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Sometimes you want to single out exactly *who* performed an action. Instead of just saying "The athlete finished first," you might want to emphasize, "The athlete is **the one who** finished first." This structure is frequently used to highlight winners, assign blame, or draw contrast.

### "The One Who"

To build this in Romanian, you use the verb **a fi** (to be) followed by the demonstrative pronoun **cel** and the relative pronoun **care**. 

Because **cel** must agree with the subject in gender and number, there are four different forms to remember:

| Gender & Number | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine Singular | **cel care** | the one who (m.) |
| Feminine Singular | **cea care** | the one who (f.) |
| Masculine Plural | **cei care** | the ones who (m./mixed) |
| Feminine Plural | **cele care** | the ones who (f.) |

### Singular Focus

When emphasizing a single person, use **cel care** for masculine subjects (like an athlete or a coach) and **cea care** for feminine subjects. You can use either the full form of the verb "to be" (*este*) or the short form (*e*).

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### Plural Focus

When referring to multiple people, such as a team of girls or a group of fans, switch to the plural forms: **cei care** (masculine/mixed) or **cele care** (strictly feminine).

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### Negatives and Questions

This structure works exactly as you would expect for negative sentences and questions. Simply negate the verb *a fi* with **nu**, or raise your intonation to turn the sentence into a question.

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Cleft sentences (e cel care)

adjective

adverb

adverbial phrase

auxiliary

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

The verb to be and definite articles (a fi, -ul, -le)

Feminine definite articles (-a, -ua)

Indefinite articles (un, o)

Negative sentences (nu)

Question words (ce, unde, cine)

The verb to have (a avea)

Masculine plural nouns (-i, -ii)

Feminine plural nouns (-e, -i, -le)

Neuter plural nouns (-uri, -e, -le)

Adjectives and agreement

Present tense of regular -a verbs

Present tense of -a verbs with suffix (-ez)

Present tense of regular -i and -î verbs

Present tense of -i and -î verbs with suffix (-esc / -ăsc)

Present tense of -ea and -e verbs

Reflexive pronouns (mă, te, se, ne, vă)

Accusative prepositions (în, la, pe, din, cu)

Likes and dislikes (îmi place)

Possessive adjectives (meu, tău, său)

Third-person possessives (lui, ei, lor)

Possessive articles (al, a, ai, ale)

Formal politeness (dumneavoastră)

Demonstrative adjectives (acest, acel)

Numbers 1 to 10

The number two (doi, două)

Numbers 11 to 20

Counting by tens to 100

Quantifying large numbers (de)

The subjunctive (să)

Third-person subjunctive (să)

Direct object pronouns (îl, o, îi, le)

Personal direct objects (pe)

Days of the week

Telling time (e ora...)

Months of the Year (January to June)

Months of the Year (July to December)

The Four Seasons

Weather Conditions

Rooms in a House

Basic Body Parts: Upper Body

Basic Body Parts: Limbs

Everyday Clothing

Basic Foods: Groceries

Fruits and Vegetables

Around Town

Getting Around

Setting the Table

A Colorful World

Common Animals

In the Wild

Jobs and Careers

Everyday Tech

Describing people (tânăr, bătrân, înalt)

Asking when and why (când, de ce, care)

Hello and goodbye (bună ziua, la revedere)

Coming and going (intra, sta, trece)

Where is it? (sub, lângă, între)

Knowing and thinking (știu că, cred că)

Sorry, welcome, congratulations (îmi pare rău, la mulți ani)

Introducing yourself (mă numesc, sunt din România)

How much and how many (puțin, prea, doar)

Can and may (pot merge, pot să merg)

If and whether (dacă)

At school and university

Irregular verbs in the present (vrea, lua, da, bea, sta)

Free time and sport

How much is it? (cât costă, câți, câte)

Before and after (înainte, după, până)

At the doctor (mă doare)

Meals of the day (micul dejun, prânzul, cina)

At the restaurant

Ability and permission (a putea să)

Obligation and necessity (trebuie să)

Desires and intentions (a vrea să)

Impersonal statements (se)

Adverbs of frequency (adesea, uneori)

Conjunctions for reasons and links (pentru că, deci)

Stressed accusative pronouns (pe mine, pe tine)

Indefinite pronouns (cineva, ceva)

Negative pronouns and double negation (nimeni, nimic)

The past tense auxiliary (am, ai, a)

The past tense (am, ai, a)

Regular past participles (-at, -it)

Regular past participles (-ut, -s, -t)

Negative past tense (nu am)

Question	Answer
the athlete	atletul
the race	cursa
Our athlete is the one who finished the race first.	Atletul nostru este cel care a terminat cursa primul.
the coach	antrenorul
The coach is the one who changed the strategy.	Antrenorul este cel care a schimbat strategia.
the referee	arbitrul
The referee is the one who stopped the game.	Arbitrul este cel care a oprit jocul.
to score	înscrie
Maria is the one who scored and brought the victory.	Maria este cea care a înscris și a adus victoria.
to qualify	se califica
The girls are the ones who qualified for the competition.	Fetele sunt cele care s-au calificat pentru concurs.
the winner	învingătorul
to accelerate	accelera
The winner is the one who accelerated while it was raining.	Învingătorul e cel care a accelerat în timp ce ploua.
the fan	suporterul
The fans are the ones who sang at the stadium.	Suporterii sunt cei care au cântat pe stadion.
the score	scorul
Elena is the one who changed the score.	Elena este cea care a schimbat scorul.
The referee is not the one who made a mistake against the player.	Arbitrul nu e cel care a greșit împotriva jucătorului.
Is this athlete the one who qualified?	Acest atlet e cel care s-a calificat?
This girl is the one who won yesterday's race.	Această fată e cea care a câștigat cursa de ieri.
The coach is the one who encouraged the winner.	Antrenorul e cel care l-a încurajat pe învingător.
My sister is the one who cries when the score is bad.	Sora mea este cea care plânge când scorul este rău.
She is the one who accelerated while he stopped.	Ea este cea care a accelerat în timp ce el s-a oprit.
The team is the one that scored at the end.	Echipa este cea care a înscris la sfârșit.
The fan is the one who suffers when the team loses.	Suporterul este cel care suferă când echipa pierde.