A bea means to drink. It is a short, very common verb that belongs to the second conjugation (the small -ea class, alongside a vrea, a vedea, a putea). Its present tense is straightforward once you accept the diphthongs, but two non-finite forms catch nearly every learner off guard: the participle is băut (with ă, not beut), and the gerund is bând (with â, not beând). These vowel shifts are not random — they reflect old sound changes — but for the learner they simply have to be memorized.
Like the English verb, a bea covers both ordinary drinking and the sense of drinking alcohol; bea without an object often implies "to drink (alcohol)."
Prezent indicativ
The diphthong ea surfaces in the 1sg/3sg/3pl. The stem is be- in bei, bem, beți.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | beau |
| tu | bei |
| el / ea | bea |
| noi | bem |
| voi | beți |
| ei / ele | beau |
Beau o cafea în fiecare dimineață înainte de muncă.
I drink a coffee every morning before work.
Tu nu bei niciodată apă plată?
Don't you ever drink still water?
Imperfect
Built on the be- stem with -eam endings — completely regular for this class.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | beam |
| tu | beai |
| el / ea | bea |
| noi | beam |
| voi | beați |
| ei / ele | beau |
Note that bea (3sg) and beau (1sg/3pl) are identical to the present forms; only context tells them apart.
Bunicul bea mereu un pahar de vin la cină.
Grandpa always used to drink a glass of wine with dinner.
Perfect compus
Auxiliary a avea plus the participle băut. This ă is the form's defining trap.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | am băut |
| tu | ai băut |
| el / ea | a băut |
| noi | am băut |
| voi | ați băut |
| ei / ele | au băut |
Am băut prea multă cafea azi, nu pot să dorm.
I've drunk too much coffee today; I can't sleep.
Mai-mult-ca-perfectul
Synthetic pluperfect on the participle stem băus-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | băusem |
| tu | băuseși |
| el / ea | băuse |
| noi | băuserăm |
| voi | băuserăți |
| ei / ele | băuseră |
Se vedea că băuse — vorbea împleticit.
You could tell he had been drinking — he was slurring his words.
Viitor
| Person | Viitor (voi-form, formal) | Colloquial (o să) |
|---|---|---|
| eu | voi bea | o să beau |
| tu | vei bea | o să bei |
| el / ea | va bea | o să bea |
| noi | vom bea | o să bem |
| voi | veți bea | o să beți |
| ei / ele | vor bea | o să bea |
O să bem ceva după film, ce zici?
We'll grab a drink after the movie, what do you say?
Conjunctiv prezent
The 3rd person is the irregular (să) bea, matching the -ea pattern of să dea, să stea.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | să beau |
| tu | să bei |
| el / ea | să bea |
| noi | să bem |
| voi | să beți |
| ei / ele | să bea |
Ce vrei să bei, un ceai sau o limonadă?
What do you want to drink, a tea or a lemonade?
Condițional prezent
Conditional auxiliary plus the short infinitive bea.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | aș bea |
| tu | ai bea |
| el / ea | ar bea |
| noi | am bea |
| voi | ați bea |
| ei / ele | ar bea |
Aș bea un pahar de apă rece chiar acum.
I'd drink a glass of cold water right now.
Imperativ
The singular is bea! and the plural beți! Negative singular uses the infinitive: nu bea!
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| tu (sg.) | bea! | nu bea! |
| voi (pl.) | beți! | nu beți! |
Bea-ți ceaiul cât e cald.
Drink your tea while it's warm.
Nu bea apă de la robinet aici.
Don't drink tap water here.
Forme nepersonale
Both the gerunziu bând (with â) and the participiu/supin băut (with ă) shift their vowel away from the be- present stem.
| Form | Romanian |
|---|---|
| Infinitiv | (a) bea |
| Gerunziu | bând |
| Participiu | băut |
| Supin | de băut |
Usage
Hai să bem în cinstea mirilor!
Let's drink to the newlyweds!
Bând atâta cafea, n-o să adormi niciodată.
Drinking so much coffee, you'll never fall asleep.
Nu mai are nimic de băut în frigider.
There's nothing left to drink in the fridge.
A băut paharul dintr-o înghițitură.
He downed the glass in one gulp.
Source-language note for English speakers
English keeps one stable stem across "drink / drank / drunk / drinking" — the vowel changes, but the consonant frame dr-nk stays put, so the word always looks recognizably like itself. Romanian does the reverse here: the consonant frame stays (b-) but the surrounding vowels jump around in ways that make the forms look unrelated at a glance — beau (present), beam (imperfect), băut (participle), bând (gerund). The single most reliable way to avoid errors is to stop trying to predict these forms from the infinitive and instead memorize the four landmark shapes as a set: present be-, past am băut, gerund bând. Note also a register point: bare a bea, with no object, very often implies drinking alcohol — Nu bea about a person usually means "He doesn't drink (alcohol)," not "He never drinks anything." To say someone is teetotal you can be explicit: Nu bea deloc.
Common Mistakes
❌ Am beut deja toată sticla.
Incorrect — the participle is băut with ă, not beut.
✅ Am băut deja toată sticla.
I've already drunk the whole bottle.
❌ Beând cafea toată ziua, n-am dormit.
Incorrect — the gerund is bând with â, not beând.
✅ Bând cafea toată ziua, n-am dormit.
Drinking coffee all day, I didn't sleep.
❌ Vreau să be apă.
Incorrect — the 3rd person subjunctive is bea, not be.
✅ Vreau să bea apă.
I want him/her to drink water.
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Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- Class II Present: -ea VerbsA2 — How to conjugate the small but high-frequency Class II (-ea) verbs in the present indicative, with full paradigms for a vedea, a putea, and a plăcea.
- Frequent Irregular ParticiplesB1 — A frequency-ordered reference of the must-know irregular past participles — the small set of verbs that covers most spoken-past usage.
- The Gerunziu: FormationB1 — How to form the Romanian gerund with -ând or -ind, why the choice is phonologically predictable, and why it is never the English be + -ing progressive.
- a lua — to takeA1 — Full conjugation of a lua (to take), the classic two-stem irregular verb that alternates between the strong stem ia- and the stem lu- across its present paradigm.
- a da — to giveA1 — Full conjugation of the irregular monosyllabic verb a da (to give), with its diphthong forms, the doubled-d imperfect dădeam, and dozens of idiomatic uses.