject → drop it (and și or dar is enough); different subject → name it (and iar often marks the contrast).
Avoiding the run-on
Don't string clauses together with commas alone — Romanian, like English, wants a connector (or a stronger stop). Am venit, am văzut, am plecat works as a deliberate three-beat list (and famously so), but in ordinary writing, two full clauses joined by a bare comma read as a run-on. Reach for și, dar, deci — or end the sentence. This boundary is explored on the run-on vs coordination page.
Am terminat treaba, deci pot să plec mai devreme.
I've finished the work, so I can leave early. (a connector links the clauses, not a bare comma)
Common Mistakes
Putting a comma before a plain și (the English habit):
❌ Am ajuns acasă, și am gătit cina.
Incorrect — no comma before a plain 'și': 'Am ajuns acasă și am gătit cina.'
✅ Am ajuns acasă și am gătit cina.
I got home and cooked dinner.
Forgetting the comma before dar:
❌ Vreau să vin dar nu am timp.
Incorrect — a comma is required before 'dar': 'Vreau să vin, dar nu am timp.'
✅ Vreau să vin, dar nu am timp.
I want to come, but I don't have time.
Using dar where the meaning is corrective and demands ci:
❌ Nu e cald, dar frig.
Incorrect — after a negative, the corrective 'but rather' is 'ci': 'Nu e cald, ci frig.'
✅ Nu e cald, ci frig.
It's not warm, but cold.
Repeating the shared subject in the second clause when it should be dropped:
❌ Andrei a deschis ușa și Andrei a intrat.
Heavy/unnatural — drop the repeated subject: 'Andrei a deschis ușa și a intrat.'
✅ Andrei a deschis ușa și a intrat.
Andrei opened the door and went in.
Using și where the subject shifts and iar would mark the contrast:
❌ Eu spăl vasele și tu ștergi masa. (as a contrast of who does what)
Flat — to mark the handoff between subjects, 'iar' is more natural: 'Eu spăl vasele, iar tu ștergi masa.'
✅ Eu spăl vasele, iar tu ștergi masa.
I'll wash the dishes, and you wipe the table.
Key Takeaways
- A compound sentence joins two clauses that could each stand alone, as equal partners.
- The everyday connectors: și (and), dar (but), sau/ori (or), plus iar (and/whereas), ci (but rather, after a negative), însă (however), deci (so).
- Punctuation: comma before dar, iar, ci, însă, deci; no comma before a plain și or sau.
- Ci corrects a negative ("not X but rather Y") and never replaces general dar.
- With a shared subject, drop it in the second clause; when the subject changes, name it — and iar is the natural marker of that handoff.
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- Coordination and EllipsisB1 — Romanian joins like with like using a finer set of coordinators than English: și (and), iar (and/while — mild contrast or topic-switch), dar (but), ci (but rather — only after a negative), sau/ori (or), nici (nor), deci (so). Their correlatives și… și, sau… sau, nici… nici intensify the link. Coordination licenses gapping/ellipsis (Eu beau cafea, iar el ceai), and Romanian commas behave precisely: a comma before dar/iar/ci, none before plain și.
- 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).
- Complex Sentences (subordination)B1 — How to hang a subordinate clause off a main one with că, să, dacă, care, când, pentru că, and ca să — building them step by step, and making the two practical decisions: which connector, and which mood (că + indicative for facts, să + conjunctiv for wishes and goals). The big habit to acquire: Romanian uses a finite să-clause where English uses 'to + verb'.
- Linking Clauses: Coordination vs SubordinationB1 — The same content can be loosely chained (coordination/parataxis: Am ajuns, am mâncat și m-am culcat) or tightly embedded (subordination/hypotaxis: După ce am ajuns, am mâncat și m-am culcat). Casual speech leans on strings of și; polished writing converts them into după ce / pentru că / care clauses. Unlike English, Romanian DOES allow comma-juxtaposed clauses in an enumeration (Am venit, am văzut, am învins) — but a two-clause comma splice with a real logical link (cause, contrast) reads thin and should be upgraded. The traps: leaning on a comma where a relation should be named, and și-overuse in writing.
- Building a Simple SentenceA1 — How to assemble a complete Romanian sentence from the ground up. A single conjugated verb is already a full sentence (Plouă; Vin; Dorm) because the ending carries the subject — so Romanian drops the subject pronoun. Add a subject noun, then an object, in the neutral subject-verb-object order. The big habit to unlearn: do not insert a subject pronoun the way English forces 'I', 'you', 'it' onto every verb.
- Result and Purpose (ca să, încât, astfel încât)B1 — The mood-driven split between purpose (ca să / pentru ca…să + subjunctive — the intended goal) and result (așa că / încât / astfel încât + indicative — the achieved consequence), a distinction English collapses into a single 'so (that)'.