Obligation with the supine (a avea de, a fi de)

The Supine: Expressing Obligation

In Romanian, one of the most common ways to express that a task needs to be done is by using the supine mood. The supine is very simple to form: it consists of a preposition (in this lesson, we will use de) followed by the past participle of a verb.

Crucially, the past participle in a supine structure is invariable. This means it never changes its ending to match gender or number. It always stays in its base, dictionary form.

Active Obligation with "a avea de"

When you want to say that someone has to do something, use the verb a avea (to have) conjugated for the subject, followed by de + the past participle.

For example, to say "we have to rewrite", you use avem (we have) + de rescris (the supine of rescrie).

This structure works in any tense. If the obligation was in the past, simply conjugate a avea in the past tense.

Passive Obligation with "a fi de"

To express that something needs to be done or is to be done, Romanian pairs the verb a fi (to be) with the exact same supine structure (de + past participle). This creates a passive obligation focused on the task rather than the person doing it.

Notice in the examples below that even when the subject is a feminine noun like macheta (the layout) or ediția (the edition), the past participle remains entirely invariable and does not take a feminine ending.

Putting It All Together

In a busy newsroom, it is common to describe both what the team has to do (using a avea de) and what tasks are pending (using a fi de). Both structures can easily be used side-by-side to describe ongoing obligations.