The preposition belongs to the verb
Many Romanian verbs come with a fixed preposition, just as English says think about, depend on and believe in. Learn the verb and its preposition as one unit, because Romanian often picks a different one from English: you think la (at) someone, and you are afraid de (of) something. The preposition cannot be swapped for another one: mă gândesc la tine, never mă gândesc de tine.
| verb | preposition | example |
|---|
| a se gândi | la | mă gândesc la tine |
| a se uita | la | mă uit la televizor |
| a depinde | de | depinde de vreme |
| a se teme | de | mă tem de câini |
| a se ocupa | de | mă ocup de bilete |
| a se bucura | de | ne bucurăm de vacanță |
| a vorbi | despre | vorbim despre film |
| a crede | în | cred în tine |
| a conta | pe | contez pe tine |
| a se baza | pe | mă bazez pe tine |
After a preposition: mine, tine
A pronoun that follows a preposition takes its full form: la mine, de tine, pe el, despre ea, în noi. The short forms mă and te never come after a preposition.
In questions, the preposition goes first
English leaves the preposition at the end of a question: What are you thinking about? Romanian cannot do that. The preposition moves to the front of the question, together with ce (what) or cine (who).
| statement | question |
|---|
| mă gândesc la vacanță | La ce te gândești? |
| vorbim despre film | Despre ce vorbiți? |
| mă tem de câini | De cine te temi? |
| contez pe tine | Pe cine contezi? |
On its own, de ce means why. After a verb that takes de, the same two words simply mean on what or of what:
Another preposition, another meaning
Crede with a direct object means to believe someone: te cred (I believe you). Crede în means to believe in. Vorbi cu is to talk to someone, vorbi despre is to talk about something, and both can appear in one sentence. Keep se uita la (to look at) apart from uita (to forget): without se, the verb means to forget.
