RomanianPod101.com Blog

I remember even when I was little, I knew that chatting about the weather was sort of cliché.

I had no idea how you would do it—what, you would just say it was hot or cold?

It turns out, obviously, that yes, that is the case. That’s exactly what you do, and otherwise society would break down.

Well, maybe that’s a little overdramatic. But my point is that chatting about the weather fills a really important role of small talk that’s always accessible. If you dash under a coffee shop awning during a sudden cloudburst and there’s someone else there too, what else can you do but laugh and curse the sky?

When you get to Romania, you’ll probably be itching to try out your language skills on others. You don’t have to be close friends to switch to Romanian with someone.

Simply talk about the weather in Romania with the first stranger you see! It should be a piece of cake once you learn the most practical weather vocabulary Romanians use, and how they work in sentences.

Table of Contents

1. The Climate and Seasons of Romania
2. Talking about Cold Weather
3. Talking about Hot Weather
4. Complaining about Bad Weather
5. Can the Weather Make You Sick?
6. Other Natural Occurrences
7. Temperature and Degrees
8. Idioms about the Weather
9. How RomanianPod101 Can Help You Master Romanian Conversation

1. The Climate and Seasons of Romania

Romania is one of those countries that gets to experience the classic four seasons that are very distinct from one another. This means that the weather in Romania year-round is anything but dull!

There’s really no need to go through weather in Romania by month, but here is a breakdown of what to expect each season:

In spring, people unbundle themselves from their winter gear and enjoy the green countryside and the blooming fields of flowers.

In summer, things heat up. It can get pretty warm in most places, particularly the middle areas that get neither the cool air from Northern Europe nor the sea breeze from the Mediterranean. We’re talking highs of 35 degrees Celsius (or 95 degrees Fahrenheit)—uncomfortable, sure, but not deadly.

As autumn rolls around, the leaves change to beautiful colors and temperatures drop slowly and surely.

Finally, Romanian weather in winter maintains a moderate climate, though winters do tend to be relatively long and chilly. Average temperatures usually hover around or below zero all season long, and up in the mountains it can get colder than -15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit)!

Speaking of winter…

2. Talking about Cold Weather

You probably already know how to say and use the word “cold.” Let’s get a little bit more advanced with some idiomatic words and phrases.

Here’s something you can use for, oh, about two or three months during the year, when it’s neither burning hot nor freezing cold.

• Este un pic rece, aici.
  “It’s a little chilly here outside.”

But then, once winter hits:

• Îngheț de frig.
  “I’m freezing cold.”

The word îngheț shares a root with the Italian word gelato, but instead of anything sweet, it simply means “to freeze.” Frig might be even easier to recognize since it’s so close to frigid or fridge in English.

So sure, it’s cold outside. But what does the cold bring with it? Snow.

• Zăpada era până la genunchi.
  “The snow was knee-deep.”

In a little bit, we’ll discuss complaining, but here you can get a head start with this sad lament:

• Uneori se simte de parcă aici zăpada nu se topește niciodată.
  “Sometimes it seems like the snow here never melts.”

It’s not just Eskimos that have a lot of words for snow. Anybody living with snow on any regular basis has different words for the different types of snow that can appear on the ground or in the air.

I bet you can think of quite a few right now. There’s sleet, snowdrift, snowbank, snowstorm, hail… So here are just two sentences for special precipitation words.

• Prognoza vremii prezice lapoviță.
  “The forecast predicts sleet.”
• Craiova este îngropată sub o furtună de zăpadă.
  “Craiova is buried under a snowstorm.”

3. Talking about Hot Weather

Although we opened with cold weather, we could have done just the same with hot. Romania in late summer is definitely not a time you want to be in a sweater.

The air is often humid, and cloudless skies provide ample opportunity for the sun to beat down on your neck.

People who go for walks in the Romanian countryside might find this phrase handy.

• Sunt sub un soare arzător.
  “I am under a blazing sun.”

What we might also call a “scorching sun” or “burning sun” in English actually has two more ways to translate into Romanian: bătaia soarelui and soare arzător.

Heat is never just heat, of course. We can have dry heat and humid heat, both of which have pretty direct equivalents in Romania, even if humid weather is much more likely.

• Îmi place vremea caldă și uscată.
  “I like dry heat.”
• Este foarte umed azi.
  “It’s very humid today.”

Personally, I can’t stand humid weather. It just plain wears me out and makes me crabby. For that reason, we have the following section:

4. Complaining about Bad Weather

It has been said, perhaps unfairly, that complaining is an art in Romania. Knowing precisely how much to mope while staying polite (as polite as is required in your circumstances) does take some practice.

Here’s how you can whine about Romanian weather without crossing the line into being a party pooper. Don’t blame the people or even the country for the bad day you’re having. Just talk about not liking it, and I guarantee people will join in.

• Urăsc genul asta de vreme.
  “I hate this type of weather.”

You can, of course, be more specific about why you’re not a big fan of the weather.

• Este prea cald afară.
  “It’s too hot outside.”

Be sure not to use the word fierbinte here, as that’s for a hot object, not the weather.

• Nu-l atinge, e prea fierbinte.
  “Don’t touch it, it’s too hot.”

The verb we used earlier, urăsc, literally means “I hate.” That’s pretty strong! Here’s how we can tone it down:

• Mie nu-mi place frigul.
  “I don’t like the cold.”

The word frig in Romanian is fairly versatile. It captures all the senses of “cold,” “chilly,” and even “freezing,” that we have to use different words for in English.

Just in case you’re having such a bad day that you want to burn some bridges, here are a couple of phrases to really sound like you’d rather leave. Better save these for a day with some really miserable weather conditions.

• Cum poți să reziști aici?
  “How can you stand it here?”
• Mi-e dor de țara mea.
  “I miss my country.”

Of course, if you say these with a rueful shake of the head and a grin, people will understand that you’re joking, and you’ll probably even get high praise for being able to navigate the humor so well!

5. Can the Weather Make You Sick?

Well, a lot of people say yes, and a lot of people say no. Sun or snow can’t actually introduce germs into the atmosphere, but it can definitely change how your body reacts to them.

