The dictionary form of the verb is the infinitive form.

The particle “a” is the mark

for infinitive and represent the translation of “to”. All the verbs have the particle
“a” at the beginning.

Examples: a cânta (to sing), a dansa (todance), a mânca (to eat) etc.

The ending of the infinitive (a vowel or a vowel group) shows the conjugation of
the verb. The endings and the verb conjugations are:

–a: 1st conjugation: a cânta (to sing)

–ea: 2nd conjugation: a avea (to have)

–e: 3rd conjugation: a merge (to go)

–i and –î: 4th conjugation: a iubi (to love), a hotărî (to decide)

Let’s learn the Present Indicative of the verbs in –a (1st conjugation).

A cânta (engl. to sing), a pleca (engl. to leave)

A cânta A pleca

Eu cânt Eu plec

Tu cânți Tu pleci

El / ea cântă El / ea pleacă

Noi cântăm Noi plecăm

Voi cântați Voi plecați

Ei / ele cântă Ei / ele pleacă

The root verb is obtaining eliminating the infinitive suffix. For instance, is the infinitive form is
„a cânta”, the root is „cânt”. In order to obtain the Present Tense, we have to add some
endings at the root verb. These endings are: Ø, –i, –ă, –ăm, –ați, –ă.

Sometimes the root verb is changing as in the example below:

eu cânt (I sing) – the root is „cânt”

tu cânți (you sing) – the root is „cânț”

Due to phonetic rules, „t” becomes „ț” before „i”.

In some other situations, the vowel „e” from the root verb becomes the diphthong „ea” as
follows:

tu pleci (you leave)

el pleacă (he leaves)

Some of the verbs in –a receive the suffix „ez” in the first and the second person singular. In the
third person singular, the suffix „ez” becomes „eaz”. After this suffix, the Present endings are
added (Ø, –i, –ă, –ăm, –ați, –ă).

A dansa (engl. to dance), a lucra (engl. to work)

A dansa A lucra

Eu dansez Eu lucrez

Tu dansezi Tu lucrezi
 El / ea dansează El / ea lucrează

Noi dansăm Noi lucrăm

Voi dansați Voi lucrați

Ei / ele dansează Ei / ele lucrează

For most verbs, the 3rd person in the singular is homonym with the 3rd person in
the plural:

el cântă (he sings) = ei cântă (they sing)

el lucrează (he works) = ei lucrează (they work)

Exceptions

A sta (engl. to stay), a lua (engl. to take)

A sta A lua

Eu stau Eu iau

Tu stai Tu iei

El / ea stă El / ea ia

Noi stăm Noi luăm

Voi stați Voi luați

Ei / ele stau Ei / ele iau

The negative form

In order to obtain the negative form, we have to add the particle “nu” in front of
the verbs.

Examples:

A cânta A pleca

Eu nu cânt (I don’t sing) Eu nu plec (I don’t leave)

Tu nu cânți (you don’t sing) Tu nu pleci (you don’t leave)

El / ea nu cântă (he / she doesn’t sing) El / ea nu pleacă (he / she doesn’t leave)

Noi nu cântăm (we don’t sing) Noi nu plecăm (we don’t leave)

Voi nu cântați (you don’t sing) Voi nu plecați (you don’t leave)

Ei / ele nu cântă (they don’t sing) Ei / ele nu pleacă (they don’t leave)

Mona Pologea,

PhD Linguist