Learn Hardcore Romanian: Andrei o să scrie o întrebare mâine. - Andrei is going to write a question tomorrow.

o să is the periphrastic future marker in Romanian, equivalent to will in English. It’s formed by the clitic o (historical remnant of the auxiliary a voi) plus the subjunctive particle să, and it always precedes a verb in the subjunctive mood to indicate future action.

Why is the verb scrie used in this form? Isn’t it missing a future ending?

After o să, the verb appears in the subjunctive mood. The third person singular subjunctive of a scrie is scrie, identical to its present indicative form. This is normal: o să always triggers the subjunctive, not a special future ending on the verb itself.

Could we also say Andrei va scrie o întrebare mâine?

Yes. va scrie is the synthetic future indicative (using the auxiliary a vrea in present + infinitive) and is more formal or common in writing. o să scrie is the colloquial periphrastic future and very frequent in speech.

What is the o before întrebare, and is it the same as the one in o să?

This o is the feminine singular indefinite article (“a”), agreeing with the noun întrebare. It is completely unrelated to the o in o să, which is part of the future-tense construction.

Can we omit the indefinite article and say Andrei o să scrie întrebare mâine?

No. In Romanian, singular countable nouns generally require an article. Omitting o before întrebare would sound ungrammatical; you need o întrebare for “a question.”

Is the word order fixed? Can we start with Mâine?

Romanian word order is fairly flexible. You can say Mâine Andrei o să scrie o întrebare or even Mâine o să scrie Andrei o întrebare. Moving mâine to the front just shifts emphasis onto when the action takes place.

Can we use the present tense instead to talk about a future event?

Yes, for scheduled or timetabled events the present indicative can express the future, e.g. Mâine Andrei scrie un raport (“Tomorrow Andrei writes/is writing a report”). But for general intentions or forecasts, native speakers prefer o să or va constructions to mark future explicitly.

If the object were a specific person, would anything change?

If you talk about a specific person, Romanian requires the preposition pe before a proper or definite direct object: Andrei o să întrebe pe Maria (“Andrei will ask Maria”). With indefinite inanimate objects like o întrebare, no pe is needed.