This is perhaps the classic health advice related to the weather, whether in Romania or outside it.

• Nu ieși în ploaie.
  “Don’t go out in the rain.”

Some people are more direct about asking you to do things, and some people prefer to just make more polite suggestions.

• Cred că ar fi bine să porți un palton.
  “I really think you should wear a coat.”

Perhaps you just won’t get that chilly. In response, you can offer this retort:

• Am să mă îmbrac cu un pulover.
  “I’ll wear a sweater.”

It’s always good to be able to use a “did you remember?” type of sentence. To really fix it in your memory, imagine that you’re driving in a car and the clouds absolutely open up with rain. The other person turns to you and says:

• Ți-ai adus umbrela?
  “Did you remember to bring an umbrella?”
• Oh, nu se poate! Am uitat-o!
  “Oh no, I forgot!”

Whatever you do, if you end up not following these directions and getting sick anyway, don’t let on about it. Otherwise you’re just inviting this phrase:

• Ți-am spus eu…
  “I told you so…”

6. Other Natural Occurrences

Fortunately, Romania doesn’t suffer from many particularly dangerous natural disasters. At least, nothing that happens with enough regularity to warn people away.

That being the case, sometimes big weather events do happen, and it’s good to be prepared with that vocabulary too.

1- Floods (inundații)

Floods are certainly the most common type of disaster to strike Romania. Lots of rivers, and comparatively less investment in flood protection, means that every few years the rivers swell up and the water makes life rough for people in the lowlands. The last major flood to hit the capital was in 2014, when water rushing through the streets paralyzed traffic for more than a day.

• Nu pot să cred cât de groaznică este inundația.
  “I can’t believe how bad the flood is!”

2- Earthquakes (cutremur)

Many people don’t think of Europe as a place that experiences a lot of earthquakes, but they’re definitely known to happen in Romania and other southern countries. Interestingly, the majority of Romania’s earthquakes take place in a single county that’s remarkably seismically active.

Although there have been some very serious earthquakes there in the past, there has been a lot of retrofitting and earthquake-proof construction, and the last earthquake that caused major damage was in the early 1990s.

• Cutremurul cu magnitudinea de 6.5 a avut loc în apropierea Bucureștiului.
  “The magnitude 6.5 earthquake happened near Bucharest.”

7. Temperature and Degrees

Romania uses degrees Celsius, just like the rest of Europe. Many houses have thermometers hanging outside their front doors.

• Aici, temperatura a ajuns la 35 grade.
  “The temperature reached 35 degrees (Celsius) here.”

If you do need to specify Celsius specifically, just say grade Celsius. Fahrenheit is exactly the same word in Romanian, just spoken in a Romanian accent, of course.

And perhaps you look at the number on the readout and you absolutely can’t believe your eyes. What should you say?

• Ceva nu este în regulă cu acest termometru!
  “There must be something wrong with this thermometer!”

Check out the rather unique construction typically used when talking about degrees—you’ll want to use two instances of de, once before and once after the actual degree number.

• Prognoze meteo pentru Deva este de 18 grade.
  “The forecast for Deva is 18 degrees.”

8. Idioms about the Weather

Weather is, well, eternal. No matter where you are or when you are, you’re going to experience some type of weather. And so it logically follows that all cultures and all languages have long traditions of describing different weather conditions, often quite metaphorically. Because, of course, why speak stiffly and directly about something if you already have such a deep shared cultural history?

Besides, Romania is quite colorful with its idioms in general.

And so that brings us to a short yet helpful list of some typical Romanian turns of phrase related to the weather.

• Soare cu dinți
  “Sun with teeth“

Sound spooky? Well, it is unusual, but it’s nothing to worry about. This is how Romanians describe a sunny day with cold weather.

• Plouă cu broaşte
  “A rain of frogs“

It’s funny how some types of idioms can have oddly similar counterparts in different languages. Everybody knows that “raining cats and dogs” has a figurative meaning. When you hear plouă cu broaşte, you might have the same reaction for a moment that a foreigner would when hearing the English!

• a face vânt cuiva
  “to make wind to someone”

No, that’s not pass wind, it’s make wind. Very different! It turns out that Romanian actually has a ton of verbs with a face meaning “to make.” They’re usually idiomatic, and this is one of the most common ways it’s used when talking about weather. It’s a fancy way to say “push someone,” like with your hands to get them out of the way. It can also mean “to fire someone,” or “to get rid of someone (who is bothering you).”

9. How RomanianPod101 Can Help You Master Romanian Conversation

The best thing about using the weather as a conversational topic is that you can really discuss it at any skill level.

If you’re just a beginner, you can get practice by simply saying that the weather is nice, or that it’s too hot or too cold, or so on.

Intermediate learners can start comparing the weather in Romania to other places they’re familiar with.

And advanced Romanian speakers can, if they’re curious, ask questions about certain weather events. What was it like during the big blizzard of ‘54? What trends do you expect to happen with climate change?

All of these topics sound natural in the right context.

With a little bit of practice, you’ll navigate these contexts effortlessly, and always have something to say in Romanian. In that vein, reader, how do you feel about talking about Romania weather? More comfortable, or still struggling with something? Let us know in the comments!

Are you stuck in a Romanian loop? Do you keep learning a little then sliding back down, unable to really understand what people are saying?

Chances are, your vocabulary just isn’t quite there yet.

Vocabulary actually makes a big difference when it comes to comprehension. It may sound obvious, but the truth is that no matter how you’re learning, if you don’t know the words, you don’t know the words.

In this article, just for you, we’ve got one-hundred fantastic Romanian adjectives that you can use to spice up your Romanian. And these are the real deal, complete with real-life example sentences.

One quick read-through of our top Romanian adjectives list and your Romanian will never be the same. Let’s go!

Table of Contents

1. A Very Fast Overview of Romanian Adjectives
2. List of Adjectives in Romanian: Top 100+ Romanian Adjectives
3. Conclusion

1. A Very Fast Overview of Romanian Adjectives

In principle, Romanian adjectives have challenging aspects and easier aspects.

