A alerga means to run — above all in the sense of running for exercise, sport, or any sustained physical run. It is a plain first-conjugation (-a class) verb: no -ez- infix, regular endings throughout. Its one feature worth flagging is a stem vowel alternation e → ea: the stem is aler- with an e in the unstressed forms (alerg, alergi, alergăm, alergați) but ea whenever the root vowel is stressed in the 3rd person (aleargă). This is the same alternation you see in a spăla → spală spelled differently, and in a ședea → șade in older usage.
Two things matter from the start. First, the 1st person singular is bare: just alerg, no ending — the default for plain Class I. Second, the 3rd singular and 3rd plural are identical: aleargă = "he/she runs" and "they run".
Prezent indicativ
The stem is aler-; the root e diphthongizes to ea in the stressed 3rd person (aleargă). Note the bare 1st singular and the 3sg = 3pl identity.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | alerg |
| tu | alergi |
| el / ea | aleargă |
| noi | alergăm |
| voi | alergați |
| ei / ele | aleargă |
Alerg în fiecare dimineață prin parc, înainte de serviciu.
I run through the park every morning before work.
Aleargă după autobuz, o să-l piardă!
He's running after the bus — he's going to miss it!
Imperfect
Regular Class I imperfect on the unstressed stem alerg- plus the -am endings. No diphthong here — the e stays put because the stress falls on the ending.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | alergam |
| tu | alergai |
| el / ea | alerga |
| noi | alergam |
| voi | alergați |
| ei / ele | alergau |
Când eram mici, alergam desculți prin curte toată vara.
When we were little, we used to run barefoot around the yard all summer.
Perfect compus
The everyday past, formed with the auxiliary a avea plus the invariable participle alergat.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | am alergat |
| tu | ai alergat |
| el / ea | a alergat |
| noi | am alergat |
| voi | ați alergat |
| ei / ele | au alergat |
Am alergat zece kilometri și acum abia mă mai țin picioarele.
I ran ten kilometers and now my legs can barely hold me up.
Mai-mult-ca-perfectul
The synthetic pluperfect, built on the participle stem alergase-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | alergasem |
| tu | alergaseși |
| el / ea | alergase |
| noi | alergaserăm |
| voi | alergaserăți |
| ei / ele | alergaseră |
Alergase toată ziua după acte și seara era epuizat.
He had been running around all day chasing paperwork and by evening he was exhausted.
Viitor
Romanian has a formal future with voi + infinitive and a colloquial everyday future with o să + conjunctiv.
| Person | Viitor (voi-form, formal) | Colloquial (o să) |
|---|---|---|
| eu | voi alerga | o să alerg |
| tu | vei alerga | o să alergi |
| el / ea | va alerga | o să alerge |
| noi | vom alerga | o să alergăm |
| voi | veți alerga | o să alergați |
| ei / ele | vor alerga | o să alerge |
O să alergăm împreună sâmbătă, dacă nu plouă.
We'll run together on Saturday if it doesn't rain.
Conjunctiv prezent
Identical to the indicative except in the 3rd person, where the diphthong collapses back to a plain e: indicative aleargă but subjunctive (să) alerge. This is the regular -a class subjunctive ending.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | să alerg |
| tu | să alergi |
| el / ea | să alerge |
| noi | să alergăm |
| voi | să alergați |
| ei / ele | să alerge |
Doctorul i-a spus să alerge mai puțin până se vindecă glezna.
The doctor told him to run less until his ankle heals.
Condițional prezent
Formed with the conditional auxiliary (aș, ai, ar, am, ați, ar) plus the short infinitive alerga.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | aș alerga |
| tu | ai alerga |
| el / ea | ar alerga |
| noi | am alerga |
| voi | ați alerga |
| ei / ele | ar alerga |
Aș alerga mai des, dar nu prea am timp săptămâna asta.
I'd run more often, but I don't really have time this week.
Imperativ
The singular imperative is aleargă! (identical to the 3sg present, diphthong and all); the plural is alergați! The negative singular uses the bare infinitive: nu alerga!
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| tu (sg.) | aleargă! | nu alerga! |
| voi (pl.) | alergați! | nu alergați! |
Aleargă, că prinzi trenul dacă te grăbești!
Run — you'll catch the train if you hurry!
Nu alerga pe lângă piscină, e alunecos!
Don't run by the pool, it's slippery!
Forme nepersonale
The gerund alergând carries the â.
| Form | Romanian |
|---|---|
| Infinitiv | (a) alerga |
| Gerunziu | alergând |
| Participiu | alergat |
| Supin | de alergat |
Usage
A alerga is the verb for running as a sustained activity — jogging, training, a race. With după it means "to run after / chase" something (a alerga după autobuz). You can take a cognate object: a alerga un maraton — "to run a marathon". Figuratively, a alerga după ceva means to chase after a goal or be run off your feet (a alerga după bani).
Alerg un semimaraton luna viitoare, mă antrenez de pe acum.
I'm running a half-marathon next month; I'm already training.
Toată ziua am alergat după aprobări de la un birou la altul.
All day I ran from one office to another chasing approvals.
Câinele aleargă după minge ore în șir, nu obosește niciodată.
The dog chases the ball for hours on end — it never gets tired.
Alergând în fiecare zi, mi-am recăpătat condiția fizică.
By running every day, I got my fitness back.
Source-language note for English speakers
English "run" is one verb covering jogging, fleeing, machines running, businesses being run, and noses running. Romanian carves this up: a alerga for the athletic/pursuit sense, a fugi for fleeing, a merge or a funcționa for machines working, a conduce for running a company, and a curge for a runny nose. So you cannot map English "run" onto alerga by default — pick the verb by meaning. The morphology, by contrast, is gentle: just remember the single irregularity, the e → ea shift that makes the 3rd person aleargă while every other present form keeps the plain e.
Common Mistakes
❌ El alergă după autobuz.
Incorrect — the stressed 3rd person diphthongizes; the form is aleargă.
✅ El aleargă după autobuz.
He's running after the bus.
❌ Hoțul a alergat de la fața locului.
Incorrect — fleeing the scene takes a fugi, not a alerga.
✅ Hoțul a fugit de la fața locului.
The thief fled the scene.
❌ Eu alergez în fiecare dimineață.
Incorrect — a alerga is a plain Class I verb and takes no -ez- infix.
✅ Eu alerg în fiecare dimineață.
I run every morning.
❌ Vrea să aleargă un maraton.
Incorrect — the subjunctive 3rd person flips the diphthong back to alerge.
✅ Vrea să alerge un maraton.
He wants to run a marathon.
Related Topics
- a merge — to go, to walkA1 — Full conjugation of a merge (to go, to walk), a model third-conjugation verb, plus its everyday second meaning 'to work / to function'.
- a ieși — to go out, to exitA2 — Full conjugation of the fourth-conjugation verb a ieși, the verb for exiting and going out, with its e→ie/ia stem alternations and the tricky subjunctive să iasă.
- Affirmative Imperative: tu (2sg)A2 — How to form the familiar singular command — the transitive/intransitive split (cântă! vs fugi!) and the high-frequency irregulars (vino, fii, du-te, fă) you simply must memorize.