Verbs of Becoming and Change (a deveni, a se face) | Romanian Grammar

English gets a lot of mileage out of one verb, become, plus the catch-all get (get old, get sick, get dark). Romanian spreads the same territory across several distinct verbs, each with its own register and its own range — and it also has a whole layer of single-word "become X" verbs built with the prefix în-/îm- (a îmbătrâni "grow old," a se îmbolnăvi "fall ill"). Picking the right one is mostly a matter of register and what kind of change you're describing: a change of profession or status, a change in the weather, or a gradual change in a person's condition. This page sorts them out.

a deveni: the formal, all-purpose "become"

a deveni is the neutral-to-formal verb for "become." It takes a predicate noun or adjective directly — no preposition — and it agrees in the usual way. You'll meet it in news, biographies, formal speech, and writing, and it's never wrong, just sometimes a touch stiff for casual conversation.

A devenit profesor la doar douăzeci și șase de ani.

He became a professor at just twenty-six.

Cu timpul, au devenit prieteni foarte buni.

Over time, they became very good friends.

Situația a devenit insuportabilă după concediere.

The situation became unbearable after the layoff.

Note that the predicate noun goes in without an article when it names a role or profession — a devenit profesor ("became a professor"), not a devenit un profesor. This mirrors the bare-noun rule you already use with a fi (Este medic — "He's a doctor").

💡

a deveni is conjugated like a veni (it literally contains it): devin, devii, devine, devenim, deveniți, devin; past participle devenit. If you can conjugate a veni, you can conjugate a deveni.

a se face: the everyday "become / get / turn"

In ordinary speech, the workhorse is a se face — reflexive, literally "to make oneself." It overlaps heavily with a deveni for professions and conditions, but it's the colloquial choice, and it has a second life describing weather and ambient conditions that a deveni doesn't share.

For a change of profession or status (informal, very common):

S-a făcut medic, deși părinții voiau să fie avocat.

He became a doctor, even though his parents wanted him to be a lawyer.

Te-ai făcut mare, nu te-am recunoscut!

You've grown up — I didn't recognize you!

For weather, time, and ambient conditions — here a se face is the standard idiom, not a casual variant:

S-a făcut frig dintr-odată, ia o geacă.

It's turned cold all of a sudden — grab a jacket.

Hai să mergem, s-a făcut târziu.

Let's go, it's gotten late.

Afară se face întuneric pe la cinci iarna.

It gets dark outside around five in winter.

This weather/time use connects directly to the impersonal patterns covered on the impersonal verbs of time and occurrence page — there a se face runs subjectless (s-a făcut frig, no "it"). When the subject is a person or a thing, it's the same verb but with a real subject (el s-a făcut medic).

💡

For weather and time, a se face is the natural verb, not a deveni. You'd say s-a făcut frig ("it got cold") and s-a făcut târziu ("it got late") — never a devenit frig. Save a deveni for people, things, and abstract situations.

a ajunge (să): to end up / to rise to

a ajunge literally means "to arrive / to reach," and from that comes a "become" sense with a flavor English captures with end up or rise to: it stresses the outcome of a process, often after effort or a long road. A ajuns director isn't a neutral "he became a director" — it carries "he made it to director / he rose to director."

A ajuns director de la simplu angajat în zece ani.

He rose to director from an ordinary employee in ten years.

Cum ai ajuns să lucrezi aici?

How did you end up working here?

Nu credeam că o să ajung să-mi placă orașul ăsta.

I never thought I'd come to like this city.

With a following clause, a ajunge să + subjunctive means "to come / get to (the point of doing) something" — the second and third examples above. It frames the result as the end of a path.

The inchoative layer: în-/îm- + adjective = "become X"

Here is where Romanian does something English largely cannot. For many adjectives, Romanian builds a single verb meaning "to become / make X" by prefixing în- (before most consonants) or îm- (before b and p), often with the reflexive se when the change happens to the subject. These are called inchoative ("beginning-of-state") verbs. English has a thin version of this — redden, sadden, darken — but Romanian uses it productively, so one word does what English needs "become / get / grow + adjective" to do.

Verb	Built on	Meaning
a îmbătrâni	bătrân (old)	to grow old
a se îmbolnăvi	bolnav (ill)	to fall ill
a înroși / a se înroși	roșu (red)	to redden / to blush
a înnegri / a se înnegri	negru (black)	to blacken
a înnebuni	nebun (mad)	to go mad
a se îngrășa	gras (fat)	to put on weight
a slăbi	slab (thin/weak)	to lose weight (no prefix)

Bunicul a îmbătrânit mult în ultimul an.

Grandpa has aged a lot in the past year.

S-a îmbolnăvit de gripă chiar înainte de vacanță.

She fell ill with the flu right before the holiday.

A roșit până în vârful urechilor când a auzit complimentul.

She blushed to the tips of her ears when she heard the compliment.

O să înnebunesc dacă mai aud melodia asta o dată.

I'm going to go mad if I hear this song one more time.

Two things to watch in the spelling. First, the prefix is îm- before b and p (îm·bătrâni, îm·bolnăvi, îm·brăca) but în- elsewhere (în·roși, în·nebuni) — this is the same assimilation English does in im·possible vs in·correct. Second, when the stem itself begins with n, you get a doubled nn: în + negri → înnegri, în + nebuni → înnebuni. That double n is correct and pronounced. For the full mechanics of how these prefixes attach, see verb prefixes.

💡

Reflexive or not? Many inchoatives use se when the subject undergoes the change (s-a îmbolnăvit "got sick," m-am îngrășat "I gained weight"), and drop it when the verb is transitive — causing the change in something else (frigul i-a înroșit obrajii "the cold reddened her cheeks"). A îmbătrâni and a înnebuni are usually intransitive without se (am îmbătrânit, am înnebunit).

a se preface (în) and a se transforma (în): to turn into

When the change is a transformation from one thing into another — a frog into a prince, water into ice — Romanian uses a se transforma în (neutral) or, more literary, a se preface în (also "to pretend," so context disambiguates). The preposition is în ("into"), and the new form is in the accusative.

Apa se transformă în gheață la zero grade.

Water turns into ice at zero degrees.

În poveste, broasca se preface în prinț.

In the story, the frog turns into a prince.

Cartierul s-a transformat complet în zece ani.

The neighborhood has completely transformed in ten years.

Be aware that a se preface much more often means "to pretend" (se preface că doarme — "he's pretending to be asleep"). The "turn into" reading is the more literary one and almost always carries the explicit în + noun to mark it.

How this differs from English

English leans on two verbs — become and the all-purpose get — plus turn (into) and a handful of -en derivatives. Romanian distributes the same meanings across register-graded choices: a deveni (formal, + bare predicate noun), a se face (everyday, and the default for weather/time), a ajunge (end up / rise to, outcome-focused), and a se transforma / a se preface în (turn into). On top of that sits the inchoative în-/îm- layer, where one derived verb (a îmbătrâni, a se îmbolnăvi, a înroși) packs "become + adjective" into a single word. The practical upshot: don't reach for a deveni every time you'd say "become" in English — in casual speech, and always for weather, a se face is the natural choice.

Common Mistakes

❌ A devenit frig afară.

Incorrect — for weather, use 'a se face', not 'a deveni'.

✅ S-a făcut frig afară.

It's turned cold outside.

❌ A devenit un profesor.

Incorrect — a predicate role takes a bare noun, no 'un': a devenit profesor.

✅ A devenit profesor.

He became a professor.

❌ A îmbătrânit-se bunicul.

Incorrect — 'a îmbătrâni' is not reflexive; no 'se': a îmbătrânit.

✅ Bunicul a îmbătrânit mult.

Grandpa has aged a lot.

❌ S-a făcut bolnav săptămâna trecută.

Unidiomatic — 'fall ill' is the inchoative 'a se îmbolnăvi', not 'a se face bolnav'.

✅ S-a îmbolnăvit săptămâna trecută.

He fell ill last week.

❌ Apa devine în gheață.

Incorrect — 'turn into' is 'a se transforma/preface în', not 'a deveni în'.

✅ Apa se transformă în gheață.

Water turns into ice.

Key Takeaways

a deveni (formal, conjugated like a veni) takes a bare predicate noun/adjective: a devenit profesor.
a se face is the everyday "become/get/turn," and the standard verb for weather and time: s-a făcut medic, s-a făcut frig, s-a făcut târziu.
a ajunge (să) means "end up / rise to," stressing the outcome of a process: a ajuns director.
a se transforma / a se preface în = "turn into" (the new form in the accusative after în).
The în-/îm- inchoative layer turns an adjective into a "become X" verb: a îmbătrâni, a se îmbolnăvi, a înroși, a înnebuni — with îm- before b/p and a doubled nn when the stem starts with n.

Now practice Romanian

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Romanian→