On the one hand, almost all of them do change for gender and number. That means in order to speak grammatically, the adjective form has to “match” with the verb form.

In Romanian grammar, adjectives typically come after the noun they modify. Sometimes you’ll see them in front of the noun, and that means that they’re being emphasized.

Aside from those two Romanian adjectives rules, you don’t have to worry about the crazy case changes that you’d deal with in Slavic languages, and a lot of the most popular Romanian adjectives are already very easy to understand for English speakers!

2. List of Adjectives in Romanian: Top 100+ Romanian Adjectives

Here’s our top Romanian adjectives list; prepare to expand your knowledge of descriptive words in Romanian and speak like a creative native!

1- Describing Colors

To ease you in here, some Romanian color words don’t change for gender or number. Besides, colors are easy stuff. It’s just like kindergarten again!

1. gri – gray

Mi-am luat paltonul gri.
I took my gray overcoat.

2. bleu – light blue

El purta o cravată bleu, foarte draguță.
He was wearing a very nice blue tie.

3. maro – brown; maroon

Este într-o geantă maro, de piele.
It’s in a brown leather bag.

4. lila – light purple; lilac

Rochiile domnișoarelor de onoare sunt lila.
The bridesmaids’ dresses are light purple.

5. vernil – light green; vermilion

De asemenea, aveau și varianta pe vernil.
They also have it in light green.

However, the following adjectives do change.

6. roșu – red

Apasă butonul roșu.
Press the red button.

7. albastru – blue

Nimic altceva decât o mare calmă și un orizont albastru.
Nothing but calm seas and blue horizons.

8. verde – green

Ea vrea doar legume verzi și supă.
She only wants green vegetables and broth.

9. portocaliu – orange

El are tenul portocaliu.
He has an orange tan.

10. violet – purple

Ești îmbrăcată în violet.
You’re wearing purple.

11. alb –­ white

Vin alb, te rog.
White wine, please.

12. negru – black

Am nevoie de o rochie neagră de seară.
I need a black evening dress.

2- Describing Taste

Anybody who doesn’t know about Romanian cuisine is missing out big time. It’s hearty, healthy, and more importantly, runs a whole gamut of flavors—and these are the words you need to describe them.

13. iute – spicy (often used for non-Western food)

Wasabi e cam iute.
Wasabi is pretty spicy.

14. picant – spicy

Acest sos picant este cel mai bine vândut.
This spicy sauce is a bestseller.

15. sărat – salty

Aerul sărat de ocean e foarte coroziv.
The salty ocean air is very corrosive.

16. dulce – sweet

De asemenea și ștrudelul este dulce.
Also, strudel is sweet too.

17. amar – bitter

Laptele de aici e prea amar.
The milk here is too bitter.

18. proaspăt – fresh

Îmi place aerul proaspăt când dorm.
I like fresh air when I sleep.

19. acru– sour

Vreau orez dulce-acrișor.
I want the sweet-and-sour rice.

3- Describing Personality or Traits

Romania isn’t that big of a country, but you’ll find all kinds of people there. Particularly because of its history, the demographics can sometimes be diverse, especially when you contrast the countryside with the city.

20. inteligent – smart; intelligent

Ai procedat inteligent că nu ai zis nimic.
You were smart to keep quiet.

21. tânăr – young

Ești foarte tânăr ca să fii căpitan.
You’re very young to be a captain.

Check this out, though: In Romanian, we don’t say “younger sibling.” We actually say “smaller sibling!”

Mary este sora mai mică a lui Tom.
Mary is Tom’s younger sister.

Eu sunt fratele tău mai mare.
I’m your older brother.

Like any language, Romanian has set phrasal adjectives as well. Several of the most common ones are about people.

22. cu nasul pe sus – full of oneself; stuck-up

Ești prea cu nasul pe sus.
You’re getting a little full of yourself.

23. de încredere – trustworthy

El e omul cel mai de încredere din lume.
He is the most reliable (trustworthy) man in the world.

24. cu capul pe umeri – level-headed

Sunt un tip cu capul pe umeri.
I’m a very level-headed guy.

25. vioi – lively; nimble; brisk; alert

El este foarte vioi după somnul de după-amiază.
He’s very alert after his afternoon nap.

26. amabil – kind

N-am fost prea amabil cu tine.
I haven’t been very kind to you.

27. liniștit – quiet

Eu sunt doar aparent liniștit.
I’m only quiet on the outside.

28. zgomotos – noisy

Sper că gongul meu nu a fost prea zgomotos pentru tine.
I hope my gong wasn’t too loud for you.

29. punctual – punctual

Încearcă să fii mai punctual dimineața.
Try to be more punctual in the morning.

30. harnic – hardworking

Tatăl meu nu era prea harnic.
My father wasn’t very hardworking.

31. dinamic – dynamic; flexible

El e un jucător dinamic și puternic.
He’s a dynamic and powerful player.

32. tăcut – quiet

El a fost tăcut toată ziua.
He was quiet all day long.

4- Describing Appearance (People)

People think differently, and people look different. These are some of the hardest words to circumlocute, since they’re specific concepts that we don’t often say in other ways. Study up!

33. bătrân – old

Sunt prea bătrân pentru treaba asta.
I’m getting too old for this stuff.

We can only use bătrân to refer to old people. Check out the next section for how to describe old things.

34. frumoasă – beautiful

Ești o femeie inteligentă și frumoasă.
You’re a smart and beautiful woman.

35. puternic – strong

Cred că este genul tăcut și puternic.
I think he’s the strong silent type.

36. slab – weak; scrawny

Era slab și avea o mustață mică, blondă.
He was skinny and had a little blonde mustache.

37. urât – ugly

Ai crezut că sunt urât?
Did you think I was ugly?

38. înalt – tall

Tipul înalt este inginer.
The tall guy is an engineer.

39. scurt – short

Ei îi stătea foarte bine cu părul scurt.
She looked great with short hair.

