Present tense of regular -i and -î verbs

Regular "-i" Verbs

The fourth conjugation group in Romanian consists of verbs ending in -i or -î. Many common verbs of movement and state—like a dormi (to sleep), a fugi (to run), and a ieși (to go out)—end in -i and follow a predictable present tense pattern without any special suffixes.

Here is the pattern for a dormi:

PronounVerb
eudorm
tudormi
el/eadoarme
noidormim
voidormiți
ei/eledorm

Notice how the root vowel "o" changes to "oa" for the el/ea form. This is a very common sound change in Romanian!

The boy sleeps a lot.
Băiatul doarme mult.
The cats do not sleep in the small bed.
Pisicile nu dorm în patul mic.

Other verbs like a fugi and a ieși use the same straightforward endings. Notice that for most regular -i verbs, the el/ea form ends in -e.

You sleep a lot, but you go out often.
Tu dormi mult, dar ieși des.
We go outside now.
Noi ieșim afară acum.
The girls run in the old park.
Fetele fug în parcul vechi.

Regular "-î" Verbs

A smaller set of verbs in this group ends in the vowel -î, such as a coborî (to go down or descend).

The endings are almost identical to the -i verbs, but they use -â- instead of -i- for the noi and voi forms. Additionally, for these verbs, the el/ea (he/she) and ei/ele (they) forms are exactly the same, both ending in -ă!

Here is the pattern for a coborî:

PronounVerb
eucobor
tucobori
el/eacoboară
noicoborâm
voicoborâți
ei/elecoboară
I go down fast.
Eu cobor repede.
The grandfather goes down slowly.
Bunicul coboară încet.
The women go down slowly.
Femeile coboară încet.
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