Breakdown of Este urgent să plec la aeroport acum.
a fi
to be
acum
now
la
to
a pleca
to leave
aeroportul
the airport
urgent
urgent
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Romanian grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Este urgent să plec la aeroport acum.
Why is este urgent used instead of simply e urgent?
Este is the full (formal) form of the verb “to be,” while e is its colloquial contraction. In everyday speech you’ll often hear e urgent, but in writing or more formal contexts you’d use este urgent. Both mean “it is urgent.”
Why is the verb in the subordinate clause să plec in the subjunctive rather than an infinitive?
After impersonal expressions like este urgent, Romanian requires a subjunctive-style clause. You form it with să + [verb in subjunctive form]. Here să plec literally means “that I leave” or “to leave.” English often uses “to leave” or “that I leave,” but Romanian always needs the să + subjunctive construction.
How do we know plec is subjunctive and not the present indicative?
The marker să signals the subjunctive. Although the first-person singular subjunctive form plec looks identical to the present indicative (“I leave”), its relationship to să makes it unambiguously subjunctive here.
Why do we say la aeroport without any article? Why not la un aeroport or la aeroportul?
Certain place words (e.g. aeroport, școală, serviciu, biserică, teatru) are used generically with la and no article, much like English “to school,” “to work,” “to church.”
- If you mean “to an airport (any airport),” you’d say la un aeroport.
- If you refer to a specific, known airport, you’d use the definite form: la aeroportul.
Why is acum (“now”) placed at the end of the sentence? Can it be moved?
Romanian word order is relatively flexible. Placing acum at the end feels natural here, but you can also say:
- Acum este urgent să plec la aeroport (emphasizes “now”).
- Este urgent acum să plec la aeroport (slight shift in rhythm).
The core meaning remains the same.
Is Este urgent să plec la aeroport acum the same as Trebuie să plec la aeroport acum?
They’re very close:
- Trebuie să plec (“I must leave”) focuses on obligation.
- Este urgent să plec (“it’s urgent that I leave”) highlights time-sensitivity.
In many contexts you can use them interchangeably, though trebuie feels more like a personal duty and urgent more like an external time pressure.
Why isn’t there a subject pronoun (eu) in să plec?
In Romanian subordinate clauses introduced by să, the subject pronoun is usually omitted because it’s clear from the verb form. Here the implied subject is eu (“I”). You could add eu for extra emphasis (să plec eu la aeroport acum), but normally it’s left out.