Romanian negation is, for the most part, a single trick applied everywhere: put nu directly in front of the verb-plus-clitics block, and contract it to n- before a vowel. That one move handles the present, the perfect compus, both futures, the conditional, and the subjunctive without modification. This page walks nu across the entire verb system in one sweep so you can see how uniform it really is — and then isolates the two places where the uniform rule breaks: the negative singular imperative, which swaps in the infinitive (Nu veni!, never Nu vino!), and non-finite negation (gerund, participle, adjective), which prefixes ne- onto the verb itself (nefiind, neterminat). Master the one rule plus the two exceptions and you can negate any verb form in the language.
The default: nu before the finite verb
In the present indicative, nu sits immediately before the verb, with any object clitics sandwiched between them in the order nu + clitic + verb.
Nu merg azi la birou, lucrez de acasă.
I'm not going to the office today, I'm working from home.
Nu-l văd nicăieri, poate a plecat deja.
I don't see him anywhere, maybe he's already left. (nu îl → nu-l)
Nu-mi place deloc cum sună asta.
I don't like the sound of that at all. (nu îmi → nu-mi)
The contractions nu-l and nu-mi are not optional ornaments — they are how the language is written and spoken. The detailed mechanics of every clitic fusion live on the nu placement page; here the point is simply that the present is the baseline that every other tense imitates.
Perfect compus: nu before the auxiliary
In the perfect compus, the verb complex begins with the auxiliary (am, ai, a, am, ați, au). Since nu leads the whole block, it lands before the auxiliary — and because every auxiliary form starts with a vowel, it almost always contracts to n-.
N-am dormit deloc azi-noapte.
I didn't sleep at all last night. (nu am → n-am)
Nu te-am sunat pentru că era târziu.
I didn't call you because it was late. (nu — te — am, written nu te-am)
N-au venit nici de data asta.
They didn't come this time either. (nu au → n-au, with concord nici)
A clitic in front of the auxiliary attaches to it (te-am, ne-au), and nu still leads the whole cluster: nu → te → am → participle.
Future: nu voi… and n-o să…
Romanian has two everyday futures, and nu negates both by sitting at the front. The voi future (formal) puts nu before the auxiliary; the o să future (colloquial) puts nu before o, contracting to n-o să.
Nu voi uita niciodată ce ai făcut pentru mine.
I'll never forget what you did for me. (formal, with concord niciodată)
N-o să apuc să termin până diseară.
I won't manage to finish by tonight. (colloquial; nu o să → n-o să)
Nu mai vine, n-o să mai aștept.
He's not coming anymore, I won't keep waiting.
Conditional: nu aș… → n-aș…
The conditional auxiliary (aș, ai, ar, am, ați, ar) also starts with a vowel, so negation regularly contracts to n-aș, n-ai, n-ar.
N-aș face niciodată așa ceva.
I would never do such a thing. (nu aș → n-aș, concord niciodată)
N-ar fi trebuit să-i spui.
You shouldn't have told him. (conditional perfect)
Nu ți-aș cere asta dacă n-ar fi important.
I wouldn't ask you this if it weren't important.
Subjunctive: să nu (not nu să)
The subjunctive is the one finite case where nu does not lead the whole block — because the block is led by să, which is a fixed clause-introducer. The negator slots in after să and before the verb: the order is să + nu + (clitic) + verb, never nu să.
Vreau să nu mai întârzii la întâlniri.
I want to stop being late to meetings. (să nu — not nu să)
Am închis ușa ca să nu intre frigul.
I closed the door so the cold wouldn't get in.
Ai grijă să nu-l scapi pe jos.
Be careful not to drop it. (să nu-l — clitic after nu)
Imperative: the singular swaps in the infinitive
This is the first true exception. The affirmative imperative has its own special forms (Vino! "Come!", Spune! "Say!"). But you cannot simply put nu in front of those forms to make a prohibition. Romanian builds the negative singular imperative from nu + the (short) infinitive:
| Verb | Affirmative (sg.) | Negative (sg.) = nu + infinitive |
|---|---|---|
| a veni | Vino! | Nu veni! |
| a spune | Spune! | Nu spune! |
| a face | Fă! | Nu face! |
| a pleca | Pleacă! | Nu pleca! |
| a se grăbi | Grăbește-te! | Nu te grăbi! |
Nu pleca încă, mai stai puțin!
Don't leave yet, stay a little longer!
Nu-mi spune că ai uitat din nou.
Don't tell me you forgot again. (clitic moves in front: nu-mi spune)
Nu te grăbi, avem timp destul.
Don't rush, we have plenty of time.
The plural negative imperative, by contrast, is regular: it is just nu + the normal voi form, identical to the affirmative plural minus the prohibition reading. So Veniți! "Come!" negates simply as Nu veniți!
Nu veniți mâine, biroul e închis.
Don't come tomorrow, the office is closed. (plural — regular nu + veniți)
Nu vă faceți griji, totul e în regulă.
Don't worry, everything's fine. (plural reflexive)
The full paradigm and the clitic behavior are drilled on the negative imperative page; the headline for this overview is the asymmetry: singular = nu + infinitive, plural = nu + voi-form.
Non-finite negation: the ne- prefix
The second true exception is that gerund, participle, and verbal adjective are not negated with a separate nu word at all — they take a prefix ne- glued directly onto the verb.
Gerund
Nefiind acasă, n-a auzit soneria.
Not being home, he didn't hear the doorbell. (a fi → nefiind)
Neavând bani, am renunțat la excursie.
