Permission and Prohibition (a avea voie, e interzis)

English smears "can," "may," and "be allowed to" together and lets context sort them out. You can park here might mean you're physically able to or that it's permitted — same word. Romanian keeps a sharper tool in the drawer: alongside a putea (which, like "can," does double duty for ability and permission), it has a avea voie — literally "to have leave / permission" — the one construction that means only "be allowed," never "be able." Prohibition has its own dedicated frames: e interzis and nu e voie. This page maps the whole field so you can ask permission, grant it, and refuse it without ambiguity.

a avea voie (să): the unambiguous "be allowed"

The centrepiece is a avea voie — "to have permission." Voie is a noun ("leave, permission"), so this is the same productive a avea + noun pattern that gives am dreptate ("I'm right") and am nevoie de ("I need"). Here a avea conjugates normally (am, ai, are, avem, aveți, au voie), and an action follows in a să-clause. Unlike a putea, it can only mean permission — there is no ability reading.

The negative n-am voie / n-ai voie ("I'm/you're not allowed") is extremely common, and the bare N-ai voie! ("You're not allowed! / Not allowed!") is a complete, forceful refusal on its own — what a parent snaps at a child, or a guard at a tourist.

se poate? — "may I? / is it okay?"

The impersonal se poate ("it can [be done]") is the polite, all-purpose permission opener. Standing alone as a question, Se poate? is exactly the "May I? / Is it okay?" you say knocking on an open door, reaching for the last chair, or stepping into a shop. With a following action it takes a să-clause: Se poate să...?. (The full gradient of se poate / s-ar putea for possibility is on the possibility page; here we use its permission sense.)

The answer to a permission request is often the bare Se poate ("It's allowed / Go ahead") or Nu se poate ("It's not allowed / That can't be done"). For an extra-polite request, shift to the conditional s-ar putea să or the formula ați putea să...? (see the conditional for politeness).

e voie / nu e voie — the impersonal "it's allowed"

Built on the same voie, the impersonal e voie ("it's allowed") and nu e voie ("it's not allowed") state the rule without naming who it applies to — the language of signs, notices, and house rules. What's permitted is introduced by să + verb.

Prohibition: e interzis / interzis

For an explicit ban — stronger and more official than nu e voie — Romanian uses interzis ("forbidden"), the past participle of a interzice ("to forbid"). As an impersonal frame it's e interzis să + verb ("it is forbidden to..."). On signs it collapses to the bare adjective, agreeing with the thing banned: Fumatul interzis ("Smoking forbidden"), Accesul interzis ("No entry").

a lăsa pe cineva să — "to let someone"

English "let" — granting permission to a specific person — is a lăsa pe cineva să ("to let someone [do]"). A lăsa literally means "to leave / allow," and it takes a personal object plus a să-clause. This is the verb for permission granted person-to-person, as opposed to the impersonal rules above.

Note the clitic object: lasă-mă (let me), n-*o lasă (they don't let her), lasă-*l (let him). The person being permitted is the object of a lăsa; the permitted action sits in the să-clause.

a putea — can / may (ability and permission both)

Finally, the overlap. A putea ("can / be able") behaves exactly like English "can": it covers both physical/mental ability and permission, and only context tells them apart. Pot să intru? could be "am I able to enter?" or "may I enter?" — usually the latter from politeness, but the form alone doesn't decide.

Because a putea is ambiguous and a avea voie is not, the rule of thumb is simple: when the permission reading must be unmistakable — rules, rights, official allowances — use a avea voie or e voie. When you're just asking casually and politeness makes the meaning obvious, poți / pot is perfectly natural. (For the full mechanics of a putea, see its own page; for a grand summary of all the modals, the modal reference.)

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• a avea voie (să) is the unambiguous "be allowed" — Ai voie să intri, N-ai voie! — and a avea conjugates normally for person.
• Se poate? is the polite all-purpose "May I?"; Se poate / Nu se poate answers "it's allowed / not allowed."
• Impersonal rules use e voie / nu e voie să; explicit bans use e interzis să and, on signs, the bare participle (Fumatul interzis).
• a lăsa pe cineva să is "to let someone" — person as object, action in the să-clause: Lasă-mă să termin.
• a putea covers ability and permission like English "can," so it's ambiguous; reach for a avea voie when the permission reading must be clear.