Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

### The Compound Perfect

To talk about the past in Romanian, you use the *perfect compus* (compound perfect). Similar to English (e.g., "I have eaten"), it combines an auxiliary verb with a past participle. This lesson focuses on these auxiliary verbs—short forms derived from *a avea* (to have)—alongside high-frequency past participles like *fost* (been) and *făcut* (done).

### The Auxiliary Forms

Here is the past tense auxiliary. Notice that the forms for "I" and "we" are identical (**am**).

| Pronoun | Auxiliary |
| --- | --- |
| Eu (I) | **am** |
| Tu (You) | **ai** |
| El / Ea (He / She) | **a** |
| Noi (We) | **am** |
| Voi (You all) | **ați** |
| Ei / Ele (They) | **au** |

### Helpful Time Words

When talking about the past, you will frequently use words indicating when the event happened. Let's look at two common ones before we build sentences:

{{item:1123383}}

{{item:1123386}}

### First Person: I and We (am)

The auxiliary for both "I" and "we" is **am**. Context usually tells you whether the speaker means just themselves or a group.

{{item:1123384}}

{{item:1123388}}

### Second Person: You (ai, ați)

Use **ai** for an informal singular "you", and **ați** for a plural or formal "you".

{{item:1123385}}

{{item:1123404}}

### Third Person: He, She, It, and They (a, au)

Use **a** for singular subjects (he, she, or it) and **au** for plural subjects (they).

{{item:1123399}}

{{item:1123405}}

### Contrasting Subjects

When multiple people do different things, you can see how the auxiliary shifts to match each subject. The past participle (the main action word) stays the same for that verb, no matter who is doing it.

{{item:1123403}}

{{item:1123402}}

The past tense (am, ai, a)

adjective

adverb

adverbial phrase

auxiliary

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

The verb to be and definite articles (a fi, -ul, -le)

Feminine definite articles (-a, -ua)

Indefinite articles (un, o)

Negative sentences (nu)

Question words (ce, unde, cine)

The verb to have (a avea)

Masculine plural nouns (-i, -ii)

Feminine plural nouns (-e, -i, -le)

Neuter plural nouns (-uri, -e, -le)

Adjectives and agreement

Present tense of regular -a verbs

Present tense of -a verbs with suffix (-ez)

Present tense of regular -i and -î verbs

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

Present tense of -ea and -e verbs

Reflexive pronouns (mă, te, se, ne, vă)

Accusative prepositions (în, la, pe, din, cu)

Likes and dislikes (îmi place)

Possessive adjectives (meu, tău, său)

Third-person possessives (lui, ei, lor)

Possessive articles (al, a, ai, ale)

Formal politeness (dumneavoastră)

Demonstrative adjectives (acest, acel)

Numbers 1 to 10

The number two (doi, două)

Numbers 11 to 20

Counting by tens to 100

Quantifying large numbers (de)

The subjunctive (să)

Third-person subjunctive (să)

Direct object pronouns (îl, o, îi, le)

Personal direct objects (pe)

Days of the week

Telling time (e ora...)

Months of the Year (January to June)

Months of the Year (July to December)

The Four Seasons

Weather Conditions

Rooms in a House

Basic Body Parts: Upper Body

Basic Body Parts: Limbs

Everyday Clothing

Basic Foods: Groceries

Fruits and Vegetables

Around Town

Getting Around

Setting the Table

A Colorful World

Common Animals

In the Wild

Jobs and Careers

Everyday Tech

Describing people (tânăr, bătrân, înalt)

Asking when and why (când, de ce, care)

Hello and goodbye (bună ziua, la revedere)

Coming and going (intra, sta, trece)

Where is it? (sub, lângă, între)

Knowing and thinking (știu că, cred că)

Sorry, welcome, congratulations (îmi pare rău, la mulți ani)

Introducing yourself (mă numesc, sunt din România)

How much and how many (puțin, prea, doar)

Can and may (pot merge, pot să merg)

If and whether (dacă)

At school and university

Irregular verbs in the present (vrea, lua, da, bea, sta)

Free time and sport

How much is it? (cât costă, câți, câte)

Before and after (înainte, după, până)

At the doctor (mă doare)

Meals of the day (micul dejun, prânzul, cina)

At the restaurant

Ability and permission (a putea să)

Obligation and necessity (trebuie să)

Desires and intentions (a vrea să)

Impersonal statements (se)

Adverbs of frequency (adesea, uneori)

Conjunctions for reasons and links (pentru că, deci)

Stressed accusative pronouns (pe mine, pe tine)

Indefinite pronouns (cineva, ceva)

Negative pronouns and double negation (nimeni, nimic)

The past tense auxiliary (am, ai, a)

Regular past participles (-at, -it)

Regular past participles (-ut, -s, -t)

Negative past tense (nu am)

Past tense with reflexive verbs (m-am, s-a)

Question	Answer
yesterday	ieri
Yesterday I was at the office.	Ieri am fost la birou.
What did you do yesterday?	Ce ai făcut ieri?
last night	aseară
to spend time, to party	petrece
Last night we partied together.	Aseară am petrecut împreună.
the concert	concertul
excellent	excelent
Last night I saw an excellent concert.	Aseară am văzut un concert excelent.
past, last	trecut
to find out	afla
the surprise	surpriza
Last week I found out the surprise.	Săptămâna trecută am aflat surpriza.
to notice / to observe	observa
He noticed the problem last year.	A observat problema anul trecut.
wonderful	minunat
The party was wonderful.	Petrecerea a fost minunată.
The concert was excellent.	Concertul a fost excelent.
My brother has already found out the surprise.	Fratele meu a aflat deja surpriza.
I read, and they partied.	Eu am citit, iar ei au petrecut.
I worked, and you slept.	Eu am lucrat, iar tu ai dormit.
Did you notice the mistake?	Ați observat greșeala?
They did an excellent project.	Au făcut un proiect excelent.
Yesterday we saw a wonderful film.	Ieri am văzut un film minunat.
two days ago	acum două zile
I left two days ago.	Am plecat acum două zile.
Two days ago it rained a lot.	Acum două zile a plouat mult.
I was in Romania last year.	Am fost în România anul trecut.
Last year I worked a lot.	Anul trecut am lucrat mult.
Last week I saw a movie.	Săptămâna trecută am văzut un film.
I ate at a restaurant last week.	Am mâncat la restaurant săptămâna trecută.
Last month I was at the seaside.	Luna trecută am fost la mare.
I bought the car last month.	Am cumpărat mașina luna trecută.
the day before yesterday	alaltăieri
The day before yesterday I was at my grandparents'.	Alaltăieri am fost la bunici.
What did you do the day before yesterday?	Ce ai făcut alaltăieri?
ago (three-word phrase, before the time period)	în urmă cu
Three years ago I finished university.	În urmă cu trei ani am terminat facultatea.
I lived here two years ago.	Am locuit aici în urmă cu doi ani.

Contributors