a cere — to ask for, to request | Romanian Grammar

A cere means to ask for or to request — the act of asking someone for a thing, as opposed to asking them a question. This is the other half of the English "ask" that Romanian splits in two: where a întreba poses a question, a cere requests an object, a favor, permission, money, help. It belongs to the third conjugation (the -e class) and is a high-frequency verb that appears in many fixed expressions, from îți cer scuze ("I apologize to you") to a cere socoteală ("to call someone to account").

The defining grammatical fact: a cere takes the thing as its direct object and the person in the dative. You ask a thing (accusative) from someone (dative) — Îi cer un favor, "I ask him for a favor." This dative person mirrors a răspunde and contrasts sharply with a întreba, where the person is accusative. Note also the 3rd-person stem change e → ea in ceară.

Prezent indicativ

A third-conjugation verb with the stem cer-. The 1st singular and 3rd plural are bare (cer); the 2nd singular adds -i; the 3rd singular ends in -e.

Person	Form
eu	cer
tu	ceri
el / ea	cere
noi	cerem
voi	cereți
ei / ele	cer

Îți cer doar un sfat, nu bani.

I'm only asking you for advice, not money.

Copilul cere apă de fiecare dată când ne oprim.

The kid asks for water every time we stop.

Imperfect

Third-conjugation imperfect: stem cer- plus the -eam endings.

Person	Form
eu	ceream
tu	cereai
el / ea	cerea
noi	ceream
voi	cereați
ei / ele	cereau

Pe atunci nimeni nu cerea bon fiscal la piață.

Back then nobody asked for a receipt at the market.

Perfect compus

The everyday past tense: the auxiliary a avea plus the participle cerut.

Person	Form
eu	am cerut
tu	ai cerut
el / ea	a cerut
noi	am cerut
voi	ați cerut
ei / ele	au cerut

I-am cerut șefului o zi liberă și mi-a dat-o.

I asked the boss for a day off and he gave it to me.

Mai-mult-ca-perfectul

The pluperfect is a single synthetic word, built on the participle stem ceruse-.

Person	Form
eu	cerusem
tu	ceruseși
el / ea	ceruse
noi	ceruserăm
voi	ceruserăți
ei / ele	ceruseră

Ceruserăm nota de plată, dar chelnerul dispăruse.

We had asked for the bill, but the waiter had vanished.

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 cere	o să cer
tu	vei cere	o să ceri
el / ea	va cere	o să ceară
noi	vom cere	o să cerem
voi	veți cere	o să cereți
ei / ele	vor cere	o să ceară

O să cer o mărire de salariu la următoarea evaluare.

I'm going to ask for a raise at the next review.

Conjunctiv prezent

The 3rd person breaks from the indicative: instead of cere, the subjunctive shows the e → ea stem change and the -ă ending: să ceară. This is the form you must memorize.

Person	Form
eu	să cer
tu	să ceri
el / ea	să ceară
noi	să cerem
voi	să cereți
ei / ele	să ceară

Nu vreau să-i cer nimic, mă descurc singur.

I don't want to ask him for anything, I'll manage on my own.

Condițional prezent

Formed with the conditional auxiliary (aș, ai, ar, am, ați, ar) plus the short infinitive cere.

Person	Form
eu	aș cere
tu	ai cere
el / ea	ar cere
noi	am cere
voi	ați cere
ei / ele	ar cere

Aș cere ajutor, dar nu vreau să deranjez.

I'd ask for help, but I don't want to be a bother.

Imperativ

The singular imperative is cere! (identical to the 3sg present); the plural is cereți! The negative singular uses the bare infinitive: nu cere!

	Affirmative	Negative
tu (sg.)	cere!	nu cere!
voi (pl.)	cereți!	nu cereți!

Cere-i scuze și gata, nu mai lungi vorba.

Apologize to her and that's it, don't drag it out.

Nu cere imposibilul de la oamenii ăștia.

Don't ask the impossible of these people.

Forme nepersonale

Form	Romanian
Infinitiv	(a) cere
Gerunziu	cerând
Participiu	cerut
Supin	de cerut

Usage

The thing requested is the direct object; the person you ask is in the dative (îi cer, îți cer, le cer). This is the reverse of a întreba's accusative person. A cere anchors several fixed expressions: a cere scuze (to apologize), a cere voie (to ask permission), a cere socoteală (to call to account), a cere în căsătorie (to propose marriage).

Cer ajutor doar când chiar nu mai pot.

I ask for help only when I really can't go on.

Îți cer scuze că am întârziat atât.

I apologize for being so late.

Le-am cerut voie părinților să stau peste noapte.

I asked my parents for permission to stay overnight.

A cerut-o în căsătorie pe plajă, la apus.

He proposed to her on the beach, at sunset.

💡

The clean test: if you can replace the act with "pose a question," it's a întreba (accusative person). If you can replace it with "request" or "ask for," it's a cere (dative person). Te întreb ceva = I ask you something (a question). Îți cer ceva = I ask you for something (a thing).

Common Mistakes

Don't use a cere to ask a question:

❌ Îți cer cât e ceasul.

Incorrect — to ask a question, use a întreba.

✅ Te întreb cât e ceasul.

I'm asking you what time it is.

Don't put the person in the accusative with a cere:

❌ Te cer un favor.

Incorrect — a cere takes the person in the dative.

✅ Îți cer un favor.

I'm asking you for a favor.

Don't use the indicative cere in the subjunctive 3rd person:

❌ Lasă-l să cere ce vrea.

Incorrect — the subjunctive 3rd person is ceară.

✅ Lasă-l să ceară ce vrea.

Let him ask for whatever he wants.

Don't translate "ask for X" word-for-word with a preposition:

❌ Cer pentru o cafea.

Incorrect — a cere takes the thing as a direct object, with no preposition.

✅ Cer o cafea.

I'll ask for a coffee.

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