English uses four separate words to track whether a situation has changed: already, still, yet, and anymore. Romanian compresses all of this into three particles — deja (already), încă (still; and in încă nu, "not yet"), and mai in the negative frame nu mai ("not anymore / no longer"). The reason learners struggle is that English maps onto these by polarity: the same Romanian word means one thing in a positive clause and something else in a negative one. The single most common error in all of Romanian is confusing nu mai ("no longer") with încă nu ("not yet"). Get the polarity logic straight and this whole grid clicks into place.
The four-cell grid
Think of a situation that can switch on or off. There are four states English names, and Romanian fills them with just three words:
| State | English | Romanian |
|---|---|---|
| It has happened (sooner than expected) | already | deja |
| It continues (hasn't stopped) | still | încă / mai |
| It hasn't happened (but is expected) | not yet | încă nu / nu... încă |
| It has stopped (used to be true) | not anymore / no longer | nu mai |
Notice the symmetry: deja and încă nu are opposites ("already happened" vs "not yet happened"); încă (still) and nu mai (no longer) are opposites ("still going" vs "stopped"). English uses four lexemes; Romanian recycles încă and mai across polarities. The rest of the page walks each cell with examples.
deja: already
Deja means "already" — something has occurred, often earlier than expected. It pairs naturally with the perfect compus and is flexible in placement: it can sit inside the verb (am deja terminat) or after it (am terminat deja), with no change in meaning. Both are idiomatic; the post-verb position is very common in speech.
Am terminat deja, putem pleca.
I've already finished, we can go.
Trenul a plecat deja — am ratat-o.
The train has already left — I missed it.
E doar ora opt și ești deja obosit?
It's only eight o'clock and you're already tired?
The one placement to avoid is the stiff sentence-initial Deja am terminat, a word-for-word calque of English "Already I've finished." It is understood but sounds unidiomatic; native speakers say Am terminat deja or Am deja terminat.
încă nu / nu... încă: not yet
For "not yet," Romanian negates with nu and adds încă ("still / yet"). There are two equally correct word orders: încă nu (fronted, slightly more emphatic) and nu... încă with încă after the verb. Both mean the expected event has not happened so far.
Încă nu s-a întors de la muncă.
He hasn't come back from work yet.
N-am terminat încă, mai am puțin.
I haven't finished yet — I've got a little left.
Nu mi-a răspuns încă, dar îl aștept.
He hasn't answered me yet, but I'm waiting.
The logic is transparent once you see it: încă carries the "still" sense — "still hasn't happened" — and nu supplies the negation. So încă nu is literally "still not," which is exactly "not yet."
încă / mai: still (affirmative)
In a positive clause, încă means "still" — a situation is ongoing, hasn't stopped. Its near-synonym mai does the same job (and adds a faint "a while longer" colour), as covered in duration and continuation. You will often hear them together: încă mai.
Mai e cafea? — Da, încă e puțină.
Is there still coffee? — Yes, there's still a little.
Locuiește încă la părinți.
He still lives with his parents.
Mai ții minte cum ne-am cunoscut?
Do you still remember how we met?
That first exchange is the classic test of the whole system. Mai e cafea? ("Is there still any coffee?") can be answered three ways depending on the state of the pot — and each answer uses a different cell of the grid:
Mai e cafea? — Da, mai e puțină.
Is there still coffee? — Yes, there's still a little. (still = mai/încă)
Mai e cafea? — Nu mai e, s-a terminat.
Is there still coffee? — There's no more, it's run out. (no longer = nu mai)
nu mai: not anymore / no longer
This is the cell that traps everyone. Nu mai + verb means "not anymore / no longer" — a situation that used to be true has stopped. The mai here is the same particle as in "still," but under negation it flips to "no longer." Nu mai locuiesc aici is "I don't live here anymore."
Nu mai locuiesc aici, m-am mutat anul trecut.
I don't live here anymore — I moved last year.
Nu mai bea cafea seara, nu mai poate dormi.
She doesn't drink coffee in the evening anymore — she can't sleep otherwise.
Nu mai e nimic de făcut, e prea târziu.
There's nothing more to be done — it's too late.
