Romanian has four non-finite verb forms — forms that do not carry person or tense on their own — and learners constantly mix them up because three of them look superficially similar. This page is a consolidated reference table: the infinitive, the gerund (gerunziu), the participle (participiu), and the supine (supin), each laid out with how it is formed, what its main job is, and a natural example. The single most useful thing you can take away is that each form has one distinct job, and the endings keep them apart: the gerund ends in -ând/-ind, the participle in -at/-ut/-it, and the supine is just de + that same participle. Get those signatures clear and the four stop blurring.
The master table
Here are all four forms for one verb from each conjugation class, so you can see how they pattern across the classes at a glance.
| Class / verb | Infinitive | Gerund | Participle | Supine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I — a cânta (sing) | a cânta | cântând | cântat | de cântat |
| II — a vedea (see) | a vedea | văzând | văzut | de văzut |
| III — a merge (go) | a merge | mergând | mers | de mers |
| IV — a citi (read) | a citi | citind | citit | de citit |
| IV — a coborî (descend) | a coborî | coborând | coborât | de coborât |
Notice the chain: the supine is built from the participle (cântat → de cântat), so really you have three distinct endings to learn — the infinitive's -a/-ea/-e/-i/-î, the gerund's -ând/-ind, and the participle's -at/-ut/-it/-ât — plus the supine's little de prefix on the last of those.
1. The infinitive — citation and abstract form
The infinitive is the dictionary form, cited with the particle a: a cânta, a vedea, a merge, a citi. Its primary jobs are to name the action (it's the form you look up) and to build the future and conditional (which use the bare short infinitive: voi cânta, aș cânta). As a complement of another verb it has largely been replaced by să + subjunctive (vreau să cânt, not vreau a cânta) — see short infinitive usage. It also survives after prepositions like pentru a, fără a. There is also a long infinitive (cântare, vedere, mergere, citire) which has become a noun (see long infinitive as noun).
A învăța o limbă nouă cere răbdare.
Learning a new language takes patience. (infinitive as the abstract subject)
Pentru a reuși, trebuie să exersezi zilnic.
To succeed, you have to practise daily. (short infinitive after 'pentru a')
2. The gerund (gerunziu) — simultaneous, adverbial
The gerund ends in -ând or -ind (the choice is phonological — front/palatal stems take -ind, the rest -ând; see gerund formation). Its job is adverbial: it describes an action running alongside the main verb — "while / by / when doing." It is invariable (no agreement, ever), and it is emphatically not the English progressive "be + -ing."
Mergând spre casă, am întâlnit-o pe Maria.
Walking home, I ran into Maria. (gerund = simultaneous action)
Înveți cel mai bine citind cu voce tare.
You learn best by reading aloud. (gerund = means, 'by doing')
Fiind obosit, a renunțat la plimbare.
Being tired, he gave up on the walk. (irregular gerund 'fiind' of a fi)
3. The participle (participiu) — perfect, passive, adjective
The participle ends in -at (class I), -ut (many class II/III), or -it / -ât (class IV), e.g. cântat, văzut, mers, citit, coborât. It is the busiest form, with three jobs. It builds the perfect compus (am cântat "I sang"), where it is invariable. It builds the passive with a fi (este cântat "is sung"), where it agrees like an adjective. And it works on its own as an adjective (o melodie cântată de toți "a song sung by everyone"), again agreeing in gender and number — see participle as adjective.
Am citit cartea pe care mi-ai recomandat-o.
I read the book you recommended to me. (participle 'citit' in the perfect compus — invariable)
Ușa era deschisă și luminile aprinse.
The door was open and the lights on. (participles 'deschisă', 'aprinse' as agreeing adjectives — feminine, plural)
Scrisoarea, scrisă de mână, mi-a plăcut mult.
The letter, written by hand, pleased me a lot. (participle 'scrisă' as agreeing adjective)
4. The supine (supin) — "to be done" / activity noun
The supine is de + participle: de cântat, de văzut, de citit, de făcut. English has no single equivalent; it covers two main ideas. First, a "to-be-done" / necessity sense after adjectives and with a avea — e greu de făcut ("it's hard to do"), am ceva de spus ("I have something to say"). Second, an activity-noun sense after certain nouns and the verb a termina — mașină de spălat ("washing machine," literally "machine for washing"), am terminat de mâncat ("I've finished eating"). The supine is invariable.
Mai am multe de făcut până diseară.
I still have a lot to do before tonight. (supine after 'a avea' — the to-be-done sense)
Filmul ăsta e numaidecât de văzut.
