Dacă am urma strategia, am câștiga jocul de societate.

It is a hypothetical conditional sentence: it talks about an imagined situation and its possible result.

• Dacă am urma strategia = the condition
• am câștiga jocul de societate = the result

In natural English, this corresponds to something like If we followed the strategy, we would win the board game.

So the sentence is not describing a real event; it describes what would happen under a certain condition.

No. In this sentence, am is not the full verb to have. It is an auxiliary used to form the conditional mood.

For noi (we), the present conditional auxiliary is am:

• eu aș
• tu ai
• el/ea ar
• noi am
• voi ați
• ei/ele ar

So:

• am urma = we would follow
• am câștiga = we would win

This is why you see am in both parts of the sentence: both verbs are in the conditional.

That is a very common question, and it is one of the important differences between English and Romanian.

In English, a hypothetical present/future condition is usually:

• If we followed the strategy, we would win.

In Romanian, the matching idea is commonly expressed with the conditional in both parts:

• Dacă am urma strategia, am câștiga...

So although a word-for-word translation might look like If we would follow the strategy, we would win..., that is not how natural English works. Romanian and English simply build this kind of hypothetical sentence differently.

Yes. After the conditional auxiliary (aș, ai, ar, am, ați, ar), Romanian uses the infinitive/base form without a.

So:

• a urma → am urma
• a câștiga → am câștiga

This means:

• am urma = we would follow
• am câștiga = we would win

A useful comparison:

• am câștiga = conditional, we would win
• am câștigat = compound past/perfect, I/we have won or I/we won, depending on context

So the final shape of the verb matters a lot:

• -a form here = infinitive/base form after the conditional auxiliary
• -at form = past participle, used in compound past forms

Because of the structure.

In am urma, the word am is the conditional auxiliary for noi, so urma is understood as part of the conditional construction.

That said, urma by itself can indeed also be an imperfect form in other contexts. For example:

• el urma strategia = he was following the strategy

But in your sentence, the full pattern am + verb clearly signals the conditional:

• am urma = we would follow

So the surrounding grammar tells you how to interpret it.

Romanian often omits subject pronouns when the verb already shows the person clearly.

Here, am urma and am câștiga already tell you the subject is noi (we), so noi is unnecessary.

• Dacă am urma strategia... = normal, natural
• Dacă noi am urma strategia... = possible, but more emphatic, as if you want to stress we

This is similar to other Romance languages, where the verb ending often makes the subject clear enough on its own.

Because the sentence refers to a specific strategy and a specific game.

• strategia = the strategy
• jocul de societate = the board game

Romanian uses the definite article attached to the noun:

• strategie → strategia
• joc → jocul

If the meaning were indefinite, you would say:

• o strategie = a strategy
• un joc de societate = a board game

So the definite forms suggest that the speaker and listener already know which strategy and which game are being talked about.

Joc de societate is the standard Romanian expression for board game or, more broadly, a social tabletop game.

So:

• joc = game
• de societate = literally of society/social, but as a set expression it means a game played socially, typically around a table

In your sentence:

• jocul de societate = the board game

It is best learned as a whole expression rather than translated word by word.

You change the conditional auxiliary.

Using the same pattern:

• Dacă aș urma strategia, aș câștiga jocul de societate.
  If I followed the strategy, I would win the board game.

• Dacă ai urma strategia, ai câștiga jocul de societate.
  If you followed the strategy, you would win the board game.

• Dacă ar urma strategia, ar câștiga jocul de societate.
  If he/she/they followed the strategy, he/she/they would win the board game.

• Dacă am urma strategia, am câștiga jocul de societate.
  If we followed the strategy, we would win the board game.

So the main thing to memorize is the auxiliary set: aș, ai, ar, am, ați, ar.

That would be the past conditional:

Dacă am fi urmat strategia, am fi câștigat jocul de societate.

Compare the two:

• Dacă am urma strategia, am câștiga jocul de societate.
  = hypothetical now / in general / in the future

• Dacă am fi urmat strategia, am fi câștigat jocul de societate.
  = hypothetical in the past

So:

• am urma / am câștiga = present conditional
• am fi urmat / am fi câștigat = past conditional