The Class II overview makes the strategic point: the -ea conjugation is a small, closed set of roughly a dozen verbs, every one of them high-frequency, and the smart approach is to memorize whole paradigms rather than hunt for a productive rule. This page is the payoff — a member-by-member reference with the complete present paradigm of each common Class II verb in one place. Treat it like a phrasebook of conjugations: you will use a putea and a vedea hundreds of times a day, so the few minutes spent here are among the best-spent in the whole verb section.
The shared skeleton
Every Class II verb hangs its forms on the same endings — — / -i / -e / -em / -eți / — — with the eu form identical to the ei/ele form (both the bare stem). The stem is what makes each verb feel distinct: the -ea of the infinitive is stripped away, the stem vowel often shifts (văd vs vedem), and the tu -i triggers consonant changes (d→z, t→ț). None of this is productive; you simply recognize it across the list.
| Person | Ending |
|---|---|
| eu | — (bare stem) |
| tu | -i |
| el / ea | -e |
| noi | -em |
| voi | -eți |
| ei / ele | — (= eu) |
a vedea — to see
The reference paradigm: stem vowel e→ă under stress (văd), and d→z before the tu -i (vezi).
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | văd |
| tu | vezi |
| el / ea | vede |
| noi | vedem |
| voi | vedeți |
| ei / ele | văd |
Văd că ai ajuns deja, bine.
I see you've already arrived, good.
Ne vedem mâine la zece în fața gării.
We'll meet tomorrow at ten in front of the station.
a putea — to be able to, can
The modal workhorse: o→oa in the 3sg (poate), t→ț before -i (poți), and o→u in noi/voi (putem).
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | pot |
| tu | poți |
| el / ea | poate |
| noi | putem |
| voi | puteți |
| ei / ele | pot |
Nu pot acum, te sun eu peste o oră.
I can't right now, I'll call you in an hour.
Poate să întârzie din cauza traficului.
He may be late because of traffic.
a bea — to drink
A famous half-irregular: the eu/ei form is the diphthong beau, the 3sg is bea (= the infinitive minus the particle), and the middle persons use a plain be- stem (bei, bem, beți).
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | beau |
| tu | bei |
| el / ea | bea |
| noi | bem |
| voi | beți |
| ei / ele | beau |
Beau un ceai și mă culc.
I'll have a tea and go to bed.
Ce bei? Fac eu cinste.
What are you drinking? It's on me.
a cădea — to fall
Stem vowel a throughout the stressed forms (cad), with d→z before the tu -i (cazi) — the same alternation as a vedea.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | cad |
| tu | cazi |
| el / ea | cade |
| noi | cădem |
| voi | cădeți |
| ei / ele | cad |
Note the a→ă shift in noi/voi: cad but cădem, cădeți.
Cad frunzele, s-a făcut toamnă.
The leaves are falling, autumn has arrived.
Ai grijă, cazi de pe scaun așa!
Careful, you'll fall off the chair like that!
a tăcea — to be silent, to stop talking
Stem tac- in the stressed forms (tac, taci, tace), with a→ă in noi/voi (tăcem). The c stays hard before the tu -i in spelling but softens in sound (taci = "tatch").
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | tac |
| tu | taci |
| el / ea | tace |
| noi | tăcem |
| voi | tăceți |
| ei / ele | tac |
Tac, că oricum nu mă ascultă nimeni.
I'll keep quiet, nobody listens to me anyway.
Taci o clipă, vreau să aud știrile.
Be quiet a second, I want to hear the news.
a plăcea — to be pleasing (to like)
The verb behind îmi place (I like). Because what is liked is the grammatical subject, you meet the third-person forms (place, plac) far more than the rest. Stem plăc- in noi/voi, plac- in the stressed singular/3pl.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | plac |
| tu | placi |
| el / ea | place |
| noi | plăcem |
| voi | plăceți |
| ei / ele | plac |
Îmi place orașul ăsta tot mai mult.
I like this city more and more.
Îmi plac serile lungi de vară.
I love long summer evenings. (plural thing → plac)
a părea — to seem, to appear
Stem par- in the stressed forms (par, pari, pare), păr- in noi/voi (părem). Hugely common in mi se pare (it seems to me) and pare că (it seems that).
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | par |
| tu | pari |
| el / ea | pare |
| noi | părem |
| voi | păreți |
| ei / ele | par |
Pari obosit, ai dormit prost?
You seem tired, did you sleep badly?
Mi se pare că plouă afară.