40. străin – foreign

Nu poți să conduci cu un permis de conducere străin.
You can’t drive with a foreign driving license.

5- Describing Appearance (Things)

As mentioned before, you can’t use the same adjectives for people as you do for things. Sometimes, it sounds endearingly mistaken, but other times it sounds insulting!

41. nou – new

Este un pepene galben nou în frigider.
There’s a new melon in the fridge.

42. vechi – old

Nu-ți pierde timpul cu povești vechi.
Don’t waste your time on ancient history.

43. mare – big; great

Prietenul tău e în mare pericol.
Your friend is in great danger.

44. mic – small

Am un mic anunț pentru toată lumea.
I have a little announcement for everyone.

45. îngust – narrow

Patul e îngust, dar nu este nicio problemă.
The bed is narrow, but it’s alright.

46. lung – long

Ai bătut drum lung pentru nimic.
You came a long way for nothing.

47. jos – low

Aici, plafonul este prea jos.
The ceiling here is too low.

48. înalt – high

Purta pantofi roșii cu toc înalt.
She was wearing red high heel shoes.

49. subţire – thin

E o carte destul de subțire.
That’s a pretty thin book.

50. gros – thick

Mașina a fost acoperită de un strat gros de zăpadă.
The car was covered with a thick layer of snow.

51. adânc – deep

Am crezut că e adânc aici.
I thought it was deep here.

52. luminos – bright

Este la fel de luminos ca soarele.
It’s as bright as the sun.

53. întunecos – dim; dark

E un loc singuratic și întunecos.
It’s a dark and lonely place.

54. draguță – nice; lovely

Trebuie să fii drăguță tot timpul.
You have to be nice all the time.

6- Describing Feelings

Do you know enough about feelings in Romanian to be accurate when someone asks you how you are?

55. rușinat – ashamed; embarrassed

El este incredibil de rușinat din cauza acelui lucru.
He’s incredibly ashamed about that thing.

56. fericit – happy

Sunt fericit pentru tine.
I’m happy for you.

57. trist – sad

M-am enervat pentru că eram trist.
I got angry because I was sad.

58. dezamăgit – disappointed

Nu vei fi dezamăgit.
You won’t be disappointed.

59. flămând – hungry

El s-a rătăcit și e obosit și flămând.
He’s lost, tired, and hungry.

60. sete – thirsty

Cred că îți este atât de sete.
You must be so thirsty.

61. speriat – scared

M-am speriat foarte tare când te-am văzut.
I was really scared when I saw you.

62. confuz – confused

Dintr-o dată sunt foarte confuz.
Suddenly I’m very confused.

63. supărat – angry

Eu nu sunt supărat pe nimeni.
I’m not angry with anyone.

64. obosit – sleepy; tired

De ce sunt atât de obosit?
Why am I so sleepy?

7- Describing Weather

This section is just a teaser. To learn much more about describing the weather in Romanian, head over to our separate vocabulary resource page!

65. cald – hot

Pun pariu că o să fie foarte cald.
I bet it’s going to be hot.

66. frig – cold

Este frig și toate ferestrele sunt deschise.
It’s cold and all the windows are open.

67. ploios – rainy

Era prima zi a sezonului ploios.
It was the first day of the rainy season.

68. noros – cloudy

Vremea va fi noroasă, fără precipitații.
The weather will be cloudy, without precipitation.

69. însorit – sunny

În Praga e însorit și sunt 28 de grade.
It’s sunny and 28 degrees in Prague.

70. cețos – foggy; misty

Muntele e mereu cețos.
The mountain is always misty.

8- Describing Touch and Other Qualities

It’s tough to categorize these words. They mostly refer to things, but here they’re about an object’s general attributes, whether permanent or temporary.

71. scump – expensive

E prea scump pentru tine.
It’s too expensive for you.

72. ieftin – cheap

Este mai ieftin decât s-a așteptat.
It is cheaper than he was expecting.

73. umed – wet

E un pic umed iarna.
It’s a little damp (wet) in winter.

74. uscat – dry

Aerul devine uscat din cauza căldurii.
The air gets dry because of the heater.

75. drept – straight

Am mers în linie dreaptă în tot acest timp.
We’ve been walking straight this whole time.

76. pătrat – square

Ataşaţi conectorul mic și pătrat, la imprimantă.
Attach the small square connector to the printer.

77. rotund – circular

Pământul nu e plat, ci rotund.
The earth isn’t flat, it’s round.

78. stricat – broken

Am crezut că televizorul era stricat.
I thought the TV was broken.

79. gol – empty

Biroul era descuiat și gol.
The office was open and empty.

80. plin – full

Frigiderul e deja plin.
The fridge is already full.

9- Describing Quantities

And now just a few words to talk about quantities. Really, knowing these words can go a very long way toward making your speech sound perfectly natural.

81. câteva – a few

Am timp doar pentru câteva întrebări.
I have time for just a few questions.

82. unele – some

Am făcut unele modificări.
I’ve made some changes.

83. multe – many

Acolo sunt multe drumuri și multe mlaștini.
There are lots of roads and lots of swamps there.

84. întreg – whole

Mi-a luat un an întreg să învăț cuvintele.
I spent a whole year learning the words.

10- Describing Time

We’re going to sidestep around all the adverbs here (keep an eye out for a future article) and deal solely with the adjectives related to time. Again, just a small number of words can really help here. Practically every conversation has something to do with time!

85. târziu – later

Nu se va întoarce decât după-amiază, târziu.
He won’t be back until later this afternoon.

86. lent – slow

Te rog, vorbește lent.
Please, speak slowly.

87. rapid – fast

M-am maturizat prea rapid.
I grew up too fast.

88. la timp – on time

Plătești mereu chiria la timp.
You always pay your rent on time.

89. întârziat – delayed

Zborul nostru a fost întârziat.
Our flight has been delayed.

11- Describing Concepts

Rounding out our list here, we have ten more adjectives to describe concepts in the world around us. Don’t try explaining anything in Romanian without knowing these!

90. bun – good

O spun într-un sens bun.
I mean in a good sense.

