ROMANIAN VOCABULARY

HOW TO SPEAK (REAL) ROMANIAN

Building a strong vocabulary is the cornerstone of mastering any language, and our Romanian Vocabulary Section is designed to help you express yourself on a variety of topics. There’s no point in memorizing grammar if you don’t know what things are called, so we recommend that you begin your Romanian language journey right here. You can also explore specific Romanian words and expressions in our Culture section.

On this page, you’ll find the essential vocabulary to get started. Our vocabulary lists are carefully curated to cover a wide range of themes. Learning the most common 2000 words will allow you to understand about 80–90% of everyday spoken or written material, assuming you already have a basic understanding of grammar. Languages follow the so-called "Pareto Principle" (80/20 rule), where a small portion of vocabulary covers the majority of real-life communication.

Begin with Useful Expressions, mastering key Verbs, Adverbs, and Adjectives that form the foundation of daily conversation. Move on to practical categories like Numbers and telling the Time, which are vital for scheduling and understanding context. Talking about your Family, describing Colors, Shapes, and Sizes, or ordering Food and Drinks helps you interact naturally. Topics like Clothing, Weather, and Travel bring vocabulary into real-world experiences, while Law, Jobs, Shopping, and Health reflect daily needs. To go further, explore interests through Hobbies, Education, and Nature, or navigate modern life with terms related to Home, Technology and Feelings. For more specialized or advanced vocabulary, delve into Sports, Animals, War, and Politics—and understand even the informal side of the language with a dose of Swearing.

For now, we suggest you read the words several times a day so that you can recognize them when you come across them in a conversation or a text. Learning Romanian vocabulary will be a bit easier if you already know another Romance language like Italian, Spanish, French or Portuguese. Be sure to check out the Loanwords at the end if you want to speed up the memorisation process even further. After this, you can move on to the Grammar section, where you’ll see these words in action.

Bring your Romanian language skills to life!

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Download our complete Romanian language course below to learn Romanian in 30 days and never be at a loss for words!

You will receive not only all the contents available on our website in a convenient pdf or epub formats but also additional contents, including bonus vocabulary, more grammar structures and exclusive cultural insights with additional vocabulary you won't in any other textbook.

The additional vocabulary includes 200 different topics and more than 15.000 of the most important words, including specific categories like sports, religion, business, professions, nationalities, politics, slang, anatomy, medicine, nature, animals, etc., to allow to speak about any immaginable topic with confidence. 

bună hello
salut hi
bună dimineața good morning
bună ziua good afternoon
bună seara good evening
noapte bună good night
la revedere goodbye
pe curând see you soon
ne vedem mai târziu see you later
pa bye

te rog please
mulțumesc thank you
mersi thanks
cu plăcere you’re welcome
scuze sorry
îmi pare rău I’m sorry
nicio problemă no problem
permiteți excuse me
poftim here you go
bine ai venit welcome

ce faci? how are you?
cum îți merge? how’s it going?
totul bine? everything good?
sunt bine I’m fine
nu prea bine not so well
așa și așa so so
tu? and you?
mă bucur să te văd nice to see you
încântat de cunoștință nice to meet you
de unde ești? where are you from?

cât costă? how much does it cost?
nota, te rog the bill, please
poftă bună enjoy your meal
noroc cheers
apă, te rog water, please
o cafea, te rog a coffee, please
unde este toaleta? where is the bathroom?
am nevoie de ajutor I need help
este delicios it’s delicious
mai vreau puțin I want a little more

unde este hotelul? where is the hotel?
am o rezervare I have a reservation
aș dori o cameră I would like a room
câte nopți? how many nights?
mic dejun inclus? breakfast included?
la ce oră e check-out-ul? what time is check-out?
vreau să plătesc acum I want to pay now
card sau numerar? card or cash?
cheia, vă rog the key, please
camera e curată the room is clean

unde este stația? where is the station?
când pleacă trenul? when does the train leave?
bilet dus-întors return ticket
cât durează călătoria? how long is the trip?
vreau să merg la aeroport I want to go to the airport
unde oprește autobuzul? where does the bus stop?
taxi, te rog taxi, please
mergeți drept înainte go straight ahead
faceți dreapta turn right
faceți stânga turn left

câți ani ai? how old are you?
am douăzeci de ani I am twenty years old
unde lucrezi? where do you work?
sunt student I am a student
sunt profesor I am a teacher
sunt medic I am a doctor
ai frați sau surori? do you have brothers or sisters?
am un frate I have a brother
am o soră I have a sister
nu am frați I don’t have siblings

ce oră este? what time is it?
este ora trei it’s three o’clock
cât e ceasul? what’s the time?
azi today
mâine tomorrow
ieri yesterday
acum now
mai târziu later
dimineață morning
seară evening

da yes
nu no
poate maybe
sigur sure
desigur of course
bine okay
niciodată never
întotdeauna always
uneori sometimes
poate mai târziu maybe later

unde este spitalul? where is the hospital?
sună la ambulanță call an ambulance
am nevoie de medic I need a doctor
mă doare it hurts
sunt bolnav I am sick
am febră I have a fever
unde este farmacia? where is the pharmacy?
am alergie I have an allergy
este urgent it’s urgent
ajutor! help!

Useful Expressions in Romanian

a fi to be
a avea to have
a face to do
a spune to say
a putea to be able
a vrea to want
a trebui to have to
a da to give
a lua to take
a ști to know

a merge to go
a veni to come
a pleca to leave
a intra to enter
a ieși to exit
a urca to climb
a coborî to go down
a alerga to run
a zbura to fly
a călători to travel

a mânca to eat
a bea to drink
a găti to cook
a gusta to taste
a cumpăra to buy
a comanda to order
a plăti to pay
a deschide to open
a închide to close
a servi to serve

a locui to live
a sta to stay
a dormi to sleep
a visa to dream
a lucra to work
a studia to study
a învăța to learn
a citi to read
a scrie to write
a asculta to listen

a vorbi to speak
a întreba to ask
a răspunde to answer
a explica to explain
a înțelege to understand
a traduce to translate
a repeta to repeat
a striga to shout
a povesti to tell a story
a discuta to discuss

a vedea to see
a privi to look
a arăta to show
a observa to observe
a găsi to find
a pierde to lose
a căuta to search
a descoperi to discover
a verifica to check
a recunoaște to recognize

a iubi to love
a plăcea to like
a urî to hate
a simți to feel
a crede to believe
a spera to hope
a aminti to remember
a uita to forget
a râde to laugh
a plânge to cry

a începe to start
a termina to finish
a continua to continue
a aștepta to wait
a ajunge to arrive
a folosi to use
a încerca to try
a reuși to succeed
a greși to make a mistake
a schimba to change

a spăla to wash
a curăța to clean
a tăia to cut
a desena to draw
a picta to paint
a construi to build
a repara to repair
a conduce to drive
a parca to park
a trimite to send

a primi to receive
a ajuta to help
a salva to save
a proteja to protect
a câștiga to win
a învinge to defeat
a cumpăra to shop
a dansa to dance
a cânta to sing
a juca to play

a începe to begin
a termina to end
a organiza to organize
a pregăti to prepare
a planifica to plan
a explica to explain
a aranja to arrange
a corecta to correct
a descrie to describe
a folosi to apply

Essential Verbs in Romanian

EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Download our complete Romanian language course below to learn Romanian in 30 days and never be at a loss for words!

You will receive not only all the contents available on our website in a convenient pdf or epub formats but also additional contents, including bonus vocabulary, more grammar structures and exclusive cultural insights with additional vocabulary you won't in any other textbook.

The additional vocabulary includes 200 different topics and more than 15.000 of the most important words, including specific categories like sports, religion, business, professions, nationalities, politics, slang, anatomy, medicine, nature, animals, etc., to allow to speak about any immaginable topic with confidence.