A rupe means to break, to tear, to snap — specifically the kind of breaking that splits, rips, or fractures something: a sheet of paper, a rope, a branch, a bone. (For breaking something brittle into shards — a glass, a plate — Romanian prefers a sparge; keep the two apart.) It is a third-conjugation verb (short infinitive a rupe), and the form to memorize is its short -t participle rupt. Romanian Class III participles come in three flavours — -ut (bătut, crezut), -s (dus, ales), and -t (rupt, frânt, copt) — and a rupe is a textbook member of the smaller -t group.
The verb also has a busy idiomatic life. With a reflexive dative clitic it describes breaking your own body part (mi-am rupt piciorul, "I broke my leg"), it expresses ending a relationship (a rupe o relație), and it powers the vivid colloquial a o rupe la fugă ("to bolt, to break into a run"). Learners who master only the literal sense miss most of how the word actually gets used.
Prezent indicativ
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | rup |
| tu | rupi |
| el / ea | rupe |
| noi | rupem |
| voi | rupeți |
| ei / ele | rup |
Dacă tragi prea tare, rupi fermoarul.
If you pull too hard, you'll break the zip.
Vântul rupe crengile uscate din copaci.
The wind snaps the dry branches off the trees.
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | rupeam |
| tu | rupeai |
| el / ea | rupea |
| noi | rupeam |
| voi | rupeați |
| ei / ele | rupeau |
Copilul rupea pagini din carte una câte una.
The child was tearing pages out of the book one by one.
Perfect compus
Auxiliary a avea plus the short -t participle rupt.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | am rupt |
| tu | ai rupt |
| el / ea | a rupt |
| noi | am rupt |
| voi | ați rupt |
| ei / ele | au rupt |
Am rupt din greșeală scrisoarea pe care o păstrai.
I accidentally tore up the letter you were keeping.
Mai-mult-ca-perfectul
Built on the participle stem rupse-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | rupsesem |
| tu | rupseseși |
| el / ea | rupsese |
| noi | rupseserăm |
| voi | rupseserăți |
| ei / ele | rupseseră |
Viitor
The formal voi + infinitive future alongside the colloquial o să + conjunctiv.
| Person | voi-future (formal) | o să-future (informal) |
|---|---|---|
| eu | voi rupe | o să rup |
| tu | vei rupe | o să rupi |
| el / ea | va rupe | o să rupă |
| noi | vom rupe | o să rupem |
| voi | veți rupe | o să rupeți |
| ei / ele | vor rupe | o să rupă |
O să rup biletul vechi, oricum nu mai e valabil.
I'll tear up the old ticket, it's not valid anymore anyway.
Conjunctiv prezent
The third person is irregular: să rupă (not să rupe).
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | să rup |
| tu | să rupi |
| el / ea | să rupă |
| noi | să rupem |
| voi | să rupeți |
| ei / ele | să rupă |
Ai grijă să nu rupă ața când coase.
Be careful she doesn't snap the thread while sewing.
Condițional prezent
The conditional auxiliary (aș, ai, ar, am, ați, ar) plus the short infinitive rupe.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | aș rupe |
| tu | ai rupe |
| el / ea | ar rupe |
| noi | am rupe |
| voi | ați rupe |
| ei / ele | ar rupe |
N-aș rupe niciodată o promisiune făcută unui copil.
I would never break a promise made to a child.
Imperativ
The singular imperative is rupe! (identical to the 3rd-person present), the plural rupeți!
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| tu (sg.) | rupe! | nu rupe! |
| voi (pl.) | rupeți! | nu rupeți! |
Rupe eticheta înainte să o porți.
Tear off the tag before you wear it.
Forme nepersonale
| Form | Romanian |
|---|---|
| Infinitiv (scurt / lung) | (a) rupe / rupere |
| Gerunziu | rupând |
| Participiu | rupt |
| Supin | de rupt |
Usage
The literal "tear / rip" sense — paper, fabric, anything that splits rather than shatters:
Am rupt hârtia în bucăți și am aruncat-o.
I tore the paper into pieces and threw it away.
The reflexive-dative pattern for breaking your own body part — note mi-am rupt (literally "I broke to myself"), the standard way to report an injury:
Mi-am rupt piciorul la schi acum doi ani.
I broke my leg skiing two years ago.
The figurative "break off / end" a relationship or tie:
A rupt orice legătură cu familia după ceartă.
He cut off all ties with the family after the argument.
The vivid idiom a o rupe la fugă ("to bolt, to break into a run") — the o is a fixed, untranslatable feminine clitic:
Când a văzut câinele, a rupt-o la fugă.
When he saw the dog, he bolted.
The colloquial a rupe in the sense "to be brilliant at / to nail" something — youthful slang but extremely common:
Băieții au rupt scena aseară, ce concert!
The guys killed it on stage last night, what a gig!
The half-joking a rupe a language, meaning to speak it badly but get by:
Rupe niște engleză cât să se descurce prin aeroporturi.
He speaks broken English, enough to get by in airports.
Common Mistakes
❌ Am ruput foaia.
Incorrect — the participle is the short rupt (-t type), not *ruput.
✅ Am rupt foaia.
I tore the sheet.
❌ Am rupt piciorul.
Misleading without the reflexive — this sounds like you broke someone else's leg; for your own body part you need the dative clitic.
✅ Mi-am rupt piciorul.
I broke my leg.
❌ Am spart hârtia.
Incorrect verb — a sparge is for brittle things that shatter (glass, plates); paper tears, so it's a rupe.
✅ Am rupt hârtia.
I tore the paper.
❌ Vreau să rupe el ața.
Incorrect — the 3rd-person subjunctive is rupă, not rupe.
✅ Vreau să rupă el ața.
I want him to snap the thread.
❌ A rupt la fugă.
Incorrect — the idiom keeps the fixed feminine clitic o: a rupt-o la fugă.
✅ A rupt-o la fugă.
He bolted.
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