Having no money, we gave up on the trip. (a avea → neavând)
The gerund can even stack the iterative mai inside the prefix: ne + mai + gerund → nemaiavând ("no longer having"), nemaiștiind ("no longer knowing").
Nemaiavând răbdare, a plecat fără să aștepte.
Having lost all patience, he left without waiting.
Participle and verbal adjective
The past participle, used as an adjective, negates the same way — ne- prefixed onto the participle, and the result agrees in gender and number like any adjective.
Lasă vasele nespălate, le fac eu mai târziu.
Leave the dishes unwashed, I'll do them later. (a spăla → nespălate, fem. pl.)
Avem încă trei capitole neterminate.
We still have three unfinished chapters. (a termina → neterminate)
A rămas o întrebare nelămurită.
One unresolved question remained. (a lămuri → nelămurită)
Infinitive
The infinitive itself (in its surviving niches — after a putea, after prepositions like pentru a, fără a) is negated with the ordinary preverbal nu, slotted after the a: the order is a + nu + verb.
Te rog a nu deschide fereastra.
Please do not open the window. (formal/written notice — a nu deschide)
A nu se lăsa la îndemâna copiilor.
Keep out of reach of children. (warning label — a nu se lăsa)
So the non-finite split is: gerund, participle, adjective → ne- prefix; infinitive → a nu + verb (the ordinary preverbal nu, just after a). The full inventory of non-finite forms and how they behave is consolidated on the nonfinite reference.
Negative concord recap
Whichever form you negate, remember that Romanian uses double (concord) negation: nu on the verb stays even when a negative word like nimic, niciodată, nimeni, nici is present. The negative word does not replace nu; it harmonizes with it.
Nu spun niciodată nimănui nimic.
I never tell anyone anything. (four negatives — all obligatory)
N-am văzut pe nimeni acolo.
I didn't see anyone there.
This is the opposite of English, which forbids two negatives ("I didn't see anyone"). The full logic is on the negative concord page — for negating verb forms, just keep nu in place no matter how many negative words pile up.
Common Mistakes
Using the affirmative imperative form with nu (the single most common error):
❌ Nu vino aici!
Incorrect — the negative singular imperative uses the infinitive, not the imperative form vino.
✅ Nu veni aici!
Don't come here!
Ordering the subjunctive negator as nu să:
❌ Vreau nu să plece.
Incorrect — the negator goes inside the clause: să nu, not nu să.
✅ Vreau să nu plece.
I want him not to leave.
Negating a gerund or adjective with a separate nu instead of the ne- prefix:
❌ Nu fiind acasă, n-a auzit.
Incorrect — the gerund prefixes ne-: nefiind.
✅ Nefiind acasă, n-a auzit.
Not being home, he didn't hear.
Leaving nu am uncontracted in normal speech:
❌ Nu am terminat încă. (kept fully separate in casual speech)
Understandable but stiff — everyday Romanian contracts to N-am terminat încă.
✅ N-am terminat încă.
I haven't finished yet.
Dropping nu because a negative word is already present:
❌ Văd pe nimeni.
Incorrect — Romanian uses concord; the verb still needs nu: Nu văd pe nimeni.
✅ Nu văd pe nimeni.
I don't see anyone.
Key Takeaways
- One rule covers most negation: nu leads the verb-plus-clitics block and contracts to n- before a vowel (n-am, n-aș, n-o să).
- The subjunctive keeps nu inside the clause: să nu, never nu să.
- Exception 1 — the negative singular imperative swaps in the infinitive: Nu veni!, Nu pleca! (never Nu vino!). The plural is regular: Nu veniți!
- Exception 2 — gerund, participle, and verbal adjective prefix ne- (nefiind, neterminat, nespălate); the infinitive uses a nu + verb (a nu uita).
- Romanian negation is concord: keep nu on the verb even alongside nimic, niciodată, nimeni.
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- The Negator 'nu' and Its ContractionsA1 — Where nu goes and how it contracts. The negator sits strictly BEFORE the verb, ahead of any object pronouns (Nu te văd, Nu îmi place). Before a vowel it elides to n- (nu am → n-am), and before clitics it fuses (nu îmi → nu-mi, nu îl → nu-l, nu este → nu-i). This page drills the placement and the everyday contractions in the present and perfect.
- The Negative ImperativeA2 — The crucial asymmetry: the negative singular command uses nu + the short infinitive (Nu cânta!, Nu veni!), not the affirmative form — while the negative plural uses nu + the indicative 2pl.
- Negation in Commands and Non-Finite FormsB1 — How nu attaches beyond the ordinary verb. The negative singular command is the striking case: nu + the INFINITIVE (Nu pleca!, Nu vorbi!), not the affirmative imperative — while the plural is nu + indicative (Nu plecați!). This page gathers negation across all the non-indicative forms: imperative, conjunctiv (să nu uiți), infinitive (a nu uita), gerund (nefiind), and the lexical prefix ne-.
- Negative Concord (Double Negation)A1 — Romanian piles up negatives that all agree, and the verbal nu is non-negotiable. Where English uses one negative ('I never tell anyone anything'), Romanian marks every element negative AND keeps nu on the verb: Nu spun nimănui niciodată nimic. What English calls a 'double-negative error' is the REQUIRED form here. This page teaches the system and how the negatives stack.
- Non-Finite Forms: Reference TableB1 — A consolidated reference table of Romanian's four non-finite verb forms across the conjugation classes — the infinitive (a cânta), the gerund (cântând), the participle (cântat), and the supine (de cântat) — with formation, primary function, and a natural example for each, so the four stop blurring together.
- 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.