A conditional sentence has two parts: the if-clause (introduced by dacă) that sets the condition, and the result clause that says what follows. The whole craft is matching the right verb form in each half to how real the situation is — and Romanian's matching rule is cleaner than English's once you see the principle. Romanian sorts conditionals into three patterns: REAL ("if it rains, I stay home"), UNREAL present ("if I had time, I'd come"), and UNREAL past ("if I'd known, I'd have come"). On top of these sits a wholly colloquial shortcut — the double imperfect — that has no English equivalent. This page lays out the structure of each, plus clause order, the comma, and the literary de for "if." For how the conditional mood is built form by form, see the conditional in conditional sentences.
The three patterns at a glance
| Pattern | dacă-clause | Result clause | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| REAL / open | indicative (present/future) | indicative (present/future) or imperative | Dacă plouă, stau acasă. |
| UNREAL present | conditional (or colloquial imperfect) | conditional (or colloquial imperfect) | Dacă aș avea timp, aș veni. |
| UNREAL past | past conditional (or colloquial imperfect) | past conditional (or colloquial imperfect) | Dacă aș fi știut, aș fi venit. |
The single most important thing to read off this table: the same mood appears in both halves. There is no English-style mismatch where one clause is past and the other has "would." If the conditional shows up, it shows up on both sides — even inside the dacă-clause itself.
REAL conditions: indicative in both halves
Use this for situations that genuinely might happen — the condition is plausible, you are not speculating. Both clauses stay in the indicative, present or future. No conditional anywhere.
Dacă plouă, stau acasă.
If it rains, I'll stay home. (both verbs plain present indicative)
Dacă termini la timp, mergem la film.
If you finish on time, we'll go to the cinema.
Dacă vine și el, o să fie mai distractiv.
If he comes too, it'll be more fun. (result explicitly future with 'o să')
Note that stau and mergem are plain present, even though English uses "will" in the result. The result can also be a command:
Dacă vezi că întârzii, sună-mă.
If you see you're running late, call me. (result clause = imperative)
The trap here is overcorrecting toward the conditional inside dacă. Do not put the conditional after dacă in a real condition — Romanian keeps the if-clause in the plain indicative (dacă plouă, dacă termini), never dacă ar ploua for a plausible event.
UNREAL present: conditional in both halves
Use this for unlikely or purely imaginary present situations — "if I had time" (but I don't), "if I were you" (but I'm not). Here the conditional appears in both clauses: dacă + conditional in the if-clause, conditional in the result.
Dacă aș avea timp, aș veni cu voi.
If I had time, I'd come with you. (aș avea... aș veni — conditional in both)
Dacă aș ști răspunsul, ți-aș spune imediat.
If I knew the answer, I'd tell you right away.
This is where Romanian and English diverge most. English uses a past tense in the if-clause ("if I had") and "would" only in the result. Romanian uses the conditional in both halves — it does not borrow a past tense for the if-clause. So the dacă-clause carries aș, ai, ar... just like the result.
Dacă ai fi în locul meu, ce ai face?
If you were in my place, what would you do? (both halves conditional)
UNREAL past: past conditional in both halves
Use this for a past that didn't happen — "if I'd known" (but I didn't). The full version stacks two past conditionals: dacă aș fi... aș fi... (the conditional auxiliary aș/ai/ar + fi + past participle).
Dacă aș fi știut, aș fi venit mai devreme.
If I'd known, I'd have come earlier. (past conditional in both halves)
Dacă ne-am fi grăbit, am fi prins trenul.
If we'd hurried, we'd have caught the train.
Again, the two halves match: both are past conditional. There is no "if I had known, I would have..." split across two different tenses the way English does — Romanian uses one and the same form on both sides.
The colloquial double imperfect
In everyday speech Romanians very often replace the conditional — in both the present-unreal and past-unreal patterns — with the imperfect indicative in both clauses. This is the double imperfect, and it is fully standard in conversation.
Dacă aveam timp, veneam cu voi.
If I had time, I'd come with you. (colloquial double imperfect for UNREAL present)
Dacă știam, veneam mai devreme.
If I'd known, I'd have come earlier. (colloquial double imperfect for UNREAL past)
| Register | "If I had time, I'd come" |
|---|---|
| Standard / written | Dacă aș avea timp, aș veni. |
| Colloquial / spoken | Dacă aveam timp, veneam. |
Notice that the double imperfect Dacă știam, veneam is ambiguous between "if I knew, I'd come" (present-unreal) and "if I'd known, I'd have come" (past-unreal) — context decides. That ambiguity is exactly why it stays a spoken convenience; writing reaches for the precise conditional forms.
