Dative Reflexive Verbs | Romanian Grammar

Some Romanian reflexive verbs use a different clitic series — the dative set: îmi, îți, își, ne, vă, își. These are not the same words as the accusative mă, te, se, and you cannot swap them. A dative-reflexive verb marks an action done to one's own mind or in one's own interest: îmi amintesc (I bring back to my own mind = I remember), îmi doresc (I wish for myself). Choosing dative over accusative is not something you reason out sentence by sentence — it is fixed in the verb's dictionary entry, like the gender of a noun. This page gives you the clitic set, the key verbs, a full paradigm, and a clear contrast with the accusative reflexives.

The dative clitic series

Person	Dative clitic	Accusative (for contrast)
eu (I)	îmi	mă
tu (you)	îți	te
el / ea (he/she)	își	se
noi (we)	ne	ne
voi (you pl.)	vă	vă
ei / ele (they)	își	se

The plural forms ne and vă are shared with the accusative series — only the singulars and the 3rd-person plural reveal the case. The two giveaways are the 1sg îmi (vs accusative mă) and the 3rd-person își (vs accusative se). A dative-reflexive verb is listed in dictionaries with a-și: a-și aminti, a-și dori, a-și imagina.

💡

The single fastest test: does the dictionary form show a se or a-și? A se → accusative clitics (mă, te, se). A-și → dative clitics (îmi, îți, își). The hyphen-și is the flag.

The key dative-reflexive verbs

Verb	Meaning	1sg form
a-și aminti	to remember	îmi amintesc
a-și imagina	to imagine	îmi imaginez
a-și închipui	to imagine, picture	îmi închipui
a-și dori	to wish (for), want deeply	îmi doresc
a-și permite	to afford, allow oneself	îmi permit
a-și propune	to set oneself (a goal)	îmi propun

Îmi amintesc prima zi de școală perfect.

I remember my first day of school perfectly.

Îmi doresc o vacanță departe de orașul ăsta.

I'm longing for a holiday far from this city.

Nu îmi permit mașina asta acum.

I can't afford this car right now.

Îți imaginezi cât a costat reparația?

Can you imagine how much the repair cost?

The logic: action on one's own mind or for one's own benefit

The dative clitic literally means "to/for myself," and that meaning lingers even where English hides it. A-și aminti is, at root, "to bring (something) back to oneself" — to one's own memory. A-și dori is "to wish (something) for oneself." A-și permite is "to allow oneself" (and so, "to afford"). Seen this way, the dative is not random: it marks the self as the beneficiary or mental locus of the action, not as the thing being acted upon. That is precisely why these verbs reject the accusative — you are not doing something to yourself, you are doing it for or within yourself.

Mi-am propus să citesc mai mult anul ăsta.

I've set myself the goal of reading more this year.

Îmi închipui că ești obosit după drum.

I imagine you're tired after the trip.

Model paradigm: a-și aminti (to remember)

Person	Form	Meaning
eu	îmi amintesc	I remember
tu	îți amintești	you remember
el / ea	își amintește	he / she remembers
noi	ne amintim	we remember
voi	vă amintiți	you (pl.) remember
ei / ele	își amintesc	they remember

Îți amintești cum o chema pe profesoara noastră?

Do you remember what our teacher's name was?

Bunica își amintește lucruri de acum șaptezeci de ani.

Grandma remembers things from seventy years ago.

Ne amintim cu drag de vara aia.

We remember that summer fondly.

The verb a aminti without the dative clitic exists, but it means "to remind (someone of something)" — îți amintesc că ai o întâlnire = "I remind you that you have a meeting." The dative-reflexive a-și aminti is the one that means "to remember." Same root, different argument structure.

Contrast with accusative reflexives

Put the two side by side so the case difference is unmistakable. Both verbs are reflexive; only the clitic case differs, and it is lexically fixed.

	a se uita (accusative)	a-și aminti (dative)
eu	mă uit	îmi amintesc
tu	te uiți	îți amintești
el / ea	se uită	își amintește

You cannot say mă amintesc any more than you can say îmi uit (in the "look" sense). The case of the clitic is part of the verb's identity — learn it the moment you learn the verb.

💡

Many of these verbs let you "do something for yourself" with an ordinary, non-reflexive verb too: îmi cumpăr o cafea (I buy myself a coffee), îmi fac o cafea (I make myself a coffee). Here the dative clitic is the optional "for myself" meaning. But for a-și aminti, a-și dori, a-și permite, the dative clitic is obligatory — not a stylistic add-on.

Common Mistakes

❌ Mă amintesc de tine.

Incorrect — a-și aminti is dative-reflexive; it takes îmi, not the accusative mă.

✅ Îmi amintesc de tine.

I remember you.

❌ Se amintește numele meu.

Incorrect — the 3rd-person dative clitic is își, not the accusative se.

✅ Își amintește numele meu.

He remembers my name.

❌ Doresc o vacanță. (intended as 'I long for')

Without the clitic, doresc is plainer ('I want/desire'); the heartfelt 'I'm longing for' is the reflexive îmi doresc.

✅ Îmi doresc o vacanță.

I'm longing for a holiday.

❌ Te imaginezi un concediu lung.

Incorrect — a-și imagina is dative; for 'you' it is îți, not the accusative te.

✅ Îți imaginezi un concediu lung.

You imagine a long vacation.

❌ Nu mă permit asta.

Incorrect — a-și permite is dative-reflexive; 'I can't afford this' is nu îmi permit.

✅ Nu îmi permit asta.

I can't afford this.

Key Takeaways

The dative reflexive series is îmi, îți, își, ne, vă, își; the dictionary flag is a-și.
These verbs mark an action on one's own mind (a-și aminti, a-și imagina) or for one's own benefit (a-și dori, a-și permite).
The clitic's case is lexically fixed — a-și aminti is always dative; you can never substitute the accusative mă/te/se.
A-și aminti = "to remember"; the non-reflexive a aminti = "to remind" — same root, different meaning.

Now practice Romanian

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Romanian→