Extraposition and Heavy Constituents | Romanian Grammar

Sentences have a natural balance, and Romanian — like most languages, but more rigorously than English — prefers to put the heavy material last. A "heavy" constituent is one that is long or structurally complex: a whole clause, a noun phrase trailing a relative clause, a coordinated string. When such a constituent would otherwise sit at the front, Romanian tends to move it to the end and let the sentence open with the lighter predicate. This is the end-weight principle, and the most important place it surfaces is the clausal subject: where English can say "That he left is true," Romanian strongly prefers E adevărat că a plecat — predicate first, heavy că-clause last. This page lays out the mechanisms (extraposition of clausal subjects, heavy-NP postposing, and the faptul că rescue when a clause must stay up front) and explains the single principle that ties them together.

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End-weight is the master rule: the heavier a constituent, the later it goes. A clausal or long subject does not sit in the preverbal subject slot — it is extraposed to the end, and the clause opens with the predicate: E clar că nu vine ("It's clear that he isn't coming"), not Că nu vine e clar. The light predicate states the frame; the heavy clause delivers the content as the news.

Why clausal subjects move to the end

Consider the abstract shape. A subject can be a noun (Vremea e frumoasă) or it can be a whole clause (Că vremea e frumoasă... — "That the weather is nice..."). A noun subject is light and sits comfortably before the verb. A că-clause is heavy — it carries a full proposition — and Romanian resists parking that load in front of the predicate. Instead it extraposes the clause: the predicate (often a short impersonal like e adevărat, e clar, e posibil, contează, or a psych-verb like mă bucură, mă deranjează) comes first, and the clausal subject lands at the end where new, weighty information belongs. The preverbal slot is left empty — Romanian has no dummy it to fill it (see the absence of a dummy subject).

E adevărat că a plecat fără să spună nimănui.

It's true that he left without telling anyone. (predicate 'e adevărat' first; the heavy 'că'-clause extraposed to the end)

E clar că nu mai vine, e aproape miezul nopții.

It's clear he's not coming anymore, it's nearly midnight. (light predicate 'e clar' opens; clausal subject last)

Contează enorm că ai fost sincer cu ea de la început.

It matters enormously that you were honest with her from the start. (verb + adverb first, clausal subject extraposed)

The contrast with English is precise. English can front a clausal subject ("That he left surprised everyone"), but even English usually prefers extraposition with a dummy it ("It surprised everyone that he left"). Romanian goes one step further: it extraposes and has no it to insert, so the sentence simply begins with the predicate.

Psych-verbs: the experiencer-first frame

A particularly common home for extraposed clauses is the class of psychological verbs — a bucura (to please/gladden), a deranja (to bother), a mira (to surprise), a supăra (to upset), a interesa (to interest). These take the experiencer as an object clitic at the front and the cause as a clausal subject at the end. The result is a very natural Romanian rhythm: clitic + verb + extraposed clause.

Mă bucură că ai reușit la examen.

I'm glad you passed the exam. (literally 'it gladdens me that you passed' — experiencer clitic 'mă' first, clausal subject last)

Mă deranjează zgomotul ăsta de la șantier.

This noise from the building site bothers me. (a heavy-ish NP subject still placed after the verb)

Ne miră că nimeni nu a observat greșeala.

It surprises us that nobody noticed the mistake. (psych-verb frame: 'ne miră' + extraposed 'că'-clause)

An English speaker's instinct is to translate "That you passed makes me glad" front-to-back and produce Că ai reușit mă bucură. It is not strictly ungrammatical, but it sounds heavy and topicalized, as if you were setting up a contrast. The unmarked, idiomatic version is the experiencer-first frame with the clause at the end.

The faptul că rescue: when the clause must stay up front

Sometimes you genuinely need the proposition at the front — because it is the topic, because you are contrasting it with another statement, or because the sentence is built to comment on it ("That he left — that's the real problem"). A bare că-clause sounds wrong in that preverbal position. The standard repair is to nominalize it with faptul că ("the fact that"): faptul is a light noun head that can legitimately sit before the verb, and the că-clause hangs off it. This packages the heavy clause as a noun phrase so it can occupy the subject slot.

Faptul că a plecat fără să spună nimic ne-a îngrijorat pe toți.

The fact that he left without saying anything worried us all. ('faptul că' lets the clause sit up front as a noun phrase)

Faptul că nu răspunde la telefon nu înseamnă neapărat că s-a supărat.

The fact that he isn't answering the phone doesn't necessarily mean he's upset. (fronted clausal subject, nominalized)

Pe mine mă deranjează faptul că nimeni nu și-a cerut scuze.

What bothers me is the fact that nobody apologized. (faptul că even works after the verb as a heavier, more emphatic subject)

So you have a clean choice. To extrapose (the neutral default): predicate first, bare că-clause last — E ciudat că n-a sunat. To front (topic/contrast): nominalize — Faptul că n-a sunat e ciudat. The bare-clause-first option (Că n-a sunat e ciudat) is the one to avoid; it is at best literary and archaic-flavored, at worst simply non-native.

