Question 1

Why is there a să before the second verb?

Accepted Answer

In English, we say "want to leave", using the basic dictionary form of the verb. Romanian does it differently. After verbs like "want", you use the linking word să followed by a conjugated verb. You can think of vor să plece literally as "they want that they leave".

Question 2

If the subject is ei (they), why is the second verb plece instead of pleacă?

Accepted Answer

Normally, "they leave" is ei pleacă. But the little word să changes the verb form for the third person (he/she/they). For most verbs ending in "-a" like a pleca, the ending changes to "-e" after să, which gives us să plece.

Question 3

Is it okay to drop the word ei from this sentence?

Accepted Answer

Yes! You can simply say Vor să plece mâine. In Romanian, the verb form vor already tells us the subject is "they", so the pronoun ei is only used if you want to add special emphasis.

Question 4

I have seen vor used for the future tense. Is that what is happening here?

Accepted Answer

Not in this sentence, but they are very closely related! The verb a vrea (to want) gives us the form vor (they want). Romanian uses this exact same word to build the future tense (like ei vor pleca for "they will leave"). Here, because it is followed by să, it acts as a normal verb meaning "they want".

Ei vor să plece mâine.

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