It seems to me that it's raining outside.
a ședea — to sit, to dwell (literary / formal)
Stem șed- with d→z before -i (șezi) and the 3sg șade (with e→a). In modern everyday speech, a sta has largely taken over the "sit/stay" meaning, so (formal/literary) a ședea now sounds elevated or set-phrase-bound (ședință — a meeting/session — is its noun relative).
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | șed |
| tu | șezi |
| el / ea | șade |
| noi | ședem |
| voi | ședeți |
| ei / ele | șed |
Ședem la masă și discutăm pe îndelete.
We sit at the table and talk at length. (formal/literary register)
The whole class at a glance
| Infinitive | eu / ei | tu | el / ea | noi | voi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a vedea (see) | văd | vezi | vede | vedem | vedeți |
| a putea (can) | pot | poți | poate | putem | puteți |
| a bea (drink) | beau | bei | bea | bem | beți |
| a cădea (fall) | cad | cazi | cade | cădem | cădeți |
| a tăcea (be silent) | tac | taci | tace | tăcem | tăceți |
| a plăcea (please) | plac | placi | place | plăcem | plăceți |
| a părea (seem) | par | pari | pare | părem | păreți |
| a ședea (sit) | șed | șezi | șade | ședem | ședeți |
Two relatives worth recognizing: a zăcea (to lie ill, zac/zaci/zace) patterns exactly like a tăcea, and a apărea (to appear) is just a părea with a prefix (apar, apari, apare, apărem).
How this differs from English
English modals don't conjugate at all (I can, you can, he can — can never changes), so pot/poți/poate/putem feels like overkill for one idea. And English see/sees moves one consonant; văd/vezi/vede/vedem moves the vowel and the consonant. The honest framing: there is no rule to derive these — Class II is the merged residue of two Latin conjugations, and its members carry frozen, individual stem shapes. Because the set is closed and tiny, memorizing the eight paradigms above is genuinely easier than memorizing a rule, and it is exactly how native learners internalize them.
Common Mistakes
❌ Noi poatem veni mai târziu.
Incorrect — poate is only the 3sg; the 1pl is putem (o → u).
✅ Noi putem veni mai târziu.
We can come later.
❌ Eu videz un film diseară.
Incorrect — a vedea is Class II, not an -ez verb; you can't regularize it.
✅ Văd un film diseară.
I'm watching a film tonight.
❌ Tu bii cafea?
Incorrect — the tu form of a bea is bei, not bii.
✅ Tu bei cafea?
Do you drink coffee?
❌ Îmi place serile de vară.
Incorrect — the thing liked is plural (serile), so the verb is plac.
✅ Îmi plac serile de vară.
I love summer evenings.
❌ Ei vede totul de aici.
Incorrect — the 3pl is văd (= eu), not vede.
✅ Ei văd totul de aici.
They see everything from here.
Key Takeaways
- Class II is a closed, finite set; this page lists the common members with full paradigms — learn them whole.
- The endings are — / -i / -e / -em / -eți / —, with eu = ei/ele (bare stem) in every member.
- Stem shifts recur: e/ă (văd/vedem), o/u (pot/putem), a/ă (cad/cădem), plus d→z before -i (vezi, cazi, șezi).
- a bea is the half-irregular (beau, bei, bea, bem, beți, beau); a plăcea and a părea live mostly in the 3rd person.
- a ședea is (formal/literary); use a sta for "sit/stay" in everyday speech.
- a zăcea mirrors a tăcea; a apărea is a părea with a prefix.
Now practice Romanian
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Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- Class II Present: -ea VerbsA2 — How to conjugate the small but high-frequency Class II (-ea) verbs in the present indicative, with full paradigms for a vedea, a putea, and a plăcea.
- Irregular Present: a da, a sta, a bea, a luaB1 — How to conjugate four high-frequency monosyllabic irregular verbs — a da, a sta, a bea, and the famously two-stemmed a lua — in the present indicative.
- Stem Alternations: An OverviewB1 — The predictable vowel and consonant alternations that reshape Romanian verb stems across the paradigm — and why learning them once pays off across the whole grammar.
- Class III Present: Subtypes by ParticipleB1 — How to tame the messy Class III (-e) conjugation by subgrouping it — by stem-final consonant (a merge, a face, a zice) and by participle type (-s, -t, -ut) — so one pattern predicts the rest.
- Irregular Present Verbs: Consolidated ReferenceB1 — A one-stop reference gathering the truly irregular present paradigms of Romanian — a fi, a avea, a vrea, a da, a sta, a ști, a lua, a bea — with the high-frequency ones flagged and the patterns that tie them together.