91. pe cinste – great

Cred că vei fi o mamă pe cinste.
I think you’re going to be a great mom.

92. rău – bad

Alcoolul are un efect rău asupra mea.
Alcohol has a bad effect on me.

93. important – important

Este important să celebrezi cultura strămoșilor tăi.
It’s important that you celebrate the culture of your ancestors.

94. faimoasă – famous

E faimos pentru băuturile lui fine.
It’s famous for its fine liquor.

95. diferit – different

E ceva diferit la camera asta.
There’s something different about this room.

96. dificil – difficult

Va fi mai dificil decât credeai.
It’s going to be more difficult than you thought.

97. uşor – easy

Este ușor să treacă frontiera.
It’s easy to cross the border.

98. identic – identical

El poartă o cămașă identică.
He is wearing an identical shirt.

99. greşit – wrong

M-am săturat să fac toate lucrurile greșit.
I’m tired of doing everything wrong.

100. interesat – interesting

Am primit un telefon interesant.
I got an interesting phone call.

3. Conclusion

So yeah, vocabulary is important. But memorizing huge word lists by themselves isn’t the best choice.

The best way is to read lots of examples for the words you learn, and pay attention to how they’re really used in real Romanian.

You might have heard that you can get really far on only a few-hundred words—but the crucial thing is that you know them really well. If you can recognize all of them, but can’t use them in a speaking situation, it’ll be really frustrating!

It also helps a lot if you learn words in one format first, like an article, and then encounter them again naturally in another context, like a podcast. So study this list and the other resources at RomanianPod101.com, and wait for fluency to be yours!

Before you go, let us know in the comments what new popular Romanian adjectives you learned today from our list of the best Romanian adjectives! Are there any Romanian adjectives you still want to know? We look forward to hearing from you!

Author: Yassir Sahnoun is a HubSpot certified content strategist, copywriter and polyglot who works with language learning companies. He helps companies attract sales using content strategy, copywriting, blogging, email marketing & more.

International Women’s Day in Romania is a special day to appreciate women, shower them with gifts, and let them know how much you love and respect them. It’s also a day to celebrate the gains women have made over the years and to continue pursuing equality and women’s rights.

In this article, you’ll learn all about how Romanians celebrate Women’s Day. Let’s get started!

1. What is International Women’s Day?

In Romania, International Women’s Day is a day set aside to honor and respect women. In addition, this holiday is meant to encourage more rights and equality for women, and to a sărbători, or “celebrate,” the gains women have already experienced.

International Women’s Day history in Romania began in 1945, though this holiday reached Europe in 1911, and the United States even earlier in 1909. At some point, the Romanian Women’s Day was overtaken by the Socialist Republic of Romania under the rule of Nicolae Ceausescu, and Mother’s Day took its place. But the sacrifices of many women (and men) have given women the right and ability to once again celebrate Women’s Day!

2. When is International Women’s Day?

Each year, International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8.

3. Women’s Day Traditions & Celebrations

For a popular International Women’s Day celebration, Romanians give lavish gifts to the important women in their lives. For example, husbands will give their wife (soție) sweets or flowers, and children will give their mother (mamă) cards. In fact, stores and shops all over Romania have massive sales just for Women’s Day.

Women can expect to receive a multitude of gifts and compliments from their family or significant other. Sometimes, a boyfriend or husband may also take their significant other out for dinner or another fun activity.

The most important thing is for women to enjoy themselves on this day!

→ Need some inspiration for your Women’s Day date? Check out this vocabulary list about the Top 10 Romantic Ideas for a Date.

→ We also have a lesson on the most popular Sweets and Desserts in Romania if you want to surprise the woman in your life with something sweet!

4. Petrecere (Party)

A fascinating aspect of Women’s Day in Romania is the fact that many women actually enjoy spending the day alone or with their fellow ladies.

During the daytime, many women bide their time shopping or getting pampered at a salon.
Once evening hits, women are typically encouraged to dress nicely, and go out to enjoy themselves for a special kind of all-ladies petrecere, or “party.” Bars and restaurants often have great discounts or special Women’s Day events going on, and women enjoy spending time with their girls!

If you want to read more about this unique Women’s Day tradition, you can head over to Argophilia.com.

→ For some useful vocabulary, study these lists on the Top Words and Phrases for the Restaurant & Words for Cosmetics and Beauty!

5. Essential Vocab for International Women’s Day in Romania

Ready to review some of the vocabulary words from this article? Here’s a list of the most important words and phrases for International Women’s Day:

• Fiică — “Daughter”
• Floare — “Flower”
• Muncitor — “Hard-working”
• A sărbători — “Celebrate”
• Petrecere — “Party”
• Prietenă — “Girlfriend”
• Mamă — “Mother”
• Bunică — “Grandmother”
• Soție — “Wife”
• Cadou — “Gift”
• Dulciuri — “Sweets”
• A dărui — “Give”

To hear the pronunciation of each word, and to read them alongside relevant images, check out our Romanian International Women’s Day vocabulary list!

Final Thoughts

We hope you enjoyed learning about International Women’s Day in Romania with us! Do you celebrate Women’s Day in your country, or honor women another way? We look forward to hearing from you in the comments!

If you’re fascinated with Romanian culture and can’t get enough, check out the following pages on RomanianPod101.com:

• All About Romanian Culture and Society
• How You Can Master Romanian Customs in No Time Flat
• A Night at Home with the Top Romanian Movies
• How to Celebrate Bukovina Day in Romania
• Tourist Attractions in Romania

Whatever your reasons for developing an interest in the Romanian culture or language, know that RomanianPod101.com is the best way to expand your knowledge and improve your skills. With tons of fun and immersive lessons for learners at every level, there’s something for everyone!

Create your free lifetime account today, and start learning with us.

Ziua internațională fericită a femeii! (“Happy Women’s Day!” in Romanian) from the RomanianPod101 family.

Some people doubted that Netflix would ever come to Romania. Not a lot of people in the “international media” market think of that European country too much, sadly.

