In Romanian, use the reflexive pronoun se before a verb to create a passive meaning (focusing on what happens rather than who does it). Because the object receiving the action becomes the grammatical subject, the verb must agree with it in number. For plural subjects, use the third-person plural ("they") form.
For many regular verbs, especially those ending in -ează, the third-person plural is identical to the singular:
| The old buildings are being demolished, but the beautiful facades are being kept. | Se demolează clădirile vechi, dar se păstrează fațadele frumoase. |
| Bicycle lanes are being laid out on all the boulevards. | Se amenajează piste pentru biciclete pe toate bulevardele. |
Compound Subjects
A verb with multiple subjects must be plural. This often happens with the correlative conjunction atât... cât și... (both... and...).
| Both the infrastructure and the hospitals are being modernized this year. | Atât infrastructura, cât și spitalele se modernizează anul acesta. |
Distinct Plural Forms
For other verbs, the plural form is distinctly different. For example, the third-person singular of a extinde (to expand) is extinde, but the plural is extind.
| The parks are being expanded so that the inhabitants can enjoy nature. | Se extind parcurile pentru ca locuitorii să se bucure de natură. |
| The inhabitants knew that the old overpasses were being expanded. | Locuitorii știau că se extind pasajele vechi. |
Passive-Reflexive with Modal Verbs
When using this construction with modal verbs like a putea (can / to be able to), se comes first, the modal verb is plural (pot, not the singular poate), and the main verb remains in the infinitive.
| Without a good infrastructure, new neighborhoods cannot be built. | Fără o infrastructură bună, nu se pot construi cartiere noi. |