A veni means to come — motion oriented toward the speaker (or toward the point being talked about). It is one of the most frequent verbs in Romanian, and you will use it constantly for arrivals, invitations, and the changing of seasons. It belongs to the fourth conjugation (the -i class), and although its endings are mostly regular for that class, two things make it stand out: a small stem alternation between vin- and ven-, and a famously irregular singular imperative, vino!
The deictic logic matters. Romanian draws the same line English does between come (toward me/you) and go (away). If your friend is at the door and you want them to approach, you say Vino!; if you want them to leave, you say Du-te! or Pleacă! — never vino for "go away."
Prezent indicativ
The stem is vin- in the singular and 3rd person plural, but ven- in the 1st and 2nd person plural. Note that vin (I come) is spelled and pronounced exactly like vin (wine) and vin (they come) — context disambiguates all three.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | vin |
| tu | vii |
| el / ea | vine |
| noi | venim |
| voi | veniți |
| ei / ele | vin |
Vin imediat, mai stai puțin!
I'm coming right away, hold on a moment!
Tu vii la petrecere sâmbătă?
Are you coming to the party on Saturday?
Imperfect
Regular fourth-conjugation imperfect, built on the ven- stem with -eam endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | veneam |
| tu | veneai |
| el / ea | venea |
| noi | veneam |
| voi | veneați |
| ei / ele | veneau |
Când eram mici, bunicii veneau la noi în fiecare duminică.
When we were little, our grandparents would come to our place every Sunday.
Perfect compus
Formed with the auxiliary a avea plus the participle venit.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | am venit |
| tu | ai venit |
| el / ea | a venit |
| noi | am venit |
| voi | ați venit |
| ei / ele | au venit |
A venit primăvara mai devreme anul ăsta.
Spring came early this year.
Mai-mult-ca-perfectul
The pluperfect is synthetic in Romanian (a single word), built on the participle stem venise-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | venisem |
| tu | veniseși |
| el / ea | venise |
| noi | veniserăm |
| voi | veniserăți |
| ei / ele | veniseră |
Când am ajuns eu, ei plecaseră deja — veniseră prea devreme.
By the time I arrived, they had already left — they had come too early.
Viitor
Romanian has a formal future with voi + infinitive and an everyday colloquial future with o să + conjunctiv.
| Person | Viitor (voi-form, formal) | Colloquial (o să) |
|---|---|---|
| eu | voi veni | o să vin |
| tu | vei veni | o să vii |
| el / ea | va veni | o să vină |
| noi | vom veni | o să venim |
| voi | veți veni | o să veniți |
| ei / ele | vor veni | o să vină |
O să vin pe la tine după muncă.
I'll come by your place after work.
Conjunctiv prezent
Identical to the present indicative except in the 3rd person, where a veni has the irregular form (să) vină instead of the expected vine.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | să vin |
| tu | să vii |
| el / ea | să vină |
| noi | să venim |
| voi | să veniți |
| ei / ele | să vină |
Vreau să vină și ei cu noi la munte.
I want them to come with us to the mountains too.
Condițional prezent
Formed with the conditional auxiliary (aș, ai, ar, am, ați, ar) plus the short infinitive veni.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | aș veni |
| tu | ai veni |
| el / ea | ar veni |
| noi | am veni |
| voi | ați veni |
| ei / ele | ar veni |
Aș veni cu drag, dar n-am mașină în weekendul ăsta.
I'd gladly come, but I don't have a car this weekend.
Imperativ
This is where a veni breaks the pattern. The singular imperative is not vino by regular rule — fourth-conjugation verbs normally take the 2nd person singular present as their imperative. Instead Romanian uses the special, irregular form vino! The plural is the regular veniți! The negative singular uses the infinitive: nu veni!
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| tu (sg.) | vino! | nu veni! |
| voi (pl.) | veniți! | nu veniți! |
Vino aici, te rog!
Come here, please!
Nu veni mai târziu de ora opt.
Don't come later than eight o'clock.
Forme nepersonale
| Form | Romanian |
|---|---|
| Infinitiv | (a) veni |
| Gerunziu | venind |
| Participiu | venit |
| Supin | de venit |
Usage
Vine iarna, trebuie să cumpărăm lemne.
Winter is coming; we need to buy firewood.
De unde vii așa târziu?
Where are you coming from so late?
Îmi vine să plâng de fericire.
I feel like crying out of happiness.
Cum îți vine să spui așa ceva?
How can you bring yourself to say such a thing?
Common Mistakes
❌ Vine aici!
Incorrect — uses the indicative instead of the irregular imperative.
✅ Vino aici!
Come here!
English lets you say I'm coming to your party even though the motion is toward the listener, away from you. Romanian is stricter: motion away from the speaker takes a merge (to go), not a veni.
❌ Vin la tine acasă mâine, dar acum trebuie să vin la magazin.
Incorrect — the second clause is motion away from the speaker, so it needs merg, not vin.
✅ Vin la tine acasă mâine, dar acum trebuie să merg la magazin.
I'm coming to your place tomorrow, but right now I have to go to the store.
Don't confuse the 3rd person subjunctive with the indicative:
❌ Vreau să vine.
Incorrect — the subjunctive 3rd person is vină, not vine.
✅ Vreau să vină.
I want him/her to come.
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Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- Motion Verbs (a merge, a veni, a pleca, a se duce)B1 — The high-frequency Romanian verbs of going, coming, leaving and arriving — their deixis, the obligatory reflexive on a se duce, and the right destination prepositions.
- Affirmative Imperative: tu (2sg)A2 — How to form the familiar singular command — the transitive/intransitive split (cântă! vs fugi!) and the high-frequency irregulars (vino, fii, du-te, fă) you simply must memorize.
- Class IV Present: Plain -i VerbsA2 — How to conjugate the closed set of common Class IV (-i) verbs that take no -esc infix, including a dormi, a veni, and a simți, with their o → oa diphthongization.
- a merge — to go, to walkA1 — Full conjugation of a merge (to go, to walk), a model third-conjugation verb, plus its everyday second meaning 'to work / to function'.
- a pleca — to leave, to departA1 — Full conjugation of a pleca (to leave, to depart), a plain first-conjugation verb with the e→ea diphthong in the third person (pleacă), contrasted with a lăsa.