A avea — "to have" — earns its place near the front of any Romanian course for two reasons. First, it is the everyday verb of possession: am o pisică, "I have a cat." Second, and just as importantly, it is the auxiliary that builds the entire compound past (perfectul compus): am citit, "I have read / I read." Its present-tense paradigm is tiny and slightly irregular, and because it does double duty as both a content verb and the past-tense engine, it is the single best verb to overlearn at the very start. Get am, ai, are, avem, aveți, au into reflex memory and a whole tense unlocks for free.
The present-tense forms
| Person | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| eu | am | I have |
| tu | ai | you have |
| el / ea | are | he / she / it has |
| noi | avem | we have |
| voi | aveți | you (pl.) have |
| ei / ele | au | they have |
The singular forms (am, ai, are) are short and irregular; the plural forms (avem, aveți, au) show the verb's actual stem av-. Unlike many Romanian verbs, here 3sg (are) and 3pl (au) are different, which is a small mercy.
Am o pisică portocalie pe nume Tofu.
I have an orange cat named Tofu.
Ai un pix să-mi împrumuți?
Have you got a pen to lend me?
Vecinii au trei copii și un câine.
The neighbours have three children and a dog.
Possession verb vs past-tense auxiliary
The verb a avea does two completely different jobs, and the forms overlap heavily. As a content verb of possession, it is followed by a noun — the thing possessed. As the auxiliary of the compound past, it is followed by a past participle — the verb's action, and three of its forms wear down (you will see this below). Compare:
Am o carte despre arhitectura Bucureștiului.
I have a book about Bucharest's architecture. (possession: am + noun)
Am citit cartea într-un weekend.
I read the book in a single weekend. (auxiliary: am + participle citit)
The auxiliary forms you will learn with the perfect compus are slightly reduced compared with the possession forms — they are am, ai, a, am, ați, au. Three persons differ from the possession paradigm: the 3sg auxiliary is a (a citit, "he read"), not are; and the plurals are the short am (1pl) and ați (2pl), not the full avem/aveți. The table makes the contrast clear:
| Person | Possession (a avea) | Past auxiliary |
|---|---|---|
| eu | am | am (am citit) |
| tu | ai | ai (ai citit) |
| el / ea | are | a (a citit) |
| noi | avem | am (am citit) |
| voi | aveți | ați (ați citit) |
| ei / ele | au | au (au citit) |
So are and avem/aveți are strictly possession forms, while a, am (plural), and ați are the worn-down auxiliary. Once again, what follows the verb resolves which is which: a participle means it is the auxiliary, whatever its shape.
Where Romanian "has" what English "is": age
This is the idiom that catches every English speaker. To state your age, Romanian uses a avea + number + ani ("years") — literally "I have twenty years," never "I am twenty."
Am douăzeci de ani.
I'm twenty (years old). (literally: I have twenty years)
Câți ani ai?
How old are you? (literally: how many years do you have?)
Fiica mea are șase ani și jumătate.
My daughter is six and a half.
Saying sunt douăzeci de ani ("I am twenty years") is simply wrong in Romanian — it sounds like "there are twenty years" and will confuse a listener. The verb of age is a avea, full stop. (Note the de before ani once the number is 20 or higher: douăzeci *de ani, but șase ani with no *de.)
a avea nevoie de — to need
Romanian has no single verb "to need." It uses a avea nevoie de — literally "to have need of." The de is obligatory and links to whatever is needed.
Am nevoie de o pauză, lucrez de șase ore.
I need a break, I've been working for six hours.
Ai nevoie de ajutor cu bagajele?
Do you need help with the luggage?
Copiii au nevoie de somn, nu de mai multe ecrane.
Children need sleep, not more screens.
