The formation page gives you the rule for the present conjunctiv. This page gives you the reps. It is a drill: a series of build-it-yourself tables and worked examples that walk every conjugation class through the same two-step routine, so the move becomes automatic. If the rule page is the diagram, this is the workshop where you build the form with your own hands until it stops feeling like grammar and starts feeling like speech.
Here is the whole routine in one breath. To form the present conjunctiv: (1) put să in front, (2) keep the indicative form unchanged — except the 3rd person, which takes a special ending. Five of the six persons are free: they are literally the indicative you already know with să bolted on. The entire challenge collapses onto one slot — the 3rd person (singular and plural, which are always identical) — plus a short list of irregulars to memorize. Master that one slot and you have mastered the conjunctiv.
Step 1: the free persons (1st and 2nd, sg and pl)
Before drilling the hard slot, prove to yourself how much is free. Take any verb's present indicative and just prefix să. The first person (eu, noi) and second person (tu, voi) do not change at all.
| Indicative | Conjunctiv | Changed? |
|---|---|---|
| eu lucrez | să lucrez | no |
| tu lucrezi | să lucrezi | no |
| noi lucrăm | să lucrăm | no |
| voi lucrați | să lucrați | no |
| el/ea lucrează | să lucreze | YES |
Vreau să lucrez de acasă mâine.
I want to work from home tomorrow. (1st person — free, = indicative)
Poți să lucrezi și duminică?
Can you work on Sunday too? (2nd person — free, = indicative)
Trebuie să lucrăm în echipă la proiectul ăsta.
We have to work as a team on this project. (noi — free, = indicative)
So far, zero memorization. Now the one slot that earns its keep.
Step 2: the 3rd-person slot — Class I (-ă → -e)
Class I verbs (infinitive in -a: a cânta, a lucra, a aștepta) have a 3rd-person indicative in -ă. Flip that final -ă to -e and you have the conjunctiv. Build a few yourself:
| Verb | el (indicative) | să (conjunctiv 3rd) |
|---|---|---|
| a cânta | cântă | să cânte |
| a aștepta | așteaptă | să aștepte |
| a pleca | pleacă | să plece |
| a lucra (-ez) | lucrează | să lucreze |
E posibil să cânte la nuntă formația lor.
Their band might play at the wedding. (Class I: cântă → cânte)
Spune-i să aștepte cinci minute.
Tell her to wait five minutes. (așteaptă → aștepte)
Nu vreau să plece atât de devreme.
I don't want him to leave so early. (pleacă → plece)
The -ez infix changes nothing about the routine: it stays put, and only the final vowel flips (lucrează → lucreze).
Step 2 continued: the 3rd-person slot — all other classes (-e → -ă)
Every class except Class I has a 3rd-person indicative in -e, and they all flip it to -ă (the spelling sometimes surfaces as -ă with a stem change, or as -ească with the -esc infix). Drill them by class:
| Class | Verb | el (indicative) | să (conjunctiv 3rd) |
|---|---|---|---|
| II (-ea) | a vedea | vede | să vadă |
| III (-e) | a merge | merge | să meargă |
| III (-e) | a vinde | vinde | să vândă |
| III (-e) | a face | face | să facă |
| IV (-esc) | a citi | citește | să citească |
| IV (no infix) | a dormi | doarme | să doarmă |
Trebuie să meargă la dentist săptămâna asta.
He has to go to the dentist this week. (merge → meargă)
Vrea să vândă mașina veche înainte de a cumpăra alta.
He wants to sell the old car before buying another. (vinde → vândă)
E important ca elevii să citească zilnic.
It's important for the pupils to read every day. (citește → citească)
Las-o să doarmă, e încă devreme.
Let her sleep, it's still early. (doarme → doarmă)
Notice a vinde → să vândă: the stem vowel shifts (-i- → -â-) on top of the ending flip. The ending (-ă) is always predictable from the rule; the stem change is the part you sometimes have to know — which is exactly why drilling whole forms, not just endings, pays off.