But Netflix made a calculated decision when it finally created Netflix Romania.

First, Romanians have some of the fastest and cheapest internet in the world. They’ve been streaming high-definition videos for years.

Second, they love to watch TV and movies from all over the world. It’s not uncommon to find young Romanians speaking perfect English that they learned from the Cartoon Network and, more recently, the Disney Channel. All in all, the decision to make the program Netflix Romania seems like a smart decision.

Romania, though, isn’t an English-speaking country yet. And you can use Netflix as it exists in Romania right now to help you take major steps toward using Romanian just as well as locals do, both with Netflix Romania subtitles and without. After reading more about some of the best shows on Netflix, we think you’ll be interested in downloading the Romanian Netflix app to improve your language skills!

Table of Contents

1. Why You Need to Watch Kids’ Romanian Shows on Netflix
2. Ten Wonderful Things on Netflix and What They Can Do for Your Romanian
3. American Films in Romanian – Just for You
4. Conclusion

1. Why You Need to Watch Kids’ Romanian Shows on Netflix

When you’re a worldwide company with as many things to take care of as Netflix, you end up with a lot of responsibility to everyone. You’ve got to balance the demands of the consumers with what the media companies are actually willing to offer you – and those don’t always line up.

So we’re gonna come right out and say it. Right now, there are no original Netflix Romanian shows; there’s nothing on Netflix originally produced in Romania for Romanians.

If that’s the case, why do a Romanian Netflix download at all?

Because it’s better than you can imagine.

It’s not always easy to get immersed in the media of another culture. Different people have different tastes when it comes to movies and shows.

If you watch a show dubbed in Romanian, you get a couple of perks. First, the sound is often clearer, since the dubs were recorded under controlled studio conditions instead of on set. Second, the narrative structure itself might be a little more clear to you—with cultural references coming from your own background, instead of somebody else’s.

Truth be told, when I began to write about these Romanian Netflix shows, I expected to have to paint them in an unnaturally good light. But the truth is, there really is a lot of great stuff for younger audiences dubbed in Romanian, and I found myself actually getting into the story of Llama Llama by the end!

That said, let’s take a look at some of the best Romanian Netflix shows, as well as the older stuff. Read through our list to find the perfect Romanian series on Netflix for you, and begin to learn Romanian on Netflix!

2. Ten Wonderful Things on Netflix and What They Can Do for Your Romanian

1- Carmen Sandiego

Immediately attention-grabbing as one of the most beautifully drawn animations on this list of Romanian shows on Netflix, Carmen Sandiego is as close as you can get to a kids’ crime thriller.

The titular master thief Carmen is a modern-day Robin Hood, stealing only from the evil villains’ association V.I.L.E. The show is whip-smart, with enough nifty spy gadgets to make anybody want to start sneaking around museums at night.

One interesting thing is that a main supporting character speaks Romanian with a heavy French accent, providing a unique listening challenge.

And there are awfully few young adult shows dealing with crime and police investigations—so if you want vocabulary that prepares you for native Romanian cop shows, this is a perfect stepping stone for you.

Interested? Give this Romanian Netflix series a try!

2- My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Unless you’ve been totally oblivious to media trends in the last few years, you’ve heard about this show (which we’ll abbreviate, as the fans do, to MLP:FiM here). It’s about a kingdom of magical ponies, their friendships, and their struggles.

As a firmly fantasy-based genre, MLP:FiM will expose you to exactly the right amount of “fantasy” and “medieval” words. You never realize how much people still talk about queens, castles, and magic these days until you find yourself in a conversation where those are the only things you don’t know how to say. Add some flair to your Romanian conversations with this Netflix Romanian-dubbed show.

3- Young Justice

The DC superhero universe has always had a huge number of heroes that seem to get about the same level of screen time—less than the A-listers, but still enough to get comic books and shows. That’s exactly what’s going on in Young Justice, one of the most-loved Romanian TV shows on Netflix that originally came out in 2010. These younger sidekick-type folks do their best to establish themselves as real heroes, while at the same time balancing their crime-fighting and secret-identity lives.

Superheroes love to quip at one another, especially when they’re all teaming up for the same goal. The fast-paced wordplay here is a great way to hone your Romanian listening speed, especially because the voice actors speak fast in order to match up with the animation. Watch this Romanian Netflix series without subtitles and see how much you pick up!

4- Alexa & Katie

Netflix does a lot of unconventional TV shows, particularly when it comes to shows revolving around younger people. So that’s why in early 2018, their next big “groundbreaking” show followed a format that caused some people to double-take.

Alexa & Katie is a classic high school sitcom aimed at kids who haven’t quite made it to high school yet themselves. The overarching plot is that Alexa has cancer—but it’s not a sad show by any means. She and her best friend Katie are relentlessly optimistic and goofy about life in general. A high school sitcom is the perfect thing for understanding how Romanian teenagers talk. It must be said, though, that this Romanian Netflix series is squeaky-clean and won’t teach you any of the words that they don’t say around their parents.

5- Free Rein (Frâu liber)

Wouldn’t you know it, the pun in the title translates well into Romanian too!

This Netflix Romania 2017 show features a heartwarming story of a young American girl who visits England and becomes enamored with a local horse barn and riding school. While there, she learns to ride well, to get over her disagreements with other girls her age, and even to conquer her feelings for a boy at the school.

Most people really like this show for its positive moral messages, diverse cast, and strong female leads. If you’re seriously into horse riding yourself, you may have a couple of quibbles about the way the sport is depicted, but overall you’ll still definitely enjoy this Netflix Romanian-dubbed show.

As for the vocabulary, well, equestrianism isn’t something most people talk about every day. Just by watching a couple episodes of this, though, you’ll pick up enough to be able to hold your own in a conversation with any Romanian horse enthusiast.

Horse-lovers, make your way to the Romanian Netflix sign in now and start bingeing!

6- LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu

Are you looking for action? Go no further than LEGO Ninjago, where you can awaken your inner eight-year-old and enter a world of ninjas, snakes, and ancient butt-kicking martial arts.

