Class I is the biggest verb group in Romanian — every verb whose infinitive ends in -a (a cânta, a lucra, a aștepta). In the imperfect they all behave identically, and, surprisingly, more simply than they do in the present. This page shows you the single pattern that covers thousands of verbs.
The pattern: theme vowel -a- plus endings
To build the imperfect of a Class I verb, take the infinitive, drop the final -a, and add the imperfect endings -am, -ai, -a, -am, -ați, -au. Because the verb already carries an -a-, you can also think of it as keeping the infinitive's -a- as the theme vowel and hanging the endings -m, -i, -∅, -m, -ți, -u on it. Either way you land in the same place.
| Person | a cânta (to sing) | a aștepta (to wait) | a pleca (to leave) |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | cântam | așteptam | plecam |
| tu | cântai | așteptai | plecai |
| el / ea | cânta | aștepta | pleca |
| noi | cântam | așteptam | plecam |
| voi | cântați | așteptați | plecați |
| ei / ele | cântau | așteptau | plecau |
Pe vremea aceea lucram la fabrică și plecam de acasă la șase.
Back in those days I worked at the factory and used to leave home at six.
Te așteptam de o oră când în sfârșit ai apărut.
I'd been waiting for you for an hour when you finally showed up.
Bunica mea cânta mereu în bucătărie.
My grandmother was always singing in the kitchen.
The big simplification: infix verbs lose -ez-
Here is the point that surprises learners. Many Class I verbs take the -ez- infix in the present tense: a lucra (to work) conjugates as lucrez, lucrezi, lucrează in the present, not lucr + endings. You might expect that infix to carry over into the imperfect — but it does not. In the imperfect, the -ez- vanishes completely, and the verb conjugates with the plain -a- theme like any other Class I verb.
| Person | a lucra — present | a lucra — imperfect |
|---|---|---|
| eu | lucrez | lucram |
| tu | lucrezi | lucrai |
| el / ea | lucrează | lucra |
| noi | lucrăm | lucram |
| voi | lucrați | lucrați |
| ei / ele | lucrează | lucrau |
The imperfect is therefore lucram — never lucrezam. The same holds for every -ez- verb: a parca (to park) → parcam; a forma (to form, to dial) → formam; a desena (to draw) → desenam.
Înainte lucram în publicitate, dar acum sunt profesoară.
I used to work in advertising, but now I'm a teacher.
Copiii desenau pe trotuar cu cretă colorată.
The children were drawing on the sidewalk with colored chalk.
Why does this happen? The infixes -ez- and -esc- are present-tense (and present-subjunctive) phenomena only — historically they spread to keep stress on the ending in those tenses. The imperfect already carries its own stressed theme vowel -a-, so there is no slot, and no need, for an infix. Once you internalize this, a whole layer of present-tense irregularity evaporates the moment you move into the past.
The eu = noi overlap
Notice in the tables that the eu form and the noi form are identical: cântam is both "I was singing" and "we were singing," lucram is both "I worked" and "we worked." This syncretism runs through the entire imperfect, in every verb class. Romanian resolves it with the subject pronoun whenever context does not already make the person clear.
Eu așteptam afară, iar noi nu știam ce să facem.
I was waiting outside, and we didn't know what to do.
Noi plecam mai devreme, voi rămâneați până seara.
We used to leave earlier; you'd stay until evening.
What the imperfect is for here
Every example on this page describes something ongoing, habitual, or background in the past — never a single finished event. That is the imperfect's whole job (see the overview). A Class I verb in the imperfect translates as "was/were ...-ing," "used to ...," or simply sets the scene.
În fiecare vară plecam la mare cu părinții.
Every summer we used to go to the seaside with my parents.
Întreba mereu de tine când ne vedeam.
He always used to ask about you whenever we met.
Common Mistakes
❌ Pe atunci lucrezam la fabrică.
Incorrect — the present -ez- infix must drop in the imperfect.
✅ Pe atunci lucram la fabrică.
Back then I worked at the factory.
❌ Copiii desenezau toată ziua.
Incorrect — no infix in the imperfect; it's desenau.
✅ Copiii desenau toată ziua.
The children were drawing all day.
❌ Eu aștepta autobuzul.
Incorrect — 'aștepta' is the el/ea form; 'I was waiting' is 'așteptam'.
✅ Eu așteptam autobuzul.
I was waiting for the bus.
❌ Anul trecut am plecat la mare în fiecare weekend.
Incorrect for a habit — repeated weekend trips are imperfect (plecam), not a single completed event.
✅ Anul trecut plecam la mare în fiecare weekend.
Last year I used to go to the seaside every weekend.
Key Takeaways
- Class I imperfect = stem + -am, -ai, -a, -am, -ați, -au (theme vowel -a-).
- Present -ez- infix verbs lose the infix in the imperfect: lucrez → lucram, never lucrezam.
- The imperfect is simpler than the present because no verb carries an infix here.
- eu = noi (cântam, lucram); use the pronoun to disambiguate.
- Use it for ongoing, habitual, and background past action — not single finished events.
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- The Imperfect: OverviewA2 — An introduction to the Romanian imperfect — the past tense for ongoing, habitual, and background actions — and how it contrasts with the completed-event perfect compus.
- Imperfect: Class II (-ea) and III (-e) VerbsA2 — How to form the imperfect of Class II and III verbs, which share a single -ea- theme despite differing in the present tense.
- Imperfect: Class IV (-i, -î) VerbsA2 — How to form the imperfect of Class IV verbs in -i and -î, where the -esc/-ăsc present infix disappears and the -ea- theme takes over.
- Imperfect of a fi (eram)A2 — The irregular imperfect of a fi — eram, erai, era — the single most frequent imperfect form in Romanian and the engine of all past description.
- Perfect Compus vs ImperfectB1 — How to choose between the perfect compus and the imperfect for the Romanian past — completed events vs background, plus the verbs that change meaning.