A lucra means to work. It is a high-frequency A1 verb and the standard model of the first conjugation -ez class — infinitives in -a that take an -ez infix in the present and subjunctive, exactly parallel to the -esc infix of the fourth conjugation. Verbs like a lucra, a dansa, a forma, a programa all follow this pattern.
The infix -ez-/-eaz- shows up in the three singular persons and the 3rd person plural (lucrez, lucrezi, lucrează, lucrează) and drops out in the 1st and 2nd person plural, where you get plain lucrăm, lucrați. It also disappears completely outside the present and subjunctive: the imperfect is lucram (no infix), the participle lucrat. The two errors this page works hardest to prevent are lucrezăm (keeping the infix in the plural) and lucrezam (keeping it in the imperfect).
Prezent indicativ
The infix appears in lucrez, lucrezi, lucrează, lucrează and drops in lucrăm, lucrați. As with all -ez verbs, the 3sg and 3pl share the same form, lucrează.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | lucrez |
| tu | lucrezi |
| el / ea | lucrează |
| noi | lucrăm |
| voi | lucrați |
| ei / ele | lucrează |
Lucrez de acasă de când s-a născut copilul.
I've been working from home since the baby was born.
Unde lucrezi acum, tot la aceeași firmă?
Where do you work now, still at the same company?
Imperfect
No infix anywhere. Built on the plain stem lucr- with the Class I imperfect ending -am.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | lucram |
| tu | lucrai |
| el / ea | lucra |
| noi | lucram |
| voi | lucrați |
| ei / ele | lucrau |
Pe atunci lucram în construcții, era o muncă grea.
Back then I worked in construction; it was hard work.
Perfect compus
Auxiliary a avea plus the regular Class I participle lucrat.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | am lucrat |
| tu | ai lucrat |
| el / ea | a lucrat |
| noi | am lucrat |
| voi | ați lucrat |
| ei / ele | au lucrat |
Am lucrat toată noaptea la prezentare și tot n-am terminat.
I worked all night on the presentation and still didn't finish.
Mai-mult-ca-perfectul
Synthetic pluperfect on the participle stem lucras-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | lucrasem |
| tu | lucraseși |
| el / ea | lucrase |
| noi | lucraserăm |
| voi | lucraserăți |
| ei / ele | lucraseră |
Lucrase zece ani la fabrică înainte să se pensioneze.
He had worked ten years at the factory before he retired.
Viitor
| Person | Viitor (voi-form, formal) | Colloquial (o să) |
|---|---|---|
| eu | voi lucra | o să lucrez |
| tu | vei lucra | o să lucrezi |
| el / ea | va lucra | o să lucreze |
| noi | vom lucra | o să lucrăm |
| voi | veți lucra | o să lucrați |
| ei / ele | vor lucra | o să lucreze |
O să lucrăm împreună la proiectul ăsta, ce zici?
We'll work together on this project, what do you say?
Conjunctiv prezent
The infix returns, and the 3rd person shape is (să) lucreze — distinct from the indicative lucrează. This -eze 3rd person is the -ez class's subjunctive signature.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | să lucrez |
| tu | să lucrezi |
| el / ea | să lucreze |
| noi | să lucrăm |
| voi | să lucrați |
| ei / ele | să lucreze |
Vrea să lucreze în străinătate câțiva ani.
She wants to work abroad for a few years.
Condițional prezent
Conditional auxiliary plus the short infinitive lucra.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | aș lucra |
| tu | ai lucra |
| el / ea | ar lucra |
| noi | am lucra |
| voi | ați lucra |
| ei / ele | ar lucra |
Aș lucra mai puțin dacă mi-ar permite salariul.
I'd work less if my salary allowed it.
Imperativ
The affirmative singular is lucrează! (borrowed from the 3sg present), the plural lucrați! The negative singular uses the infinitive: nu lucra!
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| tu (sg.) | lucrează! | nu lucra! |
| voi (pl.) | lucrați! | nu lucrați! |
Nu lucra atât de mult, ai grijă și de sănătate.
Don't work so much, take care of your health too.
Forme nepersonale
The gerund lucrând carries the â; everything outside the present is infix-free.
| Form | Romanian |
|---|---|
| Infinitiv | (a) lucra |
| Gerunziu | lucrând |
| Participiu | lucrat |
| Supin | de lucrat |
Usage
A lucra is usually intransitive: you work la something (a lucra la un proiect — "to work on a project") or cu someone. With a material object it can be transitive in the sense of "to process/craft" (a lucra lemnul — "to work wood"). For employment, Romanian also commonly uses a munci (more "to toil") and a fi angajat la ("to be employed at"); a lucra is the neutral everyday choice.
Lucrez la un proiect nou de câteva săptămâni.
I've been working on a new project for a few weeks.
Mai am puțin de lucrat și sunt liberă.
I have a little more work to do and then I'm free.
Lucrând în echipă, am terminat de două ori mai repede.
By working as a team, we finished twice as fast.
Bunicul meu lucra lemnul de mână, fără nicio mașină.
My grandfather used to work wood by hand, without any machine.
Source-language note for English speakers
English "work" is fully regular and takes its complements with prepositions you mostly transfer correctly: "work on a project" maps cleanly to a lucra la un proiect. The trap for English speakers is not syntax but morphology: there is no English analogue to an infix that appears and disappears within a single tense, so learners over-generalize and stamp -ez- onto every form. Anchor yourself to the plural and the past, where the infix is absent — lucrăm, lucram — and let those forms remind you that the bare stem is lucr-, with -ez- a guest that only visits the singular present.
Common Mistakes
❌ Noi lucrezăm la birou.
Incorrect — the infix drops in the plural; the form is lucrăm.
✅ Noi lucrăm la birou.
We work at the office.
❌ Anul trecut lucrezam în alt oraș.
Incorrect — no infix in the imperfect; the form is lucram.
✅ Anul trecut lucram în alt oraș.
Last year I was working in another city.
❌ Vrea să lucrează mai mult.
Incorrect — the subjunctive 3sg is lucreze, not lucrează.
✅ Vrea să lucreze mai mult.
He wants to work more.
❌ Lucrez pe un proiect important.
Incorrect — a lucra takes la for what you work on, not pe.
✅ Lucrez la un proiect important.
I'm working on an important project.
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Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- Class I Present: The -ez InfixA2 — How to conjugate the very common Class I subtype that inserts -ez in the singular and third-person plural, the default pattern for modern -a verbs and loanwords.
- Class I Present: Regular -a VerbsA1 — How to conjugate plain Class I (-a) verbs in the present indicative, including the bare-stem first person and the 3sg = 3pl syncretism.
- The -esc / -ăsc Infix (Class IV)A2 — The productive -esc/-ăsc infix that appears in most Class IV verbs — where it sits in the paradigm, why it drops in 'we' and 'you-plural', and why you should expect it by default.
- a vorbi — to speakA1 — Full conjugation of a vorbi (to speak), the model fourth-conjugation -esc verb, showing the -esc infix in the singular and 3rd plural and its disappearance in vorbim and vorbiți.
- Imperfect: Class I (-a) VerbsA2 — How to form the imperfect of Class I verbs ending in -a, including why present-tense -ez infixes disappear entirely in this tense.