Starting Actions: a începe să
When describing the progress of a project or daily routine, you will often need to talk about the beginning, middle, or end of a task. To express that an action is just starting, use the verb a începe (to begin/start).
Just like in English where we say "start to [do something]," Romanian connects a începe to the main action using the conjunction să followed by the subjunctive form of the second verb.
| We are starting to draft the first stage of the project. | Începem să redactăm prima etapă a proiectului. |
| The engineer is starting to implement the procedure. | Inginerul începe să implementeze procedura. |
| Before the break, I start to revise the sketch. | Înainte de pauză, încep să revizuiesc schița. |
Continuing Actions: a continua să
To express that a phase or task is ongoing, use the verb a continua (to continue). It follows the exact same grammatical pattern as starting an action: pair it with să and the subjunctive of the main verb.
| We continue to implement the next phase. | Continuăm să implementăm următoarea fază. |
| Are you continuing to test this analysis? | Tu continui să testezi această analiză? |
| He continues to draft the document because it is important. | El continuă să redacteze documentul pentru că este important. |
Finishing Actions: a termina de + Supine
The pattern changes when a task comes to a close! To say that you have finished doing something, you use the verb a termina (to finish). However, instead of using să and the subjunctive, you must use the preposition de followed by the supine of the second verb.
Recall that the supine is identical to the past participle. For example, the verb a tipări (to print) becomes the supine tipărit, and a redacta (to draft) becomes redactat.
| I finished printing the sketch. | Am terminat de tipărit schița. |
| He finished drafting the procedure. | El a terminat de redactat procedura. |
| We finished testing the new phase. | Am terminat de testat faza nouă. |
| Have you finished printing the analysis? | Ați terminat de tipărit analiza? |
