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### A tense for reading

Open a Romanian novel or a fairy tale and you will meet a past tense nobody uses at the office: the **perfect simplu** (simple past). *Împăratul chemă* means exactly *împăratul a chemat*: the emperor called. In everyday speech the perfect compus has replaced it almost everywhere, so you only need to **recognize** it, not to use it. The one exception is the south-west, Oltenia, where people still say *mersei* and *mâncai* for things they did today.

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### The endings

Start from the past participle you know and drop the **-t**: *cântat* → *cânta-*, *tăcut* → *tăcu-*, *venit* → *veni-*, *făcut* → *făcu-*. Then add the endings. In stories you will mostly see the **he/she** and **they** forms.

| verb | I | he / she | we | they |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a cânta | cântai | **cântă** | cântarăm | **cântară** |
| a tăcea | tăcui | **tăcu** | tăcurăm | **tăcură** |
| a veni | venii | **veni** | venirăm | **veniră** |
| a face | făcui | **făcu** | făcurăm | **făcură** |

(*You* singular ends in **-și**: *cântași*, *făcuși*; *you* plural in **-răți**: *cântarăți*.) Verbs whose participle ends in **-s** keep it: *mers* → **merse**, *zis* → **zise**, *pus* → **puse**, *spus* → **spuse**. Watch the -i verbs: *veni*, *lovi*, *întâlni* look like the infinitive, and only the story tells you it is the past.

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### The forms you meet on every page

| perfect simplu | everyday Romanian | |
|---|---|---|
| **fu** | a fost | was |
| **avu** | a avut | had |
| **zise** / **spuse** | a zis / a spus | said |
| **făcu** | a făcut | did, made |
| **veni** | a venit | came |
| **merse** | a mers | went |
| **puse** | a pus | put |
| **dădu** | a dat | gave |

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Translate it with the English simple past, and when you retell the story yourself, use the perfect compus.

The simple past in stories (zise, făcu, plecă)

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)

The past tense (am, ai, a)

Regular past participles (-at, -it)

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

Negative past tense (nu am)

Question	Answer
The emperor called his sons and told them the dragon had to be defeated.	Împăratul își chemă fiii și le zise că balaurul trebuie învins.
The youngest son took a sword and set off toward the mountain.	Fiul cel mic luă o sabie și plecă spre munte.
He walked for three days and three nights through the forest.	Merse trei zile și trei nopți prin pădure.
On the way, he met a beautiful fairy.	Pe drum, întâlni o zână frumoasă.
The fairy cast a spell and gave him a gold ring.	Zâna făcu o vrajă și îi dădu un inel de aur.
She told him the ring would protect him from the dragon.	Îi spuse că inelul îl va apăra de balaur.
When he reached the castle, the hero saw the dragon.	Când ajunse la castel, eroul văzu balaurul.
The dragon woke up and came toward him.	Balaurul se trezi și veni spre el.
The hero drew the sword and struck the dragon.	Eroul scoase sabia și lovi balaurul.
The dragon was defeated, and the curse vanished.	Balaurul fu învins, iar blestemul dispăru.
People came out into the streets and rejoiced.	Oamenii ieșiră pe străzi și se bucurară.
The hero returned home and put the sword on the table.	Eroul se întoarse acasă și puse sabia pe masă.
The emperor was overjoyed when he saw his son.	Împăratul avu o mare bucurie când își văzu fiul.
Then the emperor said that his youngest son would be the new emperor.	Atunci zise împăratul că fiul cel mic va fi noul împărat.
The hero married the fairy, and at the wedding everyone ate and drank for a week.	Eroul se căsători cu zâna, iar la nuntă toți mâncară și băură o săptămână.
This morning I went to the market and bought bread.	Azi-dimineață mersei la piață și cumpărai pâine.

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