You might shy away at first from a show based on toys, but the characters and the surprisingly heavy plotlines are guaranteed to hold your interest. And with six seasons of material to work with, you won’t run out of action for a long time.

Language-wise, this series contains a little less dialogue and a little more action than others. But even so, you’ll get exposed to words and phrases related to fighting, winning, and knowing when to pick your battles.

7- The Dragon Prince (Prințul Dragon)

Similar to My Little Pony, The Dragon Prince also takes place in a magical fantasy world. However, that’s where the similarities end. One of the showrunners, Aaron Ehasz, also worked on the critically acclaimed Avatar: The Last Airbender, so that should give you a bit of a feeling about what to expect from this Romanian TV Netflix series.

It takes place in a world of strange creatures, epic lore backstories, and continents waging war via the elements. A band of two princes and an assassin join forces to bring peace to the world—but is that possible, or even desirable? Nothing is black and white.

Since it’s a show for more mature audiences (think ages 11+ as opposed to 8+), you’ll get a different level of “high-fantasy” vocabulary from The Dragon Prince.

8- Prince of Peoria (Prințul Peoriei)

You won’t be able to watch both Alexa & Katie and Prince of Peoria without drawing comparisons. Both are about ordinary American high school life, and one is dominated by female friendships while the other is dominated by male friendships.

The unique twist with Prince of Peoria, though, is that a rich foreign prince from a fictional land can’t wait to experience real American teenage life in Peoria, Illinois.

You might think that two high school sitcoms would be too many—but really, watching both of them means you actually have to study less.

Both have totally different characters, but similar situations. That means the “ordinary American high school” vocabulary in Romanian will end up repeating itself naturally, soaking into your mind without you having to do anything but watch. For easy Romanian language practice, head to the Romanian Netflix sign in and start watching!

9- The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants (Marile Aventuri ale Căpitanului Chilot)

Whether you loved the book series in the early 2000s or got started with the movie a few years ago, fans of the Captain Underpants franchise will find that this TV series adaptation fits perfectly into the universe.

For those who aren’t familiar, it’s an irreverent slapstick comedy about two boys who use a hypnosis ring to turn their principal into a superhero known as Captain Underpants, named for his outfit consisting entirely of tighty-whities and a red cape.

The short runtime of each episode means that the jokes never get stale, and the animation team does a fantastic job showing just how creative kids can be with their own imaginations. And as you might have guessed, there’s a lot of toilet humor. Ever wanted to learn how to talk about farts in Romanian? Now’s your chance.

10- Llama Llama (Lama Lama)

Maybe the high-fantasy adventures or fast-talking quips from the other series on this list aren’t quite doing it for you. Or perhaps you’d like to ease yourself into the Romanian language with something simple, structured, and yet still entertaining. Enter Llama Llama.

Every episode has an important lesson for the young Llama Llama (first name Llama, last name Llama) as well as his friends. But it’s not preachy at all.

It’s a simple show with good characters and honest discussions about how to be a better person—or animal—by respecting others and taking care of yourself. The lessons are given in straightforward language, while at the same time being natural enough to keep even intermediate learners on their toes linguistically.

3. American Films in Romanian – Just for You

One quick note to give you yet another reason to check out Romanian Netflix: The movie catalog.

So far we’ve talked exclusively about TV shows, which is all fine and dandy.

But this very moment, Netflix has classic Dreamworks films with Romanian audio tracks available in many different regions. Puss in Boots, How to Train your Dragon, Megamind, Kung Fu Panda, and more—they’re all there. And if you grew up watching these movies, watching them again with Romanian dubbing is a fantastic way to associate long-term meaning with the new Romanian words.

By the way, you may ask yourself, “What about using Netflix Romania subtitles?” Well, they can be useful, but on the whole it’s a lot better to just use dubbing. Sometimes the Netflix Romania subtitles are poorly translated, and they usually omit a lot of the nuance of the actual dialogue in order to fit on the screen.

The one good way to study with subtitles is to simply turn off the sound and see how well you can follow. That way, you really get your reading speed into gear and probably end up picking up new words and phrases along the way.

Netflix Audio Descriptions: A Secret Sauce for the Future

Well, it’s not that secret. There’s a button right down at the bottom of the screen. An audio description is just another audio track where there’s a narrator talking about what’s happening on-screen.

Why would you want that when watching Romanian movies on Netflix? First off, if you’re vision-impaired in some way, it’s a great way to follow more of the action.

But even if you’re not, the extra audio is amazing for learning (as long as the audio is in Romanian). You get to hear a native speaker describe what’s going on, from the smallest details to the biggest plot twists. That’s amazing for getting a native-like sense of how to talk about different events as they happen.

Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, there are no such audio tracks in Romanian on Netflix—just ordinary dialogue tracks.

And yet there’s an option to search for them. That indicates that Netflix’s Romanian branch is interested in offering them in the future (remember that Netflix in Romania only launched in mid-2017). When they do, hopefully you’ll be the first to use them to turbocharge your Romanian listening.

4. Conclusion

You can get a lot of mileage out of studying Romanian with Romanian Netflix series, especially considering the relatively low Romanian Netflix price. But it can’t be a magic bullet.

Ideally, you’d have a mix of solid study time and “chill-out” time while watching movies and TV both on and off Netflix.

Because seeing words and sentence structures in a natural context that you studied already is a great way to really remember them for the future. Haven’t you ever learned the name of some actor and then suddenly heard about him everywhere? Not easy to forget after that.

As long as you keep up your Romanian studies, that feeling never has to go away.

So, reader, which of these Netflix Romania shows do you want to start watching first, and why? What about Romanian movies on Netflix? Let us know in the comments!

Author: Yassir Sahnoun is a HubSpot certified content strategist, copywriter and polyglot who works with language learning companies. He helps companies attract sales using content strategy, copywriting, blogging, email marketing & more.

Who is Constantin Brancusi, and why is he considered such a significant person in Romanian culture?

In this article, we’ll go over some Constantin Brancusi facts, explore some of his artwork, and introduce you to some new Romanian vocabulary words. You’ll also learn a little bit about how Romanians celebrate Constantin Brancusi Day!

