Romanian has a large family of impersonal expressions — phrases built on e ("it is") plus an adjective or noun, or on a bare impersonal verb — that comment on whether an action is necessary, possible, advisable, or worthwhile. Most of these trigger the conjunctiv: e important *să înveți ("it's important that you study"), merită **să încerci ("it's worth trying"), se poate **să plouă ("it might rain"). But not all impersonals behave the same way. A crucial subset — the ones that assert a *fact — switch to că plus the indicative instead. Sorting impersonals into these two boxes is the whole skill, and the dividing line is beautifully consistent: it tracks factivity.
The pattern: impersonal + să + conjunctiv
When an impersonal expression presents an action as a need, a possibility, a value judgment, or anything not-yet-real, it takes să and the conjunctiv. English usually reaches for an infinitive ("it's important to study") or a "that"-clause; Romanian uses the finite să-clause, with the verb conjugated for whoever the action belongs to.
E important să înveți puțin în fiecare zi.
It's important to study a little every day.
Merită să încerci, n-ai nimic de pierdut.
It's worth trying, you've got nothing to lose.
Se poate să plouă spre seară.
It might rain towards evening.
In e important să înveți, the person ("you") is carried by the conjunctiv verb înveți, never by the impersonal e important, which stays frozen in the 3sg. This is the same logic as trebuie să on the modals page: the impersonal head is invariable, the să-verb carries the person.
The main necessity / possibility / judgment impersonals
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| trebuie să | one must / has to | Trebuie să mergem. |
| e nevoie să | it's necessary to | E nevoie să anunțăm. |
| e bine să | it's good / advisable to | E bine să te odihnești. |
| e rău să | it's bad to | E rău să minți. |
| e posibil să | it's possible that | E posibil să întârzii. |
| e imposibil să | it's impossible to | E imposibil să termin azi. |
| e important să | it's important to | E important să ții minte. |
| e cazul să | it's time / fitting to | E cazul să plecăm. |
| merită să | it's worth -ing | Merită să vezi filmul. |
| se poate să | it may / might | Se poate să greșesc. |
E nevoie să anunțăm din timp dacă nu venim.
We need to let them know in advance if we're not coming.
E bine să te odihnești înainte de examen.
It's good to rest before the exam.
E cazul să plecăm, e deja târziu.
It's time we left, it's already late.
E imposibil să termin proiectul până mâine.
It's impossible for me to finish the project by tomorrow.
The other box: factive impersonals take că + indicative
Here is the key contrast. Some impersonals don't open up a possibility — they assert that something is true. E adevărat că… ("it's true that…"), e clar că… ("it's clear that…"), se știe că… ("it's known that…"), e evident că… ("it's obvious that…"). These are factive: they presuppose the truth of what follows. And because the embedded clause is a stated fact, Romanian uses că + indicative, not să + conjunctiv.
E adevărat că vine și ea la nuntă.
It's true that she's coming to the wedding too. (asserted fact → că + indicative)
E clar că nu mai are bani.
It's clear that he has no money left.
Se știe că românii beau multă cafea.
It's known that Romanians drink a lot of coffee.
Compare the minimal contrast directly:
E posibil să vină mâine.
It's possible he'll come tomorrow. (open possibility → să + conjunctiv)
E sigur că vine mâine.
It's certain that he's coming tomorrow. (asserted certainty → că + indicative)
The difference between e posibil să vină and e sigur că vine is not about the words "possible" versus "certain" as vocabulary — it is about whether the speaker is presenting the action as a fact (că, indicative) or as something still open, hoped-for, or merely possible (să, conjunctiv).
The grey zone: certainty that turns into negation
A nice diagnostic: many factive impersonals flip to the conjunctiv when negated, because negating "it's certain that…" cancels the asserted fact and reopens the possibility.
E sigur că vine.
It's certain he's coming. (fact → indicative)
Nu e sigur că vine.
It's not certain he's coming. (still a 'că' report, but the fact is now doubted)
Nu e sigur să te bazezi pe el.
It's not safe to rely on him. (judgment about advisability → conjunctiv)
The last two show that nu e sigur can mean either "it's not certain (that)…" (a report, că) or "it's not safe/advisable (to)…" (a judgment, să) depending on meaning — a reminder that you sort by what the speaker is doing, not by the surface words.
English speakers: don't import the infinitive
English glides over all of this with an infinitive: "it's important to study," "it's possible to finish." Because the infinitive hides the subject, English speakers often try to leave the Romanian verb unconjugated or reach for the long infinitive. Romanian needs the person spelled out in the să-verb.
E important să termini la timp.
It's important (for you) to finish on time. (you → termini)
E important să terminăm la timp.
It's important for us to finish on time. (we → terminăm)
The same impersonal head, e important, points to different people purely through the conjunctiv ending — something the English infinitive cannot show.
Common Mistakes
❌ E posibil că vină mâine.
Incorrect — possibility takes să, not că: e posibil să vină. (Conversely, asserted fact takes că: e sigur că vine.)
✅ E posibil să vină mâine.
It's possible he'll come tomorrow.
❌ E adevărat să vine și ea.
Incorrect — a stated fact takes că + indicative, not să: e adevărat că vine.
✅ E adevărat că vine și ea.
It's true that she's coming too.
❌ E important termini la timp.
Incorrect — the conjunctiv clause needs să: e important să termini.
✅ E important să termini la timp.
It's important for you to finish on time.
❌ Merită să vezi filmul ăsta a vedea.
Incorrect — merită takes a să-clause, never an infinitive: merită să vezi.
✅ Merită să vezi filmul ăsta.
It's worth seeing this film.
❌ Se poate că greșesc.
Incorrect — 'might / it may be that' is a possibility: se poate să greșesc. (Se poate că… exists but means 'it may well be a fact that', a rarer, more assertive reading.)
✅ Se poate să greșesc.
I might be wrong.
Key Takeaways
- Impersonals of necessity, possibility, advice, and worth take să + conjunctiv: trebuie să, e bine să, e posibil să, merită să, e cazul să.
- Factive impersonals that assert a truth take că + indicative: e adevărat că, e clar că, se știe că, e sigur că.
- The dividing line is factivity: non-fact → să; asserted fact → că.
- Negating a certainty impersonal often reopens doubt and can shift the clause toward the conjunctiv.
- The person is carried by the conjunctiv verb, not the frozen impersonal head — so conjugate it for whoever the action belongs to.
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Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- The Conjunctiv (să-Subjunctive): OverviewA2 — An introduction to Romanian's most important feature — the să + verb construction that replaces the infinitive after want, can, and must.
- Conjunctiv After Modals: a putea, a trebui, a vreaA2 — How modal and control verbs (a vrea, a putea, a trebui, a încerca, a reuși, a spera) force a să-clause where English uses an infinitive, and the one verb that still tolerates the infinitive.
- Conjunctiv Triggers: A Reference ListB1 — A scannable, grouped reference of everything that forces să in Romanian — volition, necessity, permission, emotion, impersonals, purpose, aspectuals, and conjunctions — unified by one idea: the conjunctiv marks events not asserted as fact.
- Conjunctiv vs Indicative After Belief VerbsB2 — Why belief and assertion verbs (a crede, a ști, a spune, a fi sigur) keep the indicative in Romanian even when negated or doubtful — a major divergence from French, Spanish, and Italian, which force the subjunctive after negated belief.
- Conjunctiv in Purpose Clauses (ca să, pentru ca să)B1 — How Romanian expresses purpose ('in order to'): ca să + conjunctiv, the bare să after motion verbs, pentru ca…să with an intervening element, and the formal pentru a + infinitive alternative.