Romanian has three ways to express a "second" verb hanging off a main one — what English handles mostly with "to do" and "-ing." They are the supine (E ușor de făcut), the infinitive (E ușor a face), and the conjunctiv (Trebuie să fac). To a learner they can look interchangeable, and choosing wrongly is one of the most persistent advanced errors. They are not interchangeable: each has carved out its own niche, and once you see the division of labor, the confusion dissolves. This page is a decision guide — think of it the way Spanish learners think about ser vs estar: not three options competing for one slot, but three tools each owning its territory.
The one-sentence map
| Form | Owns | Triggered by |
|---|---|---|
| Supine (de + part.) | subjectless evaluations | greu / ușor / imposibil / bun de… |
| Conjunctiv (să + verb) | subject-bearing complements | modals, wishes, most everything spoken |
| Infinitive (a + verb) | fixed prepositional frames | înainte de a, fără a, pentru a… |
Read it as: the supine handles evaluations with no real subject; the conjunctiv handles complements that have (or could have) a subject; the infinitive survives in a small set of frozen prepositional expressions. Everything below fills in this skeleton.
The supine: subjectless evaluative constructions
The supine's home turf is the impersonal evaluation: it is hard / easy / impossible / good to do something. There is no doer — you are judging the action itself. The trigger words are greu, ușor, imposibil, simplu, bun, gata plus de.
E greu de explicat, dar o să încerc.
It's hard to explain, but I'll try.
Mâncarea era gata de servit când au sosit oaspeții.
The food was ready to serve when the guests arrived.
Adevărul e uneori imposibil de acceptat.
The truth is sometimes impossible to accept.
The hallmark: there is no subject for the second verb. You are not saying who explains or accepts — only that the act of explaining/accepting is hard or impossible. That subjectlessness is what selects the supine.
The conjunctiv: subject-bearing complements
The să-conjunctiv is the all-purpose workhorse of spoken Romanian. Its niche is the complement that carries a subject — even when the subject is the same as the main clause. Modals (trebuie, pot, vreau), verbs of wishing and intending, and the overwhelming majority of everyday verb-plus-verb combinations take să.
Trebuie să termin proiectul până vineri.
I have to finish the project by Friday.
Vreau să vii și tu cu noi la munte.
I want you to come with us to the mountains. (the complement has its own subject: 'you')
Pot să te ajut cu mutarea sâmbătă.
I can help you with the move on Saturday.
The conjunctiv is the only one of the three that comfortably carries a different subject from the main verb (Vreau să vii tu — "I want you to come"). Where English uses an accusative-plus-infinitive ("I want you to come"), Romanian uses să + a fully conjugated verb. This is the default; when in doubt in speech, să is almost always right. The deeper conjunctiv-vs-infinitive comparison lives on the conjunctiv vs infinitive page.
The infinitive: fixed prepositional frames
The bare infinitive (a face, a spune) has retreated dramatically in modern Romanian — spoken Romanian almost always replaces it with să. But it survives, alive and obligatory, inside a set of prepositional frames where să cannot go. The most common are:
| Frame | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| înainte de a | before -ing | înainte de a pleca |
| în loc de a | instead of -ing | în loc de a aștepta |
| fără a | without -ing | fără a spune nimic |
| pentru a | in order to | pentru a reuși |
Înainte de a pleca, verifică dacă ai stins aragazul.
Before leaving, check that you've turned off the stove.
A semnat contractul fără a-l citi până la capăt.
He signed the contract without reading it to the end. (formal/literary)
Pentru a reuși, trebuie să muncești constant.
In order to succeed, you have to work consistently.
These frames feel formal or written. In casual speech a Romanian will often swap to a să- or finite alternative (înainte să plec, fără să spună nimic), so mark the bare infinitive frames as (formal) and reach for să in conversation.
Parallel sentences: the same idea, three frames
Watch how the choice tracks the grammatical environment, not the meaning:
E greu de făcut singur.