Step 3: the irregulars to overlearn
A short set of the most frequent verbs has 3rd-person conjunctives you cannot derive — you simply memorize them. Because these verbs are so common (especially a fi and a avea), drill them first, not last. (Full treatment on irregular 3rd person.)
| Verb | Meaning | să (3rd person) |
|---|---|---|
| a fi | to be | să fie |
| a avea | to have | să aibă |
| a da | to give | să dea |
| a sta | to stay | să stea |
| a lua | to take | să ia |
| a bea | to drink | să bea |
| a vrea | to want | să vrea |
Sper să fie totul în regulă.
I hope everything is all right. (a fi → fie)
Vreau ca toți să aibă șanse egale.
I want everyone to have equal chances. (a avea → aibă)
Trebuie să bea mai multă apă pe căldura asta.
He needs to drink more water in this heat. (a bea → bea)
A build-it-yourself routine
When you meet a new verb and need its conjunctiv, run this routine in your head:
- Need 1st or 2nd person (eu / tu / noi / voi)? Take the indicative, add să. Done.
- Need 3rd person (el / ea / ei / ele)? Look at the indicative ending. Class I (-ă) → -e; everything else (-e) → -ă (watch for a stem-vowel change). Add să.
- Is the verb one of the seven irregulars? Recall it from memory (fie, aibă, dea, stea, ia, bea, vrea).
Pot să te ajut și eu, dacă vrei.
I can help you too, if you want. (1st person, free — step 1)
E greu ca el să înțeleagă fără context.
It's hard for him to understand without context. (a înțelege → înțeleagă — step 2, stem change)
Common Mistakes
Leaving the indicative form in the 3rd person instead of flipping it:
❌ El vrea să merge cu noi.
Incorrect — the 3rd person must flip: să meargă, not merge.
✅ El vrea să meargă cu noi.
He wants to go with us.
Over-applying the flip to a person that should stay unchanged:
❌ Vreau să mearg acasă.
Incorrect — the 1st person is free and equals the indicative: să merg.
✅ Vreau să merg acasă.
I want to go home.
Flipping the wrong direction in Class I (using -ă where -e is needed):
❌ E bine să cântă mai des.
Incorrect — Class I flips -ă to -e: să cânte.
✅ E bine să cânte mai des.
It's good for her to sing more often.
Regularizing an irregular (e.g. a avea):
❌ Trebuie să avă răbdare.
Incorrect — a avea is irregular: să aibă, never *avă.
✅ Trebuie să aibă răbdare.
He has to be patient.
Forgetting the stem-vowel change in Class III:
❌ Vrea să vinde casa.
Incorrect — the stem shifts too: vinde → să vândă.
✅ Vrea să vândă casa.
He wants to sell the house.
Key Takeaways
- Forming the conjunctiv is mostly free: add să, keep the indicative — only the 3rd person changes.
- The 3rd-person rule: Class I flips -ă → -e; all other classes flip -e → -ă (sometimes with a stem-vowel change).
- The 3rd singular and 3rd plural are always identical — one form covers both.
- Overlearn the seven irregulars first: să fie, aibă, dea, stea, ia, bea, vrea.
- Run the three-step routine until it is automatic — free persons, the flip, then the irregular recall.
Now practice Romanian
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Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- Conjunctiv Present: FormationA2 — How to form the present conjunctiv — identical to the indicative except for the 3rd person, which flips the theme vowel.
- Irregular Conjunctiv: să fie, să aibă, să dea, să steaB1 — The handful of irregular 3rd-person conjunctiv forms — fie, aibă, dea, stea, știe, ia, bea, vrea — that you must memorize because they are the most frequent verbs in the language.
- Conjunctiv Forms: Reference TableA2 — A consolidated lookup of every conjunctiv form: present across all conjugation classes plus key irregulars, the perfect (invariable să fi + participle), the negative (să nu), and the reflexive (să mă duc) — with a quick map of where each is used. The time-saver to remember: the conjunctiv has only TWO tenses, and the perfect's să fi + participle is one invariable form for every person.
- 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 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.