But hunger, thirst, cold: those use a fi, not a avea
Here Romanian flips the expectation. While age and need use a avea, the sensations of hunger, thirst, cold, warmth, sleepiness use a different construction built on a fi with a dative pronoun: mi-e foame ("I'm hungry," literally "to-me is hunger"), mi-e sete, mi-e frig. So the mapping is not "English be → Romanian avea everywhere." Each idiom has to be learned for which verb it takes.
Mi-e foame, hai să comandăm ceva.
I'm hungry, let's order something. (a fi, not a avea)
Îți e sete? Avem apă în frigider.
Are you thirsty? We have water in the fridge. (sete = a fi; avem = possession)
Negation and questions
Negate with nu before the verb. In speech, nu am very commonly contracts to n-am, nu ai to n-ai, nu are to n-are, and so on — this is standard, not slang.
N-am timp acum, vorbim diseară.
I don't have time now, let's talk tonight. (n-am = nu am)
Nu aveți cumva o masă lângă fereastră?
You wouldn't happen to have a table by the window, would you?
Questions keep the same word order, with rising intonation — no auxiliary "do," unlike English:
Ai bani la tine sau plătesc eu?
Have you got cash on you, or shall I pay?
Common Mistakes
❌ Sunt douăzeci de ani.
Incorrect — age uses a avea, not a fi: Am douăzeci de ani.
✅ Am douăzeci de ani.
I'm twenty years old.
❌ El are citit cartea.
Incorrect — the 3sg auxiliary is a, not are: a citit. (are is only the possession form.)
✅ El a citit cartea.
He read the book.
❌ Am foame.
Incorrect — hunger uses a fi + dative: Mi-e foame. (a avea is not used for foame/sete/frig.)
✅ Mi-e foame.
I'm hungry.
❌ Am nevoie un sfat.
Incorrect — a avea nevoie requires de: am nevoie de un sfat.
✅ Am nevoie de un sfat.
I need a piece of advice.
❌ Noi am o casă la țară.
Incorrect — the noi form is avem, not am. (am is eu or the auxiliary.)
✅ Noi avem o casă la țară.
We have a house in the countryside.
Key Takeaways
- Forms: am, ai, are, avem, aveți, au — short irregular singulars, av- stem in the plural.
- The same forms mean possession (+ noun) and build the compound past (+ participle). The word after am tells you which.
- The auxiliary is reduced in three persons: 3sg a (not are), 1pl/2pl am/ați (not avem/aveți). A following participle always marks the auxiliary.
- Age and need take a avea (am … ani, am nevoie de); hunger/thirst/cold take a fi
- dative (mi-e foame).
- Nu am → n-am contraction is standard in speech.
Now practice Romanian
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Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- The Verb a fi (to be): PresentA1 — The present-tense forms of a fi — Romanian's single, all-purpose 'to be' — its colloquial reductions, and its core uses.
- Uses of a avea in the Present (possession, age, idioms)A1 — What the present-tense forms of a avea actually do — possession, age, the rich family of a avea + noun state idioms, a avea de + supine for things to do, and obligation — and why so much English 'be / need / must' maps onto Romanian 'have'.
- The Perfect Auxiliary (am, ai, a, am, ați, au)A2 — A close look at the reduced perfect auxiliary am, ai, a, am, ați, au — how it differs from the full present of a avea and where clitics attach around it.
- Expressing Need (a avea nevoie de, a-i trebui)A2 — Romanian's two ways to say 'need' — a avea nevoie de + noun (Am nevoie de ajutor) and the dative a-i trebui (Îmi trebuie timp) where the thing needed is the subject — plus a avea nevoie să / trebuie să for 'need to', the impersonal e nevoie să, and why there's no infinitive.
- a fi vs a avea for States (E frig / Mi-e frig / Am dreptate)A2 — How Romanian expresses physical sensations and states — bodily feelings use a fi + a dative clitic (Mi-e frig, Mi-e foame), ambient conditions use bare a fi (E frig afară), and a few states like 'be right' and 'need' use a avea (Am dreptate, Am nevoie).