The Verb a vrea (to want): Present | Romanian Grammar

A vrea — "to want" — is one of the most useful verbs in the language and one of the trickiest, because it lives a double life. As an ordinary verb it means "to want," and it forces a grammatical pattern English speakers do not expect: "I want to leave" comes out as vreau *să plec, with a little clause, not an infinitive. As an *auxiliary, a reduced set of its forms (voi, vei, va, vom, veți, vor) builds the literary future tense. The two faces share a root and overlap in one form (vor), so it pays to learn them side by side from the start rather than meeting the future tense as a stranger later on.

The present-tense forms (the "want" verb)

Person	Form	Meaning
eu	vreau	I want
tu	vrei	you want
el / ea	vrea	he / she wants
noi	vrem	we want
voi	vreți	you (pl.) want
ei / ele	vor	they want

The paradigm is irregular: note that the 3sg vrea is identical to the infinitive's bare form, and that 3pl is vor, not anything ending in the expected -u or -ă. Keep an eye on that vor — it is the form that overlaps with the future auxiliary below.

Vreau o cafea mare, fără zahăr, te rog.

I'd like a large coffee, no sugar, please.

Vrei să ieșim diseară undeva?

Do you want to go out somewhere tonight?

Copiii vor mereu înghețată după masă.

The kids always want ice cream after lunch.

"Want to do" = vrea + să + verb, not an infinitive

This is the headline pattern. English uses an infinitive after "want": "I want to leave." Romanian, like Balkan languages generally, has largely abandoned the infinitive in this slot and uses a subjunctive clause introduced by să: Vreau *să plec.* You are literally saying "I want that I leave."

Vreau să plec mai devreme azi.

I want to leave earlier today.

Vrea să devină medic, ca tatăl ei.

She wants to become a doctor, like her father.

Nu vrem să deranjăm, trecem altă dată.

We don't want to intrude, we'll come another time.

The verb after să takes its own subjunctive form, which for most verbs differs from the indicative only in the third person (el pleacă "he leaves" → să plece "that he leave"). The key point at this stage is the structure: want + să + conjugated verb, with no infinitive in sight.

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Reach for să whenever "want" is followed by another action. Vreau să… is the default frame for "I want to…": vreau să mănânc, vreau să dorm, vreau să știu. The bare infinitive (vreau a pleca) is not standard modern Romanian — it survives only in frozen, bookish phrasing.

Want + a noun (no să needed)

When a vrea is followed by a plain noun rather than another action, there is no să — the verb takes a direct object, just like English "I want a coffee."

Vreau o cafea.

I want a coffee. (want + noun → direct object, no să)

Vreau să beau o cafea.

I want to drink a coffee. (want + action → să clause)

The contrast between those two sentences is the whole rule in miniature: a thing follows directly; an action needs să.

a vrea vs a dori — register

A dori is the more formal, softer cousin of a vrea. Where vreau is direct ("I want"), doresc is polite and tentative ("I would like / I wish"), the verb of waiters, shop assistants, and official correspondence. In casual speech vreau is normal and not at all rude, but aș vrea (conditional, "I would like") and doresc soften a request.

Ce doriți să comandați?

What would you like to order? (waiter — formal a dori)

Aș vrea o masă pentru două persoane, vă rog.

I'd like a table for two, please. (softened with the conditional aș vrea)

Vă dorim sărbători fericite!

We wish you happy holidays! (a dori, set phrase)

The other face: the future auxiliary

A reduced set of a vrea's forms became, historically, the marker of the literary future tense (viitorul literar). These clitic-like auxiliaries are placed before the bare infinitive of the main verb:

Person	Future auxiliary	Example
eu	voi	voi pleca (I will leave)
tu	vei	vei pleca
el / ea	va	va pleca
noi	vom	vom pleca
voi	veți	veți pleca
ei / ele	vor	vor pleca

Mâine voi termina raportul și ți-l trimit.

Tomorrow I'll finish the report and send it to you.

Va ploua spre seară, după prognoză.

It'll rain towards evening, according to the forecast.

This future is the standard written form; in speech, Romanians far more often use the colloquial o să future (o să plec) or even the plain present for scheduled events (plec mâine). But the voi/vei/va… set is everywhere in news, literature, and careful prose, so you must recognise it — and you can see at a glance that it is a vrea worn down: vor is shared by both paradigms.

The vor trap

Because vor is both "they want" (present of a vrea) and "they will" (3pl future auxiliary), a sentence beginning Ei vor… is ambiguous until you see what follows:

Ei vor o casă mai mare.

They want a bigger house. (vor + noun → 'want')

Ei vor pleca în august.

They will leave in August. (vor + bare infinitive → future 'will')

The disambiguator is the same one as with a avea: look at what comes after. A noun (or să clause) after vor means "want"; a bare infinitive after vor means "will."

Common Mistakes

❌ Vreau a pleca acum.

Incorrect — modern Romanian does not use the bare infinitive after a vrea; use a să clause: vreau să plec.

✅ Vreau să plec acum.

I want to leave now.

❌ Eu vreu o bere.

Incorrect — the eu form is vreau, with -au.

✅ Eu vreau o bere.

I want a beer.

❌ Ei vrea să vină.

Incorrect — the 3pl form is vor, not vrea (that's 3sg): ei vor să vină.

✅ Ei vor să vină.

They want to come.

❌ Vreau să o cafea.

Incorrect — want + a plain noun takes no să: vreau o cafea. The să is only for a following action.

✅ Vreau o cafea.

I want a coffee.

❌ Noi vor să mâncăm.

Incorrect — the noi form is vrem, not vor: noi vrem să mâncăm.

✅ Noi vrem să mâncăm.

We want to eat.

Key Takeaways

Present: vreau, vrei, vrea, vrem, vreți, vor — irregular; watch the 3pl vor.
"Want to do something" → vrea + să + conjugated verb (a subjunctive clause), not an infinitive: vreau să plec.
"Want a thing" → vrea + noun directly, no să: vreau o cafea.
a dori / aș vrea are the formal, polite alternatives.
The same root yields the literary future auxiliaries voi, vei, va, vom, veți, vor; vor belongs to both paradigms, disambiguated by what follows (noun/să = want; bare infinitive = will).

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