A pierde means to lose — and like English "lose," it spreads across several senses: to lose an object (am pierdut cheile, "I lost my keys"), to lose a game (the antonym of a câștiga), to miss a means of transport (pierd autobuzul, "I'm missing the bus"), and to waste time (a pierde vremea). Its mirror verbs are a câștiga (when you lose a contest) and a găsi (when you find what was lost).
Grammatically a pierde is a third-conjugation verb (infinitive in -e) with two stem changes to master. First, the stem-final d becomes z before the front vowel -i of the 2sg: pierd but pierzi. Second, the diphthong ie lowers to ia in the subjunctive/3rd-person area: pierde (indicative) but să piardă (subjunctive). These alternations recur across class III -de verbs, so learning them here pays off elsewhere too.
Prezent indicativ
The stem is pierd-. Watch the d → z in the 2sg (pierzi), and note the 3sg and 3pl differ only at the level of plural agreement, both built on pierd-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | pierd |
| tu | pierzi |
| el / ea | pierde |
| noi | pierdem |
| voi | pierdeți |
| ei / ele | pierd |
Mereu îmi pierd cheile prin casă.
I'm always losing my keys around the house.
Dacă nu te grăbești, pierzi trenul.
If you don't hurry, you'll miss the train.
Imperfect
Class III imperfect: stem pierd- plus -eam.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | pierdeam |
| tu | pierdeai |
| el / ea | pierdea |
| noi | pierdeam |
| voi | pierdeați |
| ei / ele | pierdeau |
Pierdeam ore întregi căutând un loc de parcare.
I used to waste whole hours looking for a parking spot.
Perfect compus
Auxiliary a avea plus the participle pierdut.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | am pierdut |
| tu | ai pierdut |
| el / ea | a pierdut |
| noi | am pierdut |
| voi | ați pierdut |
| ei / ele | au pierdut |
Am pierdut cheile undeva pe drum.
I lost my keys somewhere along the way.
Mai-mult-ca-perfectul (pluperfect)
The synthetic pluperfect, on the stem pierduse-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | pierdusem |
| tu | pierduseși |
| el / ea | pierduse |
| noi | pierduserăm |
| voi | pierduserăți |
| ei / ele | pierduseră |
Când am ajuns la gară, pierdusem deja trenul.
When I got to the station, I had already missed the train.
Viitor (future)
Formal voi + infinitive and colloquial o să + conjunctiv (note the ie → ia in the colloquial subjunctive base for the 3rd person).
| Person | Viitor (voi-form, formal) | Colloquial (o să) |
|---|---|---|
| eu | voi pierde | o să pierd |
| tu | vei pierde | o să pierzi |
| el / ea | va pierde | o să piardă |
| noi | vom pierde | o să pierdem |
| voi | veți pierde | o să pierdeți |
| ei / ele | vor pierde | o să piardă |
Dacă mai întârzii, o să pierzi avionul.
If you're any later, you'll miss the plane.
Conjunctiv prezent
The 3rd person shows the ie → ia change: (să) piardă. Everywhere else the stem stays pierd-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | să pierd |
| tu | să pierzi |
| el / ea | să piardă |
| noi | să pierdem |
| voi | să pierdeți |
| ei / ele | să piardă |
Nu vreau să pierd legătura cu tine.
I don't want to lose touch with you.
Condițional prezent
The conditional auxiliary (aș, ai, ar, am, ați, ar) plus the short infinitive pierde.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | aș pierde |
| tu | ai pierde |
| el / ea | ar pierde |
| noi | am pierde |
| voi | ați pierde |
| ei / ele | ar pierde |
Aș pierde mințile dacă aș sta închis în casă o lună.
I'd lose my mind if I stayed shut in the house for a month.
Imperativ
The singular imperative is pierde!; the plural is pierdeți! The negative singular uses the bare infinitive: nu pierde!
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| tu (sg.) | pierde! | nu pierde! |
| voi (pl.) | pierdeți! | nu pierdeți! |
Nu pierde vremea, treci la treabă!
Don't waste time, get to work!
Forme nepersonale (non-finite forms)
The gerund shows the same d → z as the 2sg: pierzând.
| Form | Romanian |
|---|---|
| Infinitiv | (a) pierde |
| Gerunziu | pierzând |
| Participiu | pierdut |
| Supin | de pierdut |
Usage
Losing a physical object:
Și-a pierdut portofelul în autobuz.
He lost his wallet on the bus.
Missing transport (a very common Romanian use of "lose"):
Am alergat, dar tot am pierdut autobuzul.
I ran, but I still missed the bus.
Losing a game — the antonym of a câștiga:
Am jucat bine, dar am pierdut la penaltiuri.
We played well, but we lost on penalties.
The idiom a pierde vremea ("to waste time"):
Nu-mi pierde vremea cu prostii, ai treabă.
Don't waste your time on nonsense, you've got work to do.
The reflexive a se pierde — to get lost, to lose one's way:
Ne-am pierdut prin străduțele din centrul vechi.
We got lost in the little streets of the old town.
Copilul s-a pierdut de părinți în mulțime.
The child got separated from his parents in the crowd.
Common Mistakes
The d → z change in the 2sg:
❌ Tu pierdi mereu cheile.
Incorrect — d softens to z before -i: pierzi.
✅ Tu pierzi mereu cheile.
You're always losing your keys.
The subjunctive ie → ia:
❌ E păcat să pierde ocazia.
Incorrect — the subjunctive 3rd person is piardă.
✅ E păcat să piardă ocazia.
It's a shame for him to miss the opportunity.
Getting lost is reflexive — don't drop the clitic:
❌ Ne-am rătăcit, am pierdut prin oraș.
Incorrect — 'we got lost' needs the reflexive: ne-am pierdut.
✅ Ne-am pierdut prin oraș.
We got lost around the city.
The gerund also takes the z:
❌ Pierdând timpul, a ratat termenul.
Incorrect — the gerund is pierzând, with z.
✅ Pierzând timpul, a ratat termenul.
By wasting time, he missed the deadline.
Now practice Romanian
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- Class III Present: -e VerbsA2 — How to conjugate Class III (-e) verbs in the present indicative, with their stem stress, consonant alternations, and the irregularity-dense core verbs a face, a zice, and a duce.
- Class III Present: Subtypes by ParticipleB1 — How to tame the messy Class III (-e) conjugation by subgrouping it — by stem-final consonant (a merge, a face, a zice) and by participle type (-s, -t, -ut) — so one pattern predicts the rest.
- a câștiga — to win, to earnA2 — Full conjugation of a câștiga (to win, to earn), a plain class I verb spelled with â throughout, covering both the 'win a contest' and 'earn money' senses.
- a găsi — to findA2 — Full conjugation of a găsi (to find), a fourth-conjugation -esc verb, including the reflexive a se găsi meaning to be located or situated.
- Accusative Reflexive VerbsA2 — The accusative reflexive clitics mă, te, se, ne, vă, se — true reflexives and the large class of verbs that are reflexive in form only.