Clause order and the comma
Either clause can come first. When the dacă-clause leads, a comma separates the two halves. When the result leads, the comma is usually dropped.
Dacă aș avea timp, aș veni cu voi.
If I had time, I'd come with you. (if-clause first → comma)
Aș veni cu voi dacă aș avea timp.
I'd come with you if I had time. (result first → no comma)
de as a literary "if"
In elevated, literary, or proverbial Romanian you will occasionally meet de used in place of dacă — "if." It is (literary/archaic) and you should recognize rather than produce it; in modern speech dacă is the only natural choice.
De-aș fi știut, n-aș fi plecat.
Had I known, I would not have left. (literary 'de' for 'if'; everyday Romanian: 'Dacă aș fi știut...')
Common Mistakes
Putting the conditional after dacă in a REAL condition:
❌ Dacă ar ploua, stau acasă. (meaning a plausible 'if it rains')
Incorrect — a real, plausible condition takes the plain indicative after 'dacă': 'Dacă plouă, stau acasă.'
✅ Dacă plouă, stau acasă.
If it rains, I'll stay home.
Borrowing the English past tense for the if-clause instead of the conditional:
❌ Dacă aveam timp, aș veni. (formal intent, mismatched halves)
Inconsistent — in standard UNREAL present keep both halves conditional: 'Dacă aș avea timp, aș veni.' (Both-imperfect 'Dacă aveam timp, veneam' is the colloquial alternative.)
✅ Dacă aș avea timp, aș veni.
If I had time, I'd come.
Putting the future, not the conditional, in the result of a hypothetical:
❌ Dacă ai fi în locul meu, ce vei face?
Incorrect — the result of a hypothetical takes the conditional 'ai face', not the future 'vei face'.
✅ Dacă ai fi în locul meu, ce ai face?
If you were in my place, what would you do?
Mixing a conditional and an imperfect across the two halves:
❌ Dacă aș ști, veneam.
Inconsistent register — keep both halves in the same form: standard 'Dacă aș ști, aș veni' or colloquial 'Dacă știam, veneam'.
✅ Dacă aș ști, aș veni.
If I knew, I'd come.
Dropping the comma before a fronted dacă-clause:
❌ Dacă termini la timp mergem la film.
Incorrect — a fronted dacă-clause is set off by a comma: 'Dacă termini la timp, mergem la film.'
✅ Dacă termini la timp, mergem la film.
If you finish on time, we'll go to the cinema.
Key Takeaways
- REAL: indicative in both halves — Dacă plouă, stau acasă. No conditional after dacă.
- UNREAL present: conditional in both halves, including inside the dacă-clause — Dacă aș avea timp, aș veni.
- UNREAL past: past conditional in both halves — Dacă aș fi știut, aș fi venit.
- The conditional, when it appears, appears on both sides — Romanian does not split tenses across the two clauses the way English does.
- The colloquial double imperfect (Dacă știam, veneam) replaces the conditional in speech and has no English analogue — learn to hear it as "would."
- Comma when the dacă-clause comes first; de for "if" is (literary/archaic) — recognize it, don't produce it.
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- Conditionals: dacă-clauses and the Conditional MoodB1 — How the conditional mood pairs with dacă (if) clauses across the three conditional types — real, hypothetical, and past counterfactual — and why Romanian uses the plain indicative, not a special form, after dacă in real conditionals.
- Conditional and Temporal Conjunctions (dacă, când, până, după ce)A2 — The inventory of Romanian time-and-condition connectors — dacă (if / whether), când (when), în timp ce / pe când (while), până (until) and până să (before), după ce (after), de când (since), îndată ce (as soon as), ori de câte ori (whenever) — and the tense logic each one needs.
- The Conditional-Optative: OverviewB1 — An introduction to condițional-optativul, Romanian's 'would' mood — built from the dedicated auxiliary aș, ai, ar, am, ați, ar plus the bare short infinitive — covering polite requests, hypotheticals, and wishes, with the homograph traps spelled out.
- 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'.
- Comparative and Equative SentencesB1 — How to build whole comparison sentences in Romanian: mai ... decât (more than), mai puțin ... decât (less than), la fel de / tot atât de ... ca (as ... as), the relative superlative cel mai ... din/dintre, and the proportional cu cât ... cu atât (the more ... the more). The classic error is the connector — standard Romanian wants decât after a comparative and ca after an equative.
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