A tunde is the verb for cutting things short by clipping — most often hair (at the barber's), but equally a lawn (a tunde gazonul) or sheep (a tunde oile). It is a Class III verb that shows off two of the class's signature irregularities at once: the root-final d shifts to z before the front vowel of the second person (tund → tunzi), and the participle is the short, sound-changed tuns rather than the tundut you might predict.
The single most useful thing to learn here is the contrast between transitive and reflexive. A tunde transitively means you cut someone else's hair (a barber, a parent cutting a child's hair). When you go to get your own hair cut, Romanian uses the reflexive a se tunde — literally "to cut oneself" — even though someone else holds the scissors. English collapses both into "get a haircut" plus context; Romanian keeps them grammatically distinct.
Prezent indicativ
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | tund |
| tu | tunzi |
| el / ea | tunde |
| noi | tundem |
| voi | tundeți |
| ei / ele | tund |
Eu îmi tund singur barba, dar la păr merg la frizer.
I trim my own beard, but for my hair I go to the barber.
De ce nu te tunzi mai des? Ți-a crescut părul mult.
Why don't you get your hair cut more often? Your hair's grown a lot.
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | tundeam |
| tu | tundeai |
| el / ea | tundea |
| noi | tundeam |
| voi | tundeați |
| ei / ele | tundeau |
Pe vremuri ne tundea mama acasă, cu o foarfecă de bucătărie.
In the old days mum used to cut our hair at home, with a kitchen scissors.
Perfect compus
Auxiliary a avea plus the short -s participle tuns.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | am tuns |
| tu | ai tuns |
| el / ea | a tuns |
| noi | am tuns |
| voi | ați tuns |
| ei / ele | au tuns |
Te-ai tuns! Îți stă foarte bine așa, mai scurt.
You got a haircut! It suits you really well like that, shorter.
Mai-mult-ca-perfectul
Built on the participle stem tunse-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | tunsesem |
| tu | tunseseși |
| el / ea | tunsese |
| noi | tunseserăm |
| voi | tunseserăți |
| ei / ele | tunseseră |
Ciobanul tunsese deja toate oile până la prânz.
The shepherd had already sheared all the sheep by noon.
Viitor
The formal voi + infinitive future alongside the colloquial o să + conjunctiv. (Reflexive future shown with the clitic where relevant.)
| Person | voi-future (formal) | o să-future (informal) |
|---|---|---|
| eu | voi tunde | o să tund |
| tu | vei tunde | o să tunzi |
| el / ea | va tunde | o să tundă |
| noi | vom tunde | o să tundem |
| voi | veți tunde | o să tundeți |
| ei / ele | vor tunde | o să tundă |
Mă tund mâine înainte de interviu, deja am programare.
I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow before the interview, I've already got an appointment.
Conjunctiv prezent
The third person is irregular: să tundă (not să tunde).
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | să tund |
| tu | să tunzi |
| el / ea | să tundă |
| noi | să tundem |
| voi | să tundeți |
| ei / ele | să tundă |
Vreau să mă tundă cineva care știe să lucreze cu părul creț.
I want someone who knows how to work with curly hair to cut mine.
Condițional prezent
The conditional auxiliary (aș, ai, ar, am, ați, ar) plus the short infinitive tunde.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | aș tunde |
| tu | ai tunde |
| el / ea | ar tunde |
| noi | am tunde |
| voi | ați tunde |
| ei / ele | ar tunde |
M-aș tunde mai scurt, dar mi-e teamă că nu-mi stă bine.
I'd cut my hair shorter, but I'm afraid it wouldn't suit me.
Imperativ
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| tu (sg.) | tunde! | nu tunde! |
| voi (pl.) | tundeți! | nu tundeți! |
Tunde gazonul cât e vreme bună, că se anunță ploaie.
Mow the lawn while the weather's good, rain is forecast.
Forme nepersonale
| Form | Romanian |
|---|---|
| Infinitiv (scurt / lung) | (a) tunde / tundere |
| Gerunziu | tunzând |
| Participiu | tuns |
| Supin | de tuns |
Usage
The core distinction in one place — transitive (you cut someone else's hair) versus reflexive (you get your own cut):
Frizerul mă tunde mereu prea scurt.
The barber always cuts my hair too short. (transitive — he does the cutting)
Mă tund o dată la trei săptămâni.
I get a haircut once every three weeks. (reflexive — I'm the one getting cut)
The "mow the lawn" sense, fully transitive:
Vecinul își tunde gazonul în fiecare sâmbătă dimineața, exact când vreau să dorm.
My neighbour mows his lawn every Saturday morning, right when I want to sleep.
The "shear sheep" sense — the original agricultural meaning:
La stână, primăvara, bărbații tund oile timp de câteva zile.
At the sheepfold, in spring, the men shear the sheep for several days.
The supine of result, de tuns, in a request:
Am tot părul ăsta de tuns și niciun pic de timp.
I've got all this hair to cut and not a moment of time.
The reflexive past, the everyday way to comment on someone's new look:
V-ați tuns amândoi? Arătați ca frați gemeni acum.
Did you both get haircuts? You look like twin brothers now.
Common Mistakes
❌ M-am tundut ieri.
Incorrect — the participle is the short tuns, not *tundut.
✅ M-am tuns ieri.
I got a haircut yesterday.
❌ Tu tundi părul foarte repede.
Incorrect — before -i the d must shift to z: tunzi, not *tundi.
✅ Tu tunzi părul foarte repede.
You cut hair very fast.
❌ Mâine tund la frizer.
Incorrect for getting your own hair cut — without the reflexive clitic this means you'll be cutting someone else's hair.
✅ Mâine mă tund la frizer.
Tomorrow I'm getting my hair cut at the barber's.
❌ Vreau să mă tunde scurt.
Incorrect — the 3rd-person subjunctive is tundă, not tunde.
✅ Vreau să mă tundă scurt.
I want him/her to cut my hair short.
❌ Tunde-ți! (as a command to get a haircut)
Incorrect clitic — the reflexive command uses the accusative -te, not the dative -ți: tunde-te!
✅ Tunde-te, că arăți ca un urs!
Get a haircut, you look like a bear!
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