A zbura means to fly — of birds, of planes, and figuratively of time. It is a plain first-conjugation -a verb (no -ez infix), but its stem is a small showcase of Romanian vowel alternation. The root vowel o behaves in two ways depending on what follows it: it diphthongizes to oa when the next syllable contains a stressed -ă/-e (giving zboară), and it raises to u in the unstressed plural and outside the present (giving zburăm, zburați, zburam, zburat). So a single verb shows three shapes of the same vowel: zbor / zboară / zburăm.
This is not random: it is the regular outcome of Romanian stress and vowel rules, the same machinery you see in a purta (port/poartă) or a number. Once you hear the rhythm — stressed singular zbor, diphthong zboară, raised plural zburăm — the rest of the paradigm follows.
Prezent indicativ
The diphthong oa appears only in the 3rd person (zboară, both sg and pl); the 1sg keeps plain o (zbor); and the 1st/2nd plural raise to u (zburăm, zburați).
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | zbor |
| tu | zbori |
| el / ea | zboară |
| noi | zburăm |
| voi | zburați |
| ei / ele | zboară |
Păsările zboară spre sud când vine toamna.
The birds fly south when autumn comes.
Zbor la București mâine dimineață, am ședință.
I'm flying to Bucharest tomorrow morning, I have a meeting.
Imperfect
Built on the raised u-stem zbur- with the Class I ending -am. No diphthong here — the imperfect uses the u shape throughout.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | zburam |
| tu | zburai |
| el / ea | zbura |
| noi | zburam |
| voi | zburați |
| ei / ele | zburau |
Avionul zbura deasupra norilor, era o liniște totală.
The plane was flying above the clouds, it was completely quiet.
Perfect compus
Auxiliary a avea plus the regular Class I participle zburat (on the u-stem).
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | am zburat |
| tu | ai zburat |
| el / ea | a zburat |
| noi | am zburat |
| voi | ați zburat |
| ei / ele | au zburat |
Am zburat cu avionul prima dată la zece ani.
I flew on a plane for the first time at age ten.
Mai-mult-ca-perfectul
Synthetic pluperfect on the participle stem zburas-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | zburasem |
| tu | zburaseși |
| el / ea | zburase |
| noi | zburaserăm |
| voi | zburaserăți |
| ei / ele | zburaseră |
Până atunci nu zburasem niciodată peste ocean.
Until then I had never flown across the ocean.
Viitor
| Person | Viitor (voi-form, formal) | Colloquial (o să) |
|---|---|---|
| eu | voi zbura | o să zbor |
| tu | vei zbura | o să zbori |
| el / ea | va zbura | o să zboare |
| noi | vom zbura | o să zburăm |
| voi | veți zbura | o să zburați |
| ei / ele | vor zbura | o să zboare |
O să zburăm spre Roma cu o escală la Viena.
We'll fly to Rome with a stopover in Vienna.
Conjunctiv prezent
The subjunctive 3rd person is (să) zboare — the diphthong shape, distinct from the indicative zboară only by stress and final vowel quality. The plural again raises to u: să zburăm, să zburați.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | să zbor |
| tu | să zbori |
| el / ea | să zboare |
| noi | să zburăm |
| voi | să zburați |
| ei / ele | să zboare |
Puiul de rândunică învață să zboare singur.
The baby swallow is learning to fly on its own.
Condițional prezent
Conditional auxiliary plus the short infinitive zbura.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | aș zbura |
| tu | ai zbura |
| el / ea | ar zbura |
| noi | am zbura |
| voi | ați zbura |
| ei / ele | ar zbura |
Aș zbura acasă chiar acum dacă aș putea.
I'd fly home right now if I could.
Imperativ
The affirmative singular is zboară! (the 3sg present shape), the plural zburați! The negative singular uses the infinitive: nu zbura!
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| tu (sg.) | zboară! | nu zbura! |
| voi (pl.) | zburați! | nu zburați! |
Zboară, ești liber acum!
Fly, you're free now!
Forme nepersonale
The gerund zburând and participle/supine are built on the u-stem.
| Form | Romanian |
|---|---|
| Infinitiv | (a) zbura |
| Gerunziu | zburând |
| Participiu | zburat |
| Supin | de zburat |
Usage
A zbura covers three everyday senses. First, the literal flight of birds and aircraft:
Un stol de berze zboară jos, semn că se schimbă vremea.
A flock of storks is flying low, a sign the weather is changing.
Second, to take a flight — Romanian uses a zbura exactly where English says "I'm flying to X," with the destination introduced by la or spre:
Zburăm la Londra vineri și ne întoarcem duminică.
We're flying to London on Friday and coming back on Sunday.
Am zburat cu avionul, e mult mai rapid decât trenul.
We went by plane (flew), it's much faster than the train.
Third, the figurative time flies, identical to the English idiom:
Timpul zboară când te distrezi.
Time flies when you're having fun.
Source-language note for English speakers
English "fly" is irregular but in a way that lives entirely in the past ("flew," "flown"); the present stem never changes. Romanian flips this: the past is perfectly regular (zburat), but the present stem morphs — zbor, zboară, zburăm — which feels alien to an English ear expecting one fixed root. The fix is to stop treating zbor- as the "real" stem and instead memorize the three present shapes as a set. The good news is that the "fly somewhere" and "time flies" idioms map one-to-one onto English, so only the morphology needs work, not the meaning.
Common Mistakes
❌ Noi zborăm la Madrid.
Incorrect — the plural raises the vowel to u: zburăm, not zborăm.
✅ Noi zburăm la Madrid.
We're flying to Madrid.
❌ Pasărea zbor pe cer.
Incorrect — zbor is the 1sg; the 3sg needs the diphthong zboară.
✅ Pasărea zboară pe cer.
The bird flies across the sky.
❌ Anul trecut zboram des cu avionul.
Incorrect — the imperfect uses the u-stem: zburam, not zboram.
✅ Anul trecut zburam des cu avionul.
Last year I flew a lot.
❌ Vrea să zboară mai sus.
Incorrect — the subjunctive 3sg is zboare, not the indicative zboară.
✅ Vrea să zboare mai sus.
It wants to fly higher.
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 I Present: Stem Vowel Changes (e→ea, o→oa, a→ă)A2 — The predictable stressed-stem diphthongizations that reshape Class I (-a) verbs in the third person — e→ea, o→oa, and the a→ă alternation — and why they appear exactly where the ending is unstressed.
- Stem Alternations: An OverviewB1 — The predictable vowel and consonant alternations that reshape Romanian verb stems across the paradigm — and why learning them once pays off across the whole grammar.
- 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.
- a călători — to travelA2 — Full conjugation of a călători (to travel), a fourth-conjugation -esc verb, with the related noun călătorie and the everyday well-wish Călătorie plăcută!
- Class I Present: Regular -a VerbsA1 — How to conjugate plain Class I (-a) verbs in the present indicative, including the bare-stem first person and the 3sg = 3pl syncretism.