Feminine Plurals (-e and -i)
Now let's look at how to make feminine nouns plural. Unlike masculine nouns, which almost always take an -i, feminine nouns typically form their plural by changing their ending to either -e or -i.
For example, sticlă (bottle) becomes sticle, and floare (flower) becomes flori.
When talking about an unspecified quantity in the plural, Romanian uses the word niște (some).
| I have a bottle and you have some bottles. | Eu am o sticlă și tu ai niște sticle. |
| The girl has some flowers. | Fata are niște flori. |
| You have a coat and she has some coats. | Tu ai o haină și ea are niște haine. |
The Definite Plural: "The" (-le)
Remember that in Romanian, the word "the" attaches to the end of the noun.
For feminine plural nouns, the definite article is the suffix -le. You simply add this directly to the plural form of the word.
- sticle (bottles) + -le = sticlele (the bottles)
- flori (flowers) + -le = florile (the flowers)
| The bottles and the flowers are here. | Sticlele și florile sunt aici. |
| The teacher does not have the keys. | Profesorul nu are cheile. |
| The girls have the books and the coats. | Fetele au cărțile și hainele. |
Spelling Changes and More Examples
Just like with masculine nouns, some feminine nouns undergo small internal spelling changes when they become plural. For example, the a in geantă (bag) changes to an e in the plural genți (bags).
However, the plural endings (-e or -i) and the definite suffix (-le) always follow the same rules.
| Where are the bags? | Unde sunt gențile? |
| The boy has the pictures. | Băiatul are pozele. |
| The cars are small, but the houses are very big. | Mașinile sunt mici, dar casele sunt foarte mari. |