In 2019, Valer Daniel-Breaz claimed that Brancusi’s artwork would always be “one of the most significant forms of dialogue of the Romanian culture…”

Let’s dive in and learn about Constantin Brancusi, the artwork he’s well-known for, and much more!

1. What is Brancusi Day?

On this holiday, Romanians observe and celebrate the birth and life of Constantin Brancusi, Romanian sculptor, photographer, and artist.

Born in 1876, Constantin Brancusi developed a strong talent for carving at an early age. Though he worked as a sheepherder for his family, he also spent time carving farm tools and other items from wood. Unfortunately, his father and brothers bullied and abused him, and young Brancusi often left home for safety.

Brancusi permanently left home at around age nine to begin working. Eventually, he found a new place of residence in Craiova, where he lived until age eighteen; at that time, someone discovered his artwork and sent him to the Craiova School of Arts and Crafts, where Brancusi honed his skills.

Brancusi eventually made a life and career for himself in Paris, France. Beginning with his pieces The Prayer, Sleeping Muse, and The Kiss, he went on to create many sculptures and other forms of artwork. Brancusi was especially well-known for his use of clean lines and symbolism, and is now considered a major influence of modernism. Two of his most famous pieces are Bird in Space and Endless Column.

2. Date of Brancusi Day

Each year, Romanians observe Brancusi Day on February 19, the date of his birth in 1876.

3. Brancusi Day Celebrations

While Brancusi Day isn’t a public holiday, those who truly appreciate his work still find ways to observe this day. Some of the most common ways to do this include visiting art muzee (“museums” ), holding art licitatii (“auctions”), and attending art expoziţii (“exhibitions”).

To celebrate Brancusi Day, people may observe Constantin Brancusi sculptures and other forms of his artwork in museums, and simply contemplate on Brancusi’s life. Sometimes, speeches and lectures about Brancusi and his work are given in art museums as well.

4. Constantin Brancusi Quotes

There are a few popular quotes attributed to Brancusi. Two of these are:

1. “Nothing can grow under big trees.”
2. “Work like a slave; command like a king; create like a god.”

What are your thoughts on these sayings? We’d love to hear from you!

→ Are you interested in learning more quotes about success in Romanian? Be sure to read our relevant vocabulary list!

5. Must-Know Vocabulary for Brancusi Day

Ready to review some of the vocabulary words from this article? Here’s the essential vocabulary you need to know for Brancusi Day in Romania!

• Pasăre — “Bird”
• Fotografie — “Photograph”
• Muzeu — “Museum”
• Sculptură — “Sculpture”
• Formă — “Shape”
• Infinit — “Infinity”
• Lemn — “Wood”
• Statuetă — “Statuette”
• Licitație — “Auction”
• Monument — “Monument”
• Piatră — “Stone”
• Expoziție — “Exhibition”
• A sculpta — “Carve”

Visit our Romanian Brancusi Day vocabulary list to hear each of these words pronounced, and to read them alongside relevant images.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, Constantin Brancusi offered the world several unique glimpses into the culture of Romania, and offered Romania several unique glimpses of the world. Not afraid of looking under the surface, or of exposing to everyone what was underneath, Brancusi made a lasting impact on the world, reflected in the February 19 holiday each year.

Do you have a favorite Constantin Brancusi sculpture? We’d love to hear about it in the comments!

To learn more about Romanian culture, check out the following pages on RomanianPod101.com:

• All About Romanian Culture and Society
• Top Five Things You Need to Know About Romanian Pop Culture
• How You Can Master Romanian Customs in No Time Flat
• How to Celebrate Bukovina Day in Romania
• Essential Idioms That Will Make You Sound Like a Native Speaker
• Tourist Attractions in Romania

Whatever your reasons for developing an interest in Romanian culture or the language, know that RomanianPod101.com is the best way to increase your knowledge and improve your skills. With tons of fun and effective lessons for beginners, intermediate learners, and more advanced students, there’s something for everyone!

Create your free lifetime account today and start learning Romanian like never before.

Admit it—only the first few pages in your grammar books are thumbed back.

Most people like the idea of knowing all about the grammar of a particular language, but when it gets down to it, they much prefer communicating.

Naturally there are exceptions: I’ve known some dedicated students to start Russian with nothing but a dictionary, a notebook, and War and Peace.

But with a language like Romanian, how much good is the grammar (like Romanian connecting words) really going to do you? If you squint long enough at most of the words, the meaning pops into your head and, more often than not, it’s right.

Well, it’s not quite that easy. And with a grammar point as ubiquitous as Romanian conjunctions, getting the meaning “mostly right” tends to mean that out of the dozens of times you say it per day, you’re getting it wrong more times than you’d prefer to.

Fear not: Here’s your perfect introduction to the finer points of using conjunctions in Romanian, and a comprehensive list of Romanian conjunctions you’ll use every day. Conjunctions in Romanian are your ticket to perfect speech.

Table of Contents

1. What is a Conjunction?
2. The Simple Romanian Conjunctions
3. The Complex Romanian Conjunctions
4. Two Letters, Five Distinct Conjunctions: The Case of Că
5. A Uniquely Romanian Conjunction
6. How RomanianPod101 Can Help You Master Romanian Grammar

1. What is a Conjunction?

Conjunctions connect two or more things in your language. In fact, many people just call them “connectors.” And we use them constantly.

We can combine two potential sentences into one with a conjunction, like so:

• John is here. Mary is here.
  John and Mary are here.

Easy stuff! Once you see how it works in English, plenty of Romanian conjunctions fall right into place. And if you never got a handle on this grammar point, think how limited your language ability would be.

2. The Simple Romanian Conjunctions

The easiest conjunction in the whole language is also the most common one: și meaning “and.”

• Vreau pâine și apă.
  “I want bread and water.”

Like in English, people will sometimes use this as a filler, drawn out to continue a sentence without really knowing how it will end.

• Are la bază gemuri de toate felurile, scorțișoară șiