A promite ("to promise") belongs to the third conjugation (short infinitive in -e) and shares almost everything with its cousin a permite: the same t-stem that palatalizes to ț before -i (promit but promiți, gerund promițând), the same short and irregular -s participle promis (never promitut), and the same habit of putting the other person in the dative. The thing you promise to someone is encoded by a dative clitic: îți promit = "I promise to you," îmi promiți = "you promise to me." English hides this — we just say "I promise you" — but Romanian keeps the underlying logic visible: a promise is something you give to someone.
The second feature that trips learners is the choice between că and să after the verb. You promise că + a clause when you promise that a fact will be true (Îți promit că vin — "I promise that I'll come"), and să + subjunctive when you promise to carry out an action, often with extra emphasis on the commitment (Îți promit să nu mai întârzii — "I promise to stop being late"). Both are correct; the difference is one of focus, explained in the usage section below.
Prezent indicativ
The 1sg and 3pl are identical (promit), as in every class III verb. The 2sg triggers the t → ț shift: promiți.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | promit |
| tu | promiți |
| el / ea | promite |
| noi | promitem |
| voi | promiteți |
| ei / ele | promit |
Îți promit că ajung la timp, nu-ți face griji.
I promise you I'll be there on time, don't worry.
Îmi promiți că nu spui nimănui?
Do you promise me you won't tell anyone?
Imperfect
Third-conjugation imperfect: stem promit- plus the -eam endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | promiteam |
| tu | promiteai |
| el / ea | promitea |
| noi | promiteam |
| voi | promiteați |
| ei / ele | promiteau |
De fiecare dată îmi promitea că se schimbă, dar nu se schimba.
Every time he promised me he'd change, but he never did.
Perfect compus
The everyday past: auxiliary a avea plus the short participle promis.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | am promis |
| tu | ai promis |
| el / ea | a promis |
| noi | am promis |
| voi | ați promis |
| ei / ele | au promis |
Mi-ai promis că mă ajuți cu mutarea — mai stă în picioare?
You promised you'd help me with the move — is that still on?
Mai-mult-ca-perfectul
The synthetic pluperfect, built on the participle stem promise-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | promisesem |
| tu | promiseseși |
| el / ea | promisese |
| noi | promiseserăm |
| voi | promiseserăți |
| ei / ele | promiseseră |
Le promisesem deja copiilor o înghețată, n-aveam cum să dau înapoi.
I had already promised the kids an ice cream, there was no backing out.
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 promite | o să promit |
| tu | vei promite | o să promiți |
| el / ea | va promite | o să promită |
| noi | vom promite | o să promitem |
| voi | veți promite | o să promiteți |
| ei / ele | vor promite | o să promită |
O să-ți promit ceva, dar de data asta chiar mă țin de cuvânt.
I'm going to promise you something, but this time I'll actually keep my word.
Conjunctiv prezent
The 3rd-person form is să promită — final -ă, the form to memorize.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | să promit |
| tu | să promiți |
| el / ea | să promită |
| noi | să promitem |
| voi | să promiteți |
| ei / ele | să promită |
Vreau să-mi promiți un singur lucru: că ai grijă de tine.
I want you to promise me one thing: that you'll take care of yourself.
Condițional prezent
Formed with the conditional auxiliary (aș, ai, ar, am, ați, ar) plus the short infinitive promite.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | aș promite |
| tu | ai promite |
| el / ea | ar promite |
| noi | am promite |
| voi | ați promite |
| ei / ele | ar promite |
Ți-aș promite marea cu sarea, dar prefer să fiu sincer.
I'd promise you the moon, but I'd rather be honest.
Imperativ
The singular is promite! (identical to the 3rd-person present); the plural is promiteți! The negative singular uses the bare infinitive: nu promite! With a dative clitic the singular attaches it directly: promite-mi! ("promise me!").
| Type | Singular (tu) | Plural (voi) |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | promite! | promiteți! |
| Negative | nu promite! | nu promiteți! |
Promite-mi că nu uiți să închizi gazul.
Promise me you won't forget to turn off the gas.
Forme nepersonale
| Form | Romanian |
|---|---|
| Infinitiv (scurt / lung) | (a) promite / promitere |
| Gerunziu | promițând |
| Participiu | promis |
| Supin | de promis |
Usage
The recipient of a promise is in the dative, usually as a clitic that comes before the verb: îți promit, îmi promite, ne-a promis, le promit. With a full noun it is the dative noun: a promite copiilor ("to promise the children"), i-am promis Mariei ("I promised Maria," with clitic doubling).
Le-am promis părinților că-i sun în fiecare seară.
I promised my parents I'd call them every evening.
Promise a fact with că + indicative — you assert that something will be the case:
Îți promit că mâine totul va fi rezolvat.
I promise you everything will be sorted out tomorrow.
Promise an action with să + subjunctive — the focus is on the commitment to do (or not do) something:
Promit să nu mai întârzii niciodată la ședințe.
I promise never to be late to meetings again.
A promise can also take a plain noun as its direct object (no clause at all):
Mi-a promis o mărire de salariu, dar tot o aștept.
He promised me a raise, but I'm still waiting for it.
The reflexive a-și promite ("to promise oneself," to resolve) uses a dative reflexive clitic agreeing with the subject:
Mi-am promis că anul ăsta termin cartea, orice ar fi.
I promised myself I'd finish the book this year, no matter what.
The participle/adjective promis also means "promised, betrothed" in fixed phrases (Pământul Promis — "the Promised Land"):
O promisiune e o promisiune — ce e promis trebuie respectat.
A promise is a promise — what's promised must be honored.
Common Mistakes
Don't put the recipient in the accusative — a promise goes to someone (dative):
❌ Te promit că vin mâine.
Incorrect — the recipient is dative: îți, not te.
✅ Îți promit că vin mâine.
I promise you I'll come tomorrow.
Don't invent a regular participle — a promite takes the short -s form:
❌ Mi-a promitut că mă ajută.
Incorrect — the participle is promis, not *promitut.
✅ Mi-a promis că mă ajută.
He promised me he'd help.
Don't forget the t → ț shift in the 2nd singular:
❌ Îmi promiti că vii?
Incorrect — the 2sg palatalizes t→ț: promiți.
✅ Îmi promiți că vii?
Do you promise me you'll come?
Don't use că with the subjunctive — că takes the indicative, să takes the subjunctive:
❌ Promit că să nu mai întârzii.
Incorrect — choose one: că + indicative or să + subjunctive, never both.
✅ Promit să nu mai întârzii.
I promise not to be late anymore.
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.
- a permite — to allow, to permitB1 — Full conjugation of a permite (to allow, to permit), a third-conjugation verb that governs the dative person, with the -s participle permis and the key reflexive a-și permite (to afford).
- a spune — to say, to tellA1 — Full conjugation of a spune (to say, to tell), the neutral verb of speech, with its dative-person + accusative-thing pattern and clitic placement.