Here is the crucial contrast, the heart of the whole page: nu mai = "no longer" (it stopped) versus încă nu = "not yet" (it hasn't started). They describe opposite situations, and swapping them inverts your meaning entirely.
| Romanian | Meaning | Situation |
|---|---|---|
| Nu mai lucrez aici. | I don't work here anymore. | I used to; I've stopped. |
| Încă nu lucrez aici. | I don't work here yet. | I don't yet; I'm expected to start. |
How polarity drives the choice — the source-language gap
For an English speaker, the hard part is that Romanian assigns the work differently. English has dedicated words for each cell: already / still / yet / anymore. Romanian reuses încă and mai and lets the surrounding nu (or its absence) decide the meaning. So instead of memorizing four-to-three word mappings, build the habit of asking two questions: (1) Is the clause positive or negative? and (2) Has the situation started, continued, or stopped? Positive + continuing → încă/mai ("still"). Positive + happened-early → deja ("already"). Negative + not-started → încă nu ("not yet"). Negative + stopped → nu mai ("no longer"). The polarity does half the work; the particle does the other half.
Common Mistakes
❌ Încă nu locuiesc aici. (meaning: I don't live here anymore)
Inverted meaning — încă nu is 'not yet'. For 'not anymore' use nu mai: nu mai locuiesc aici.
✅ Nu mai locuiesc aici.
I don't live here anymore.
❌ Nu mai s-a întors de la muncă. (meaning: he hasn't come back yet)
Inverted — nu mai means 'no longer'. For 'not yet' use încă nu: încă nu s-a întors.
✅ Încă nu s-a întors de la muncă.
He hasn't come back from work yet.
❌ Deja am mâncat. (stiff fronted calque)
Unidiomatic word order — Romanian puts deja inside or after the verb: am mâncat deja / am deja mâncat.
✅ Am mâncat deja.
I've already eaten.
❌ Am încă nu terminat.
Incorrect placement — for 'not yet' use nu... încă or încă nu: n-am terminat încă / încă n-am terminat.
✅ N-am terminat încă.
I haven't finished yet.
❌ Locuiește mai la părinți. (meaning: he still lives with his parents)
Awkward — for affirmative 'still' here, încă is the natural choice: locuiește încă la părinți.
✅ Locuiește încă la părinți.
He still lives with his parents.
Key Takeaways
- Three particles cover English already / still / yet / anymore: deja (already), încă (still; încă nu = not yet), and mai in nu mai (= not anymore).
- The system works by polarity: the same word shifts meaning between positive and negative clauses.
- deja goes inside or after the verb (am terminat deja), never fronted.
- The classic trap: nu mai = "no longer / not anymore" (it stopped) vs încă nu = "not yet" (it hasn't started). They are opposites.
- Affirmative "still" = încă or mai (locuiește încă la părinți); the negative answer to Mai e cafea? is Nu mai e ("there's no more").
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- Expressing Duration and Continuation (mai, încă, tot)B1 — How Romanian says 'still' and 'keep on' with little words rather than a progressive tense — mai (a bit longer/more), încă (still), the continuative tot (tot plouă, a tot întreba), plus a continua să and de + duration.
- Perfect Compus with Adverbs (deja, încă nu, vreodată)A2 — Where adverbs go in the perfect compus — short adverbs slot between the auxiliary and the participle (am mai fost, am deja terminat), plus deja, încă nu, vreodată/niciodată, and the 'just' frame tocmai am ajuns.
- Expressing Recent Past (tocmai, adineauri, abia)B1 — How Romanian says something happened 'just now' by layering an adverb onto the perfect compus — tocmai am ajuns (just arrived), adineauri (a moment ago), abia am terminat (only just finished), de curând / recent — recency is adverbial, not a separate tense.
- Time Expressions (acum, îndată, din când în când)A2 — A practical inventory of the time phrases Romanians actually use — now, ago, right away, usually, suddenly, in advance, in an hour — including the trap that acum means 'now' alone but 'ago' with a duration, and that peste flips a phrase into the future.
- Tense, Mood, and Aspect: The Big MapB1 — A consolidated chart of Romanian's tenses, moods, and the language's weak grammatical aspect, mapped to their closest English equivalents.