It's hard to do alone. (supine — subjectless evaluation)
Trebuie să fac asta singur.
I have to do this alone. (conjunctiv — modal + subject)
A plecat fără a face nimic.
He left without doing anything. (infinitive — prepositional frame, formal)
The verb is the same (a face), the difference is purely structural: an evaluative greu pulls the supine; the modal trebuie pulls the conjunctiv; the preposition-frame fără a pulls the infinitive.
The decision flowchart
When you need a complement action, ask three questions in order:
- Is it an impersonal evaluation (it's hard/easy/impossible/good to…)? → supine: greu de spus.
- Is it inside a fixed prepositional frame (înainte de, fără, pentru, în loc de
- a)? → infinitive (formal): fără a spune. (In speech, you may swap to fără să spună.)
- Otherwise — a modal, a wish, a normal verb-plus-verb with a subject? → conjunctiv: trebuie să spun, vreau să spună.
| If the trigger is… | Use… | Example |
|---|---|---|
| greu / ușor / imposibil / bun de | supine | E greu de crezut. |
| înainte de / fără / pentru a | infinitive (formal) | înainte de a crede |
| a trebui / a putea / a vrea / wish | conjunctiv | Trebuie să cred. |
Common mistakes
❌ E greu să spui asta în public. (intending the impersonal 'it's hard to say')
Acceptable but less idiomatic — the impersonal evaluation prefers the supine.
✅ E greu de spus asta în public.
It's hard to say this in public.
❌ Trebuie de plecat acum.
Incorrect — a modal like 'trebuie' selects the conjunctiv, not the supine.
✅ Trebuie să plec acum.
I have to leave now.
❌ Înainte de a să plec, te sun.
Incorrect — you can't stack the infinitive frame 'de a' with 'să'; pick one.
✅ Înainte de a pleca, te sun.
Before I leave, I'll call you. (or, conversationally: înainte să plec)
❌ Vreau de mâncat ceva.
Incorrect — a subject-bearing wish takes the conjunctiv.
✅ Vreau să mănânc ceva.
I want to eat something.
❌ E imposibil să fac asta în două zile. (as a flat impersonal verdict)
Understandable, but the crisp impersonal verdict idiom uses the supine.
✅ E imposibil de făcut în două zile.
It's impossible to do in two days.
Key takeaways
- Three forms, three niches: supine = subjectless evaluations (greu/ușor/imposibil de); conjunctiv = subject-bearing complements (modals, wishes, default in speech); infinitive = fixed prepositional frames (înainte de a, fără a, pentru a), formal.
- The conjunctiv is the only one that easily carries a different subject (vreau să vii tu).
- The bare infinitive is (formal/written); speech swaps it for să.
- Decide by environment, not meaning: the same verb takes different forms depending on the trigger word in front of it.
Related Topics
- The Supine (de + participle)B1 — Romanian's distinctively fourth non-finite form — identical in shape to the participle but invariable and preposition-governing — covering 'something to do', purpose after motion verbs, and after certain adjectives and nouns.
- Conjunctiv vs Infinitive: The Balkan ChoiceB1 — When Romanian uses a să-conjunctiv where its Romance cousins use the infinitive, and the handful of constructions where the infinitive survives — the structural signature of Romanian.
- The Long and Short InfinitiveA2 — Romanian's two infinitives — the short infinitive with the particle 'a' (a cânta) used as the verbal infinitive, and the long infinitive (cântare) that has largely turned into a feminine noun.
- Finite vs Non-Finite FormsB1 — The difference between Romanian's finite forms (which carry person, number, and tense) and its four non-finite forms — infinitive, gerund, participle, and the distinctively Romanian supine.
- Conjunctiv After Impersonal ExpressionsB1 — When impersonal expressions of necessity, possibility, and judgment (trebuie să, e bine să, e posibil să, merită să) trigger the conjunctiv — and why factive impersonals take 'că + indicative' instead.