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To put a clause in the subject-first position, wrap it in faptul că ("the fact that"). This nominalizes the clause so it can legitimately occupy the preverbal slot. Reserve front-position for when the proposition is the topic or a point of contrast; otherwise extrapose it to the end with a bare că.

Heavy-NP postposing over lighter material

End-weight is not only about clauses. A noun phrase weighed down by a relative clause also drifts rightward, hopping over a lighter object or adverbial that would normally come after the verb. Compare a light subject, which sits before the verb, with a heavy one carrying a relative clause, which Romanian is happy to push past the rest of the clause.

A sunat ieri un domn care întreba de tine și care părea destul de insistent.

A gentleman who was asking about you and who seemed quite insistent called yesterday. (the heavy subject NP follows the verb and the adverb 'ieri')

Mi-a plăcut foarte mult filmul acela despre care vorbeai săptămâna trecută.

I really liked that film you were talking about last week. (heavy object NP with a relative clause lands at the end)

Au rămas pe listă doar candidații care au trecut de prima probă.

Only the candidates who passed the first round are left on the list. (existential VS + a heavy relative-modified subject postposed to the end)

The mechanism is the same as with clauses: the light verb (often presentational — a suna, a rămâne, a plăcea) sets the stage, and the long, content-rich phrase delivers the payload last. This dovetails with the verb-subject inversion you see with arrival and existence verbs — there, even a light new subject goes last; here, weight reinforces the same pull.

Heavy objects and end-of-clause adverbials

The principle generalizes to objects, too. When a direct object is long — say, a coordinated list or an NP with a relative clause — it tends to sit at the very end, after shorter adverbials that would in a neutral sentence follow it. A short object stays put (Am citit cartea ieri); a heavy one is allowed to swap places with the adverbial so the bulk lands last.

Am pregătit pentru mâine toate documentele de care vei avea nevoie la întâlnire.

I've prepared for tomorrow all the documents you'll need at the meeting. (the heavy object follows the adverbial 'pentru mâine')

Le-am explicat pe scurt tuturor de ce am decis să amânăm proiectul.

I briefly explained to everyone why I decided to postpone the project. (a clausal complement extraposed past the short adverb and dative)

Notice the second example carries a clausal complement (de ce...) rather than a clausal subject, but the rhythm is identical: clitics and short adverbs cluster around the verb, the heavy clause goes last.

Common Mistakes

❌ Că a plecat e adevărat.

Marked/stilted — Romanian extraposes a clausal subject: 'E adevărat că a plecat.' The bare 'că'-clause-first order is archaic/literary, not neutral.

✅ E adevărat că a plecat.

It's true that he left. (predicate first, clausal subject extraposed)

❌ It este clar că nu vine. / Aceasta este clar că nu vine.

Wrong — there is no dummy subject to fill the front slot. Romanian opens with the predicate: 'E clar că nu vine.'

✅ E clar că nu vine.

It's clear that he isn't coming. (no dummy 'it' — predicate-first)

❌ Că ai reușit mă bucură. (as a neutral statement)

Heavy/topicalized — the natural frame is experiencer + verb + extraposed clause: 'Mă bucură că ai reușit.'

✅ Mă bucură că ai reușit.

I'm glad you passed. (psych-verb frame, clausal subject last)

❌ Că nu răspunde nu înseamnă că s-a supărat.

Awkward at the front — to keep a clause in subject position, nominalize it: 'Faptul că nu răspunde nu înseamnă că s-a supărat.'

✅ Faptul că nu răspunde nu înseamnă că s-a supărat.

The fact that he isn't answering doesn't mean he's upset. (faptul că lets the clause stay up front)

❌ Un domn care întreba de tine și părea insistent a sunat ieri.

Front-heavy and clumsy — let the heavy relative-modified subject go last: 'A sunat ieri un domn care întreba de tine și părea insistent.'

✅ A sunat ieri un domn care întreba de tine și părea insistent.

A gentleman who was asking about you and seemed insistent called yesterday. (heavy subject postposed)

Key Takeaways

Romanian obeys end-weight: the heavier a constituent, the later it goes.
A clausal subject is extraposed — the predicate comes first and the bare că-clause goes last (E adevărat că a plecat); there is no dummy it to fill the front slot.
Psych-verbs (mă bucură, mă deranjează, ne miră) use an experiencer-first frame with the clausal subject extraposed to the end.
To keep a clause in subject-first position (topic or contrast), nominalize it with faptul că — never leave a bare că-clause at the front.
Heavy NPs (those trailing a relative clause) and heavy objects also postpose over lighter adverbials, reinforced by presentational verb-subject inversion.
Avoid the English-style fronted bare clause (Că a plecat e adevărat); Romanian restructures it.

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