A copular sentence links a subject to a description of it: He is a student, The house is big, I'm at home. The linking word is the copula — in Romanian, the verb a fi ("to be") — and the description after it is the predicate. The pattern looks identical to English at first (El e student = "He is a student"), but two things behave very differently: a predicate noun naming a profession or role takes no article (Sunt student, not sunt un student), and a predicate adjective agrees with the subject (Casa e mare, but Casele sunt mari). This page walks through the three kinds of predicate, recaps the present forms of a fi, and shows how to negate the whole thing.
The copula: present forms of a fi
The copula is just a fi in the present. You'll use these six forms in every copular sentence, so recap them first.
| Person | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| eu | sunt | I am |
| tu | ești | you are |
| el / ea | este (e) | he / she / it is |
| noi | suntem | we are |
| voi | sunteți | you (pl.) are |
| ei / ele | sunt | they are |
In speech, este very commonly shortens to e: Ea e acasă is more natural than Ea este acasă in casual conversation. Both are correct; este is slightly more careful (and obligatory in some formal writing). The full paradigm and its uses live on the a fi present page.
Predicate noun: subject + a fi + noun (no article!)
When the predicate is a noun — naming what the subject is, especially a profession, role, nationality, or religion — Romanian drops the article. English forces "a/an" (She is *a doctor), but Romanian says *Ea e medic, bare. The logic: a bare predicate noun states a category or role, not a specific individual. Adding un/o would say "she is some doctor / a certain doctor," which changes the meaning.
Sunt student la Medicină.
I'm a medical student. (bare 'student' — no 'un'; it states the role)
Ea e profesoară de engleză.
She's an English teacher. (bare 'profesoară' — no 'o')
Tatăl meu e inginer, mama e arhitectă.
My father is an engineer, my mother is an architect. (both professions bare)
Suntem români, dar locuim în Spania.
We're Romanian, but we live in Spain. (nationality as a bare predicate noun)
The article comes back only when you genuinely modify the noun to pick out an individual — E un medic foarte bun ("He's a very good doctor"), where the adjective makes it a specific, described instance rather than a bare role. So the rule is precise: bare for the plain role, article only when you specify which one.
E un medic foarte bun, toți îl recomandă.
He's a very good doctor, everyone recommends him. (article returns because the noun is modified — a specific, described doctor)
Predicate adjective: subject + a fi + adjective (agrees!)
When the predicate is an adjective, it must agree with the subject in gender and number, taking one of the four adjective forms. English adjectives never change (the house is big, the houses are big); Romanian ones do.
Casa e mare și luminoasă.
The house is big and bright. (feminine singular: mare, luminoasă)
Apartamentul e mic, dar e cald.
The flat is small but it's warm. (masculine singular: mic, cald)
Fetele sunt foarte talentate.
The girls are very talented. (feminine plural: talentate)
Băieții sunt obosiți după meci.
The boys are tired after the match. (masculine plural: obosiți)
Watch one subject across all four forms to see the agreement clearly: El e obosit / Ea e obosită / Ei sunt obosiți / Ele sunt obosite. The copula links, but it is the adjective that flexes to match the subject. (Full mechanics on the four-form agreement page.)
Predicate adverbial: subject + a fi + place/state
The third kind of predicate is an adverbial — typically a place (acasă, aici, la birou) or a state (bine, în regulă). Here a fi means "to be (located/situated)," and the adverbial doesn't agree with anything; it just states where or how.
Sunt acasă, vino când vrei.
I'm home, come whenever you like. (predicate adverbial 'acasă')
Cheile sunt pe masă, lângă telefon.
The keys are on the table, next to the phone. (predicate place phrase)
Ești bine? Pari cam palid.
Are you okay? You look a bit pale. (predicate adverbial 'bine' — a state)
Negation: nu e / nu sunt
To negate a copular sentence, put nu before the form of a fi. With este/e you'll constantly hear the fused form nu-i (informal) alongside nu e and the fuller nu este.
Nu sunt obosit, doar mă gândeam.
I'm not tired, I was just thinking. (nu + sunt + agreeing adjective)
Nu e profesoară, e învățătoare.
She's not a (secondary-school) teacher, she's a (primary-school) teacher. (nu e + bare predicate noun)
Nu-i nimeni acasă acum.
There's nobody home right now. (nu-i = nu este, informal)
Common Mistakes
❌ Ea e o profesoară. (stating her profession)
Wrong — a predicate profession takes NO article: 'Ea e profesoară.' Add 'o' only if you specify it: 'o profesoară excelentă'.
✅ Ea e profesoară.
She's a teacher.
❌ Sunt un student la Medicină.
Wrong — drop the article on a bare role: 'Sunt student la Medicină.'
✅ Sunt student la Medicină.
I'm a medical student.
❌ Fetele sunt frumos. (adjective not agreeing)
Wrong — the predicate adjective must agree: feminine plural is 'frumoase': 'Fetele sunt frumoase.'
✅ Fetele sunt frumoase.
The girls are beautiful.
❌ Ea e obosit. (masculine adjective with a feminine subject)
Wrong — agree with 'ea': feminine 'obosită': 'Ea e obosită.'
✅ Ea e obosită.
She's tired.
❌ Casa este mari. (plural adjective with a singular subject)
Wrong — singular subject takes the singular form: 'Casa e mare.'
✅ Casa e mare.
The house is big.
Key Takeaways
- The copula is a fi in the present (sunt, ești, este/e, suntem, sunteți, sunt); este often shortens to e in speech.
- A predicate noun naming a profession/role/nationality takes no article (Sunt student, Ea e medic) — the article returns only when the noun is modified into a specific instance (E un medic foarte bun).
- A predicate adjective agrees with the subject in gender and number (El e obosit / Ea e obosită / Ei sunt obosiți / Ele sunt obosite).
- A predicate adverbial (place or state) states where/how and does not agree (Sunt acasă, Ești bine?).
- Negate with nu before a fi: nu sunt, nu e / nu-i (informal) / nu este (fuller).
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Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- The Verb a fi (to be): PresentA1 — The present-tense forms of a fi — Romanian's single, all-purpose 'to be' — its colloquial reductions, and its core uses.
- Four-Form Adjectives (bun, bună, buni, bune)A1 — The largest Romanian adjective class, with four distinct forms for masculine/feminine singular and plural, and the vowel and consonant alternations it shares with nouns.
- 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.
- Existential Sentences (Este / Sunt / Există)A2 — How to say 'there is / there are' in Romanian — which has no 'there' dummy at all. Use este/e for singular, sunt for plural (Este o problemă; Sunt multe probleme), agreeing with the thing that exists; există is the more formal/abstract option. The verb usually comes first (E cineva la ușă?). Negation uses nu e nimeni / nu există. The big trap: do not invent a 'there' word and do not freeze the verb as singular for plural things.
- Negative SentencesA1 — How to turn any Romanian sentence negative: place a single nu directly in front of the verb-plus-clitics block (Nu-l văd, Nu mă duc), give negative answers (Nu; Nu, mulțumesc), and reinforce — never cancel — with negative words (Nu vine nimeni). There is no do-support and no agreement to manage; the cardinal English-transfer error is inserting 'do' or putting nu after the verb.