Masculine Plurals (-i)
Romanian plurals can be tricky because they change depending on the gender of the noun. We will tackle them one gender at a time, starting with masculine nouns.
To make most masculine nouns plural, you add the letter -i to the end of the word. For example, prieten (friend) becomes prieteni (friends).
Keep in mind that adjectives describing these nouns must also be plural. They usually take an -i ending as well, such as buni (good) or simpatici (nice).
The Definite Plural: "The" (-ii)
In Romanian, the word "the" (the definite article) attaches to the end of the noun.
For masculine plural nouns, the definite article is another -i. When you attach this to a plural noun that already ends in -i, you get a double -ii ending.
- The first -i makes it plural.
- The second -i means "the".
For example, prieteni means "friends", but prietenii means "the friends".
Common Masculine Nouns in Action
Here are a few more examples of masculine nouns in their plural forms. Some nouns, like băiat (boy) or bărbat (man), have slight spelling changes inside the word when they become plural (băieți, bărbați), but the -i and -ii endings follow the exact same rules.