This film is an absolute must-see. (supine 'de văzut' = worth/to-be-seen)
Am terminat de spălat vasele.
I've finished washing the dishes. (supine after 'a termina')
Mi-am cumpărat o mașină de tuns iarba.
I bought myself a lawnmower. (supine 'de tuns' in a compound noun — 'machine for cutting the grass')
How they feed the verb system
These four are not a side topic — they are the raw material of the compound tenses. The infinitive builds the future (voi cânta) and conditional (aș cânta); the participle builds the perfect (am cântat) and passive (e cântat). The gerund and supine stay outside the tense system, doing adverbial and nominal work. Seeing how the non-finite forms feed the finite tenses is exactly the integration the verb-system capstone builds on.
The look-alikes: gerund vs participle vs supine
The three forms that trip learners up share a verb stem but wear different endings and do different jobs. Burn this contrast in:
| Form | Ending | Job | Agrees? | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gerund | -ând / -ind | while/by doing (adverbial) | never | cântând |
| Participle | -at / -ut / -it / -ât | perfect, passive, adjective | as adjective/passive | cântat |
| Supine | de + participle | to-be-done / activity noun | never | de cântat |
Cântând, a intrat în cameră.
Singing, he entered the room. (gerund — adverbial, simultaneous)
A cântat toată seara.
He sang all evening. (participle — in the perfect compus)
Mai e o melodie de cântat.
There's one more song to sing. (supine — to-be-done)
Common Mistakes
❌ Cântat acasă, am văzut-o. (participle where the gerund is needed)
Incorrect — for a simultaneous 'while doing' you need the gerund, not the participle.
✅ Mergând acasă, am văzut-o.
Walking home, I saw her.
❌ Citând cartea, a adormit. (wrong gerund ending)
Incorrect — 'a citi' has a front stem, so the gerund is 'citind', not 'citând'.
✅ Citind cartea, a adormit.
While reading the book, he fell asleep.
❌ Am ceva de spunând. (gerund where the supine is needed)
Incorrect — the to-be-done sense uses the supine 'de' + participle: 'de spus', not the gerund.
✅ Am ceva de spus.
I have something to say.
❌ O carte cântând de toți. (gerund as an adjective)
Incorrect — to modify a noun like an adjective you need the participle, which agrees: 'cântată'.
✅ O melodie cântată de toți.
A song sung by everyone.
❌ Am terminat de mâncând. (gerund after a termina)
Incorrect — 'a termina' takes the supine: 'am terminat de mâncat'.
✅ Am terminat de mâncat.
I've finished eating.
Key Takeaways
- Romanian has four non-finite forms, each with one job: infinitive (a cânta — citation/abstract, builds future & conditional), gerund (cântând — simultaneous, adverbial), participle (cântat — perfect/passive/adjective), supine (de cântat — to-be-done / activity noun).
- The endings keep them apart: gerund -ând/-ind, participle -at/-ut/-it/-ât, supine = de
- participle.
- Only the participle agrees (as an adjective or in the passive); the gerund and supine are invariable.
- The infinitive and participle feed the compound tenses; the gerund and supine do adverbial and nominal work outside the tense system.
- The three look-alikes to keep straight: gerund (cântând, while doing), participle (cântat, done), supine (de cântat, to be done).
Now practice Romanian
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Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- The Gerunziu: FormationB1 — How to form the Romanian gerund with -ând or -ind, why the choice is phonologically predictable, and why it is never the English be + -ing progressive.
- Using the Short InfinitiveB1 — Where the short infinitive (a face) survives in modern Romanian — chiefly after prepositions in formal writing — and why să has replaced it almost everywhere else.
- The Past Participle as AdjectiveB1 — How the Romanian participle agrees in gender and number like any adjective — its four-way paradigm, its role in the a-fi passive, and the exact boundary where agreement switches on.
- The Long Infinitive as a NounB2 — How Romanian's long infinitive (-re) became a productive engine for feminine abstract nouns — mâncare, plăcere, iubire — and why recognizing them as deverbal nouns, not verb forms, unlocks a large slice of vocabulary.
- The Four Conjugation ClassesA2 — How Romanian sorts verbs into four classes by infinitive ending, why class membership predicts the present tense, and the all-important -esc/-ăsc sub-pattern of class IV.
- The Romanian Verb System: Capstone ReviewB2 — A synthesis that connects the pillars of the Romanian verb into one system — the four conjugation classes, the part-synthetic/part-compound tense system with its unusually synthetic pluperfect, the să-subjunctive that replaced the infinitive, the clitic complex glued to the verb, and the se voice system — so the tenses stop being an unconnected list.