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

Verbs with the "-esc" Suffix

While you previously learned about standard -i verbs, the largest group of verbs in the Romanian language actually takes an extra -esc suffix in the present tense. These include very common everyday verbs like a vorbi (to speak), a locui (to live), and a citi (to read).

Here is the present tense pattern for a vorbi:

Notice that the -esc suffix changes slightly for tu (-ești) and el/ea (-ește), and that the eu (I) and ei/ele (they) forms are exactly the same.

Did you notice the noi and voi forms in the table above? For these pronouns, verbs drop the -esc suffix entirely and simply use the regular -im and -iți endings you learned in the previous lesson. Let's see this in action:

Other common verbs using this exact same -esc pattern include a iubi (to love) and a zâmbi (to smile).

Verbs with the "-ăsc" Suffix

For verbs in this group that end in -î instead of -i, the suffix changes slightly from -esc to -ăsc. A common example is a urî (to hate).

The pattern is almost identical to the -i verbs, just with a vowel shift:

Just like the -i verbs, the eu and ei/ele forms are identical, and the noi and voi forms drop the suffix completely to use the standard -âm and -âți endings.