Verb 'a fi' (to be): sunt, ești, este, suntem, sunteți, sunt
Can conjugate 'a fi' for identity and descriptions
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Eu sunt din România și tu ești din Germania.
I am from Romania and you are from Germany.
Ei sunt fericiți și ea e obosită.
They are happy and she is tired.
Suntem pregătiți pentru examen.
We are ready for the exam.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
A fi - to be - is irregular, and you need it in your first sentence. Here is the present tense:
| Person | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| eu | sunt | Sunt din Londra. - I'm from London. |
| tu | ești | Ești obosit? - Are you tired? |
| el / ea | este, e | Ea e medic. - She's a doctor. |
| noi | suntem | Suntem la Sibiu. - We're in Sibiu. |
| voi | sunteți | Sunteți gata? - Are you ready? |
| ei / ele | sunt | Sunt studenți. - They're students. |
Ești and este begin with a "y" sound: "yeshti", "yes-te". Este and its short form e mean the same; e is what you hear in conversation, este what you read in the paper.
Sunt is both "I am" and "they are". With the pronoun dropped, the context decides: Sunt acasă said about yourself is "I'm at home"; in answer to "Where are your parents?" it is "They're at home".
English says "I am a teacher"; Romanian does not use the article here: Sunt profesor. El e englez. - He's English. Ea e asistentă. - She's a nurse. The article comes back once you add a description: E un medic foarte bun. - He's a very good doctor.
Watch the ones that are not "to be" in Romanian: your age, hunger and thirst use a avea (to have): Am treizeci de ani. - I'm thirty. Am foame. - I'm hungry. *Sunt treizeci and *Sunt foame are the classic English-speaker slips.
The negative puts nu in front: Nu sunt de acord. - I don't agree (literally "I'm not of agreement").
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises
Practice Exercisessunt = both 'I am' and 'they are'. Russian speakers drop copula.
Confusing sunt (I am) with sunt (they are)
Context resolves: check adjective agreement or explicit pronoun.
Dropping 'a fi' as in Russian
Romanian REQUIRES 'a fi': 'Sunt student', never just 'Student'.
Eu sunt din România și tu ești din Germania.
I am from Romania and you are from Germany.
'Sunt' = I am. 'Ești' = you are. 'Din' = from.
Ei sunt fericiți și ea e obosită.
They are happy and she is tired.
'Sunt' here = they are (same as 'I am'!). 'E' = short for 'este'.
Suntem pregătiți pentru examen.
We are ready for the exam.
'Suntem' = we are. Pronoun 'noi' dropped — verb shows person.
The check for this topic is still being prepared
Ready-made hints are free
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises
A1 Module 1: Romanian greetings, gender, and first sentences