Learn Hardcore Romanian: La întâlnire, discutăm despre planurile noastre de viitor. - At the meeting, we talk about our plans for the future.

la = at / to. It’s the normal preposition used with:
- events: la întâlnire (at the meeting), la concert (at the concert)
- institutions/“places you go to do something”: la școală (at school), la serviciu (at work)
în = in / inside, used more for being physically inside a space:
- în casă (in the house), în cameră (in the room)

So:

La întâlnire, discutăm… – At the meeting, we talk… (focus on the event)
If you said în întâlnire, it would sound wrong; meetings are seen as events you go to, not containers you are inside.

Why is there a comma after La întâlnire?

La întâlnire is an introductory phrase that tells us when/where the action happens (a kind of adverbial phrase placed at the beginning). Romanian usually separates such fronted phrases with a comma:

La școală, învățăm română. – At school, we learn Romanian.
Duminică, mergem la bunici. – On Sunday, we go to our grandparents.

So the comma after La întâlnire marks a pause and separates the setting from the main clause discutăm despre planurile noastre de viitor.

What tense is discutăm, and does it refer to the present or the future?

discutăm is:

present tense, indicative mood, 1st person plural of a discuta (to discuss / to talk about).
It normally means we discuss / we are discussing (present).

However, just like in English “We meet tomorrow”, Romanian present can also refer to a scheduled or planned future:

Mâine, discutăm despre proiect. – Tomorrow, we’ll discuss the project.

In your sentence, context will decide whether it’s:

present habitual: At the meeting, we (usually) talk about our future plans
or planned future: At the meeting, we’ll talk about our future plans

Why is there no noi (we) before discutăm? Can I say Noi discutăm?

Romanian is a “pro-drop” language: subject pronouns are usually omitted, because the verb ending already shows the person:

discut – I discuss
discuți – you (sg) discuss
discută – he/she discusses
discutăm – we discuss
discutați – you (pl/polite) discuss
discută – they discuss

So discutăm by itself already means we discuss.

You can say Noi discutăm despre planurile noastre de viitor, but noi will usually add emphasis or contrast:

Noi discutăm, nu ei. – We are the ones discussing, not them.

What is the difference between despre and de when talking about something being “about” something?

Both despre and de can relate ideas, but they’re used differently.

despre = about / regarding / on the subject of
It introduces the topic of discussion, thoughts, books, etc.
- discutăm despre planuri – we discuss about plans
- vorbim despre film – we talk about the movie
- o carte despre istorie – a book about history
de is more like of / from / made of / about (in some fixed expressions)
It marks origin, possession, material, type, etc.:
- cartea de istorie – the history book (book of history)
- ceai de mentă – mint tea (tea of mint)
- plan de afaceri – business plan

For “to talk about something”, you should use despre, not de:

✅ discutăm despre planuri
❌ discutăm de planuri (non‑standard / regional as “about”)

Why is it planurile and not just planuri?

planuri = plans (indefinite plural)
planurile = the plans (definite plural, with the article -le attached)

In Romanian, the definite article is attached to the end of the noun:

plan – plan
planul – the plan
planuri – plans
planurile – the plans

Here we say planurile noastre because:

We’re talking about specific plans, not just plans in general.
When you use a possessive adjective like noastre (our), the noun is typically definite:
- cartea mea – my book (lit. the book my)
- mașina lui – his car (lit. the car his)
- planurile noastre – our plans (lit. the plans our)

You generally cannot say planuri noastre; it sounds wrong in standard Romanian.

Why is the possessive noastre and not something like noștri?

noastre is the feminine plural form of our. Romanian possessive adjectives agree with the gender and number of the noun, not with the people:

Masculine singular: nostru – prietenul nostru (our friend – masculine)
Feminine singular: noastră – prietena noastră (our friend – feminine)
Masculine plural: noștri – prietenii noștri (our friends – masculine)
Feminine plural: noastre – prietenele noastre (our friends – feminine)

plan is a neuter noun:

Singular: plan – behaves like masculine
Plural: planuri – behaves like feminine

Neuter nouns take feminine forms in the plural, so planuri / planurile behave like feminine plural. Therefore we must use the feminine plural possessive:

planurile noastre – our plans (feminine plural agreement)

Why is the order planurile noastre de viitor and not noastre planurile de viitor?

Standard word order with a possessive in Romanian is:

[Noun + definite article] + [possessive adjective] + (other modifiers)

So:

planurile noastre de viitor
- planurile – the plans
- noastre – our
- de viitor – for the future

Some patterns:

cartea mea nouă – my new book
mașinile lor vechi – their old cars
planurile noastre importante – our important plans

Putting noastre before the noun (noastre planurile…) is not natural in modern standard Romanian, except in very marked, poetic, or archaic styles.

What does de viitor literally mean, and could we also say planurile noastre viitoare?

de viitor literally means of future / for the future. In this phrase:

planurile noastre de viitor ≈ our plans for the future

You can also say:

planurile noastre viitoare – literally our future plans

The nuance:

de viitor emphasizes that the plans concern the future in general (plans for what will happen later in life).
viitoare is an adjective meaning future / upcoming and is more like English future / upcoming:
- anul viitor – next year
- ședința viitoare – the next meeting
- proiectele noastre viitoare – our future projects

In most everyday contexts, planurile noastre de viitor is the more idiomatic expression for our plans for the future.

Could we say La întâlnire vom discuta despre planurile noastre de viitor instead of discutăm? What is the difference?

Yes, both are correct, but there is a nuance.

discutăm – present tense; can mean:
- we (usually) discuss (habit)
- we will discuss (scheduled / fixed plan, like a timetable)
vom discuta – future tense (with vom = we will):
- More explicitly future; sounds a bit more formal or more clearly planned.

Comparison:

La întâlnire, discutăm despre planurile noastre de viitor.
– At the meeting, we (are going to) talk about our future plans.
La întâlnire, vom discuta despre planurile noastre de viitor.
– At the meeting, we will discuss our future plans (clear future, perhaps more deliberate).

In everyday speech, many Romanians prefer the present for near, scheduled future events, just like in English: We leave tomorrow.

When would you use planul nostru de viitor (singular) instead of planurile noastre de viitor (plural)?

planul nostru de viitor = our plan for the future (one overall plan)
planurile noastre de viitor = our plans for the future (several plans)

Use the singular if you think of a single, unified vision:

La întâlnire, discutăm despre planul nostru de viitor.
– At the meeting, we discuss our (one) plan for the future.

Use the plural if you mean several specific plans:

La întâlnire, discutăm despre planurile noastre de viitor: carieră, familie, călătorii…
– At the meeting, we discuss our future plans: career, family, travel, etc.

How do you pronounce întâlnire, and is there a difference between î and â?

întâlnire is pronounced approximately like: [ɨn-təL-NEE-reh].

î and â represent the same sound: a central vowel [ɨ], somewhat like the vowel in Russian ы. English has no exact equivalent; it’s a “central, tense, unrounded” sound.

Position rules:

At the beginning or end of a word: Romanian uses î
- în, întâlnire, a hotărî
In the middle of a word: Romanian usually uses â
- mâncare, România, cântă

But the sound is identical. So î in întâlnire and â in mâncare are pronounced the same.