Reflexive verbs — the ones whose dictionary form carries a se (a se duce, a se trezi, a se gândi) — put their little clitic (mă, te, se, ne, vă, se) right before the verb in the present. In the future, though, the clitic's home address changes depending on which future you choose, and this is the one genuinely surprising point on the page. With the o să and am să futures the clitic stays put, sitting after să (o să mă duc). But with the synthetic voi-future it climbs in front of the auxiliary: mă voi duce, never voi mă duce. So the position of the clitic actually tells you which future a speaker is using — it is a structural fingerprint.
The clitic slot is a tell
Here is the same reflexive verb, a se duce (to go / head off), across all the futures. Watch where mă lands:
| Future | "I'll go" (a se duce) | Clitic position |
|---|---|---|
| o să | o să mă duc | after să, before the verb |
| am să | am să mă duc | after să, before the verb |
| voi | mă voi duce | BEFORE the auxiliary |
| bare present | mă duc (mâine) | before the verb |
O să mă duc la culcare devreme diseară.
I'm going to head off to bed early tonight. (o să — clitic after să)
Mă voi duce la culcare devreme diseară.
I will go to bed early tonight. (voi — clitic before the auxiliary, formal)
The two say the same thing; only the register and the clitic's slot differ. That difference is not arbitrary, as the next sections explain.
o să and am să: the clitic follows să
In the o să and am să futures the verb sits in the conjunctiv, introduced by să. The reflexive clitic behaves exactly as it does in any să-clause: it slips in between să and the verb. The leading particle (o) or auxiliary (am, ai…) never separates from să, so the clitic has only one place to go — right after să.
| Person | o să (a se trezi — to wake up) | am să (a se trezi) |
|---|---|---|
| eu | o să mă trezesc | am să mă trezesc |
| tu | o să te trezești | ai să te trezești |
| el / ea | o să se trezească | are să se trezească |
| noi | o să ne trezim | avem să ne trezim |
| voi | o să vă treziți | aveți să vă treziți |
| ei / ele | o să se trezească | au să se trezească |
Mâine o să mă trezesc la șase, am tren devreme.
Tomorrow I'll wake up at six, I've got an early train.
O să ne vedem la cafenea pe la cinci, da?
We'll meet at the café around five, okay? (a se vedea — reflexive/reciprocal)
Am să mă gândesc la propunerea ta peste weekend.
I'll think about your proposal over the weekend. (am să — clitic after să)
Often the clitic contracts with what follows it, just as in the present: o să mă apuc, o să te superi, and with o the feminine accusative or before vowels you get the usual fusions. The slot, though, is fixed: o să / am să → să → clitic → verb.
The synthetic future: the clitic climbs in front of the auxiliary
This is the form that breaks the pattern, and it is the heart of the page. The voi-future has no să. Its structure is bare: auxiliary + short infinitive (voi duce, vom trezi). When a reflexive clitic joins, it does not slip in next to the infinitive — instead it moves to the very front, before the auxiliary, exactly like an object clitic in this construction (te voi ajuta, îl voi vedea): mă voi duce, te vei trezi, se va gândi.
| Person | voi-future (a se duce) |
|---|---|
| eu | mă voi duce |
| tu | te vei duce |
| el / ea | se va duce |
| noi | ne vom duce |
| voi | vă veți duce |
| ei / ele | se vor duce |
Ne vom revedea cu siguranță la anul.
We will surely see each other again next year. (formal/literary — clitic before vom)
Te vei obișnui repede cu noul program.
You'll soon get used to the new schedule. (formal — te before vei)
Generația următoare se va confrunta cu aceleași probleme.
The next generation will face the same problems. (journalistic — se before va)
Why the difference? In the o să future the clitic is attaching to the conjunctiv verb inside the să-clause, and clitics in a să-clause sit after să. In the voi-future there is no să-clause at all; the whole thing is one tight auxiliary-plus-verb unit, and the clitic — like all proclitic pronouns in this construction — lands at the left edge, in front of the auxiliary. You are not memorizing two arbitrary rules but seeing the same principle ("clitic goes to the left edge of its clause") play out over two different structures.
Negating reflexive futures
Negation follows the same logic as everywhere: nu goes to the very front, ahead of even the climbed clitic. With o să it contracts (n-o să); with the synthetic future it stays separate before the clitic.
N-o să mă duc nicăieri până nu termin.
I'm not going anywhere until I finish. (n-o să, clitic after să)
Nu mă voi răzgândi, orice ai spune.
I won't change my mind, whatever you say. (formal — nu before the whole mă voi block)
N-am să mă cert cu tine pentru o prostie.
I'm not going to argue with you over something silly. (n-am să, clitic after să)
Notice nu mă voi răzgândi: even though the clitic mă has climbed in front of the auxiliary, nu still leads the whole unit. The negator always sits at the absolute front; see negating the future.
Comparison with English
English reflexives barely move: "I will wash myself," "I'm going to wash myself" — myself stays after the verb in both. Romanian instead relocates a small clitic to the left edge of its clause, and which left edge that is depends on the construction. There is no English instinct to lean on here, which is exactly why voi mă duce feels tempting to learners (it mirrors English word order) and is wrong. Train the eye to expect the clitic before the auxiliary in the voi-future.
Common Mistakes
❌ Voi mă duce acasă.
Incorrect — in the synthetic future the reflexive clitic climbs in front of the auxiliary.
✅ Mă voi duce acasă.
I will go home.
❌ O să duc mă la culcare.
Incorrect — in the o să future the clitic sits after să, before the verb: o să mă duc.
✅ O să mă duc la culcare.
I'll head off to bed.
❌ Mă o să trezesc devreme.
Incorrect — the clitic does NOT climb in the o să future; it stays after să: o să mă trezesc.
✅ O să mă trezesc devreme.
I'll wake up early.
❌ Se voi gândi la asta. (intending he/she)
Incorrect — wrong auxiliary and order; 3sg is se va, with the clitic first: se va gândi.
✅ Se va gândi la asta.
He/she will think about it.
❌ Nu mă o să duc nicăieri.
Incorrect — nu leads the whole construction and contracts: N-o să mă duc nicăieri.
✅ N-o să mă duc nicăieri.
I'm not going anywhere.
Key Takeaways
- The reflexive clitic's position depends on the future you choose — it is a structural fingerprint.
- In o să and am să, the clitic sits after să: o să mă duc, am să mă gândesc.
- In the synthetic voi-future, the clitic climbs in front of the auxiliary: mă voi duce, te vei trezi, se va gândi — never voi mă duce.
- Both placements reflect one principle: the clitic goes to the left edge of its clause (after să in a să-clause; before the auxiliary in the bare voi construction).
- nu still leads everything: N-o să mă duc, Nu mă voi răzgândi.
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Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- The Colloquial Future (o să + conjunctiv)A2 — How to form and use the everyday spoken future with invariable 'o' plus 'să' and the conjunctive — the default future of conversational Romanian.
- Accusative Reflexive VerbsA2 — The accusative reflexive clitics mă, te, se, ne, vă, se — true reflexives and the large class of verbs that are reflexive in form only.
- The Literary Future (voi + infinitive)B1 — How to form Romanian's formal future — the auxiliary voi/vei/va/vom/veți/vor plus the bare short infinitive — where it belongs (news, literature, officialdom), and how clitics attach to it.
- The Future with am să / ai săB1 — The personally-inflected colloquial future built from 'a avea' plus 'să' plus the conjunctive — am să plec, ai să vezi — and how it differs from the invariable o-să future.
- Positioning Reflexive CliticsB1 — Where the reflexive clitic sits across every tense and mood — pre-verbal, fused into the auxiliary, or hyphenated after the verb — and the fusion rules m-am, te-ai, s-a.
- Negating the FutureB1 — How to say 'won't' in every Romanian future — nu sits at the very front of the whole construction (Nu voi veni, N-o să vin, N-am să-i spun), and with the o să / am să futures it contracts to n-o să / n-am să in everyday speech.