Asking for directions is where three grammar systems collide at once: you open with a polite imperative (Scuzați, "excuse me"), you receive a string of commands telling you where to go (Mergeți drept, luați-o la stânga), and those commands are stitched together with spatial prepositions (la stânga, lângă, în fața) and ordinals (a doua stradă, "the second street"). Romanian directions are almost always given in the polite plural imperative, because you're addressing a stranger — so this dialogue is a compact lesson in how the dumneavoastră imperative actually sounds on the street.
This page presents a short directions dialogue, then annotates it line by line: the courtesy opener, the 2nd-person-plural imperative, the spatial prepositions, and the ordinals you use to count streets.
The dialogue
A tourist (Turistul) stops a passer-by (Trecătorul) near the center of town. Both use the polite register.
— Scuzați, vă rog, unde este gara?
Excuse me, please, where is the train station?
— Gara? Mergeți drept înainte pe strada asta.
The station? Go straight ahead down this street.
— Și pe urmă?
And then?
— La a doua intersecție, luați-o la stânga.
At the second intersection, take a left.
— E departe?
Is it far?
— Nu, e chiar lângă piață. Traversați parcul și o vedeți în față.
No, it's right next to the market. Cross the park and you'll see it in front of you.
— Vă mulțumesc frumos!
Thank you very much!
— Cu plăcere. Drum bun!
You're welcome. Have a good trip!
Line by line
Scuzați — the polite opener
You flag a stranger with Scuzați ("excuse me") — itself a 2nd-person-plural imperative of a scuza ("to excuse"), so it already encodes the polite dumneavoastră. The fuller, more deferential version is Scuzați-mă ("excuse me," with the object mă) or Scuzați, vă rog. The casual equivalent, to a peer, is the singular Scuză-mă.
Scuzați, vă rog, unde este o farmacie pe aproape?
Excuse me, please, where's a pharmacy nearby?
Scuză-mă, știi cumva cât e ceasul?
Excuse me, do you happen to know what time it is? (casual)
The question itself uses unde este / unde e ("where is"), with the place in its definite form because you're asking about a specific, known place: unde este gara? ("where is the station?"), unde e primăria? ("where is the town hall?").
Unde este cea mai apropiată stație de metrou?
Where is the nearest metro station?
Mergeți, luați-o, traversați — the polite plural imperative
Directions arrive as a chain of 2nd-person-plural imperatives — the polite command form, identical to the voi present-tense verb: mergeți ("go"), luați ("take"), traversați ("cross"), continuați ("continue"). This is the everyday way to tell a stranger what to do, because the singular du-te / ia-o would be too familiar.
Mergeți drept înainte și apoi continuați pe bulevard.
Go straight ahead and then continue along the boulevard.
Traversați la semafor și luați-o pe prima stradă.
Cross at the traffic light and take the first street.
Notice luați-o ("take it / take a [turn]"): the imperative luați with the feminine clitic -o glued on with a hyphen. The -o stands in for strada / direcția (feminine), giving the idiomatic "take a left/right" — luați-o la stânga literally "take it to the left." The clitic always attaches to the end of an affirmative imperative.
Luați-o la dreapta după benzinărie.
Take a right after the gas station.
Romanians often soften a string of commands with hedges so they don't sound like barked orders: Cel mai bine ați merge drept ("You'd best go straight," conditional), or Puteți să mergeți drept ("You can go straight," with a putea). The bare imperative is fine here, but the conditional/modal cushion is common and friendly.
Cel mai simplu ar fi să luați autobuzul 5.
The easiest would be to take the number 5 bus.
la stânga, lângă, în fața — spatial prepositions
The geometry of directions lives in a small set of prepositions:
| Romanian | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| la stânga | to/on the left | fixed phrase with la |
| la dreapta | to/on the right | fixed phrase with la |
| drept înainte | straight ahead | |
| lângă | next to, beside | takes a plain noun |
| în fața | in front of |
|
| în spatele | behind |
|
| peste drum de | across the street from |
Farmacia e chiar lângă piață, peste drum de bancă.
The pharmacy is right next to the market, across from the bank.
Hotelul este în fața gării, nu poți să-l ratezi.
The hotel is in front of the station, you can't miss it.
Two patterns trip up English speakers. First, la does the work of both "to" and "on" with stânga / dreapta — there's no separate word for direction vs. position. Second, în fața and în spatele are compound prepositions that demand the genitive: în fața gării ("in front of the station"), where gării is the genitive of gara. They literally mean "in the face of" / "in the back of," so the following noun behaves like a possessor.
Stația de autobuz e în spatele teatrului.
The bus stop is behind the theater.
a doua stradă — ordinals for counting streets
To count streets and intersections you need ordinals ("first, second, third"). Romanian ordinals agree in gender, and the feminine forms are the ones you'll use most with stradă (fem.) and intersecție (fem.):
| Masculine (al ...-lea) | Feminine (a ...-a) | English |
|---|---|---|
| primul / întâiul | prima / întâia | first |
| al doilea | a doua | second |
| al treilea | a treia | third |
| al patrulea | a patra | fourth |
Luați prima stradă la dreapta, nu a doua.
Take the first street on the right, not the second.
La a treia intersecție faceți stânga.
At the third intersection, make a left.
Because stradă and intersecție are feminine, you use the a + ...-a feminine ordinals: prima stradă, a doua stradă, a treia intersecție. The ordinal goes before the noun and the article is fused into the ordinal itself (no separate "the"). See ordinals.
Magazinul e pe a patra stradă, lângă școală.
The shop is on the fourth street, next to the school.
E departe? Drum bun! — closing the exchange
Quick service phrases round things off: E departe? ("Is it far?"), the reassuring Nu, e chiar lângă... ("No, it's right next to..."), and O vedeți în față ("You'll see it ahead," with the clitic o for the feminine gara). The thank-you is Vă mulțumesc (frumos) ("Thank you [kindly]"), answered with Cu plăcere ("You're welcome") and the warm send-off Drum bun! ("Have a good trip!," literally "Good road!").
E departe pe jos sau e mai bine cu tramvaiul?
Is it far on foot, or is it better by tram?
Vă mulțumesc frumos! — Cu plăcere, drum bun!
Thank you very much! — You're welcome, have a good trip!
Common Mistakes
Using the casual singular imperative with a stranger:
❌ Scuză-mă, unde e gara? (to an unknown adult)
Too familiar with a stranger — use the polite plural: Scuzați, unde este gara?
✅ Scuzați, vă rog, unde este gara?
Excuse me, please, where is the train station?
Forgetting the genitive after în fața / în spatele:
❌ în fața gara
Wrong — these compound prepositions take the genitive: în fața gării.
✅ în fața gării
in front of the (train) station
Detaching the object pronoun from an affirmative imperative:
❌ O luați la stânga.
In a command the clitic attaches with a hyphen at the end: Luați-o la stânga.
✅ Luați-o la stânga.
Take a left.
Using a masculine ordinal with a feminine noun like stradă:
❌ al doilea stradă
Gender mismatch — stradă is feminine: a doua stradă.
✅ a doua stradă
the second street
Inventing a separate word for "to the left" vs. "on the left":
❌ Mergeți spre stânga la dreapta...
Just use la: la stânga / la dreapta covers both 'to' and 'on'.
✅ Luați-o la stânga, apoi la dreapta.
Take a left, then a right.
Key Takeaways
- Open with the polite Scuzați (-mă), vă rog and ask unde este
- the definite place name (gara, primăria).
- Directions come as 2nd-person-plural imperatives (mergeți, luați-o, traversați); attach clitics with a hyphen at the end (luați-o).
- Soften commands with puteți să... or the conditional, the way English uses "you could just...".
- Master the spatial set: la stânga / la dreapta, lângă, drept înainte, and the genitive-taking în fața / în spatele.
- Count streets with feminine ordinals: prima, a doua, a treia stradă — the article is fused into the ordinal.
Now practice Romanian
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Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- Dialogue: Greetings and IntroductionsA1 — An annotated first-meeting dialogue in Romanian — Bună ziua, Mă numesc, Îmi pare bine — that teaches the a fi copula, the reflexive a se numi / a se chema, and the tu / dumneavoastră register split through the unavoidable opening moves of any conversation.
- Affirmative Imperative: voi (2pl) and PolitenessA2 — The plural imperative equals the present indicative 2pl (cântați!, mergeți!) — and because Romanian has no dedicated polite-singular command, this same form carries politeness with dumneavoastră.
- Softening Commands and Polite RequestsB1 — How Romanians soften bare imperatives with vă rog, the conditional, and question intonation — and why politeness lives outside the imperative paradigm.
- Location and Direction: la, în, spre, până laA1 — How Romanian carves up space: la marks a point, activity, or destination (la școală, la doctor, la mare), în marks enclosure (în casă, în oraș), spre marks direction toward (spre nord), and până la marks the limit reached (până la gară) — with pe for surfaces (pe masă).
- Ordinal Numbers (primul, al doilea)A2 — Romanian ordinals from 'second' up wrap the cardinal in a gendered frame — al…lea (masc.) / a…a (fem.) — while 'first' is the irregular primul/prima, and 'întâi' is an invariable alternative 'first' used in dates and after a noun.
- a putea (can / be able to)A2 — Full present forms of a putea, its unique tolerance of the bare infinitive (pot merge = pot să merg), and how it expresses ability, permission, and possibility.