Learn Hardcore Romanian: Pe când eram elev, nu aveam internet acasă. - When I was a student, we didn’t have internet at home.

Pe când is a fixed expression that roughly means “back when / at the time when / while”. It often adds a slightly more nostalgic or story‑like tone than a simple când.

Pe când eram elev… ≈ “Back when I was a pupil…”
Când eram elev… ≈ “When I was a pupil…”

Both are grammatically correct. Când is more neutral and more common in everyday speech. Pe când can sound a bit more expressive or literary, but you will hear it in normal conversation as well.

You cannot normally drop pe and keep its nuance; pe când works as a unit.

Why is it eram and aveam, not am fost and am avut?

Eram and aveam are in the imperfect tense in Romanian. The imperfect is used for:

Ongoing or repeated actions in the past
Background descriptions

So:

Pe când eram elev – “When I was (generally) a pupil” (a long period, a background state)
nu aveam internet acasă – “I didn’t have internet at home” (a habitual/continuous situation during that period)

If you said:

Când am fost elev, nu am avut internet acasă.

this would sound more like you are treating being a pupil as a single, completed block of time, which is less natural here. It’s not wrong grammatically, but the imperfect (eram, aveam) is the natural choice for a long-lasting situation in the past.

Why don’t we say Eu eram elev, eu nu aveam internet acasă? Where is the subject?

Romanian is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns are usually omitted when the verb form already shows the person.

eram = I was / we were (context decides)
aveam = I had / we had (again, context decides)

Context normally makes clear whether it’s I or we. If you really wanted to emphasize the subject, you could say:

Eu, când eram elev, nu aveam internet acasă. – stressing “I”.

But in neutral sentences, eu is left out. The subject is understood from the verb endings and from context.

Why is there no article before elev? Why not Pe când eram un elev?

After verbs like a fi (“to be”), when you state someone’s profession, status, role, Romanian usually drops the article:

Sunt profesor. – I am a teacher.
Era medic. – He/She was a doctor.
Pe când eram elev… – When I was a pupil…

You do use an article if you’re describing a specific or characterized person:

Eram un elev bun. – I was a good pupil.
Era un elev problemă. – He was a problem pupil.

So:

eram elev = “I was (a) pupil” in a general, role‑sense → no article
eram un elev bun = “I was a good pupil” → article is needed

What exactly does elev mean? Is it the same as student?

No, elev and student refer to different levels of education.

elev = a pupil in primary, middle, or high school
- masculine: elev
- feminine: elevă
student = a university student (someone in higher education)
- masculine: student
- feminine: studentă

So Pe când eram elev normally means “When I was in school (before university).”

If you want to talk about university:

Pe când eram student, nu aveam internet acasă. – When I was a university student, I didn’t have internet at home.

Why acasă and not something like la casa mea or în casă?

Acasă is a special adverb meaning “at home” (or, in some contexts, “home” as a direction, like “homeward”).

Sunt acasă. – I am at home.
Merg acasă. – I’m going home.

In this sentence:

nu aveam internet acasă = “I didn’t have internet at home.”

Alternatives:

la mine acasă – at my place / at my home
în casă – literally “in the house” (inside the building, more physical)

La casa mea would sound more like “at my house (as a building)”, not the usual way to express “at home” in this context. Acasă is the natural, idiomatic choice.

Why is internet used without an article? Can I say internetul?

Internet in Romanian behaves like a mass/abstract noun (like “water” or “music” in English). When you talk about it in general, you often omit the article:

Nu aveam internet acasă. – I didn’t have internet at home.
Ai internet la serviciu? – Do you have internet at work?

You can also use the definite article when you’re talking about the internet as a specific known thing:

Internetul nu merge. – The internet (connection) isn’t working.
Internetul a schimbat lumea. – The internet has changed the world.

Both internet and internetul are correct; the choice depends on general vs specific meaning. In your sentence, the bare form is the most natural.

Why is there a comma after elev?

The sentence has two parts:

Pe când eram elev – a time clause (“when I was a pupil”)
nu aveam internet acasă – the main clause (“I didn’t have internet at home”)

In Romanian, when a subordinate clause like this comes before the main clause, it is normally separated with a comma:

Când eram mic, îmi plăcea să desenez.
Pe când locuiam la țară, mergeam des la bunici.

If you reverse the order, the comma usually disappears:

Nu aveam internet acasă când eram elev.

Both orders are acceptable; the meaning is the same.

Can I change the word order and say Nu aveam internet acasă pe când eram elev?

Yes, that is also grammatically correct:

Nu aveam internet acasă pe când eram elev.

This structure is less common than putting pe când eram elev at the beginning or using când at the end:

Nu aveam internet acasă când eram elev.

All of these are understandable. The differences are mostly about style and emphasis, not basic grammar. The original:

Pe când eram elev, nu aveam internet acasă.

feels slightly more story‑like, setting the time frame first as background.

How are eram and aveam formed? What are the infinitives of these verbs?

The infinitives are:

a fi – to be
a avea – to have

Here we’re using the imperfect tense, 1st person singular:

eu eram – I was
eu aveam – I had

Full imperfect (singular) for each:

a fi (to be)
- eu eram – I was
- tu erai – you were
- el/ea era – he/she was
a avea (to have)
- eu aveam – I had
- tu aveai – you had
- el/ea avea – he/she had

In everyday speech, the subject pronoun (eu) is usually omitted, as in your sentence.

Is nu aveam the only correct way, or can it be shortened like n-aveam?

In careful, standard written Romanian, you usually write:

nu aveam

In informal speech and informal writing, people often contract it:

n-aveam internet acasă.

That’s similar to English “I don’t have” → “I don’t”; spoken language gets shorter. Both nu aveam and n-aveam are understood the same way, but nu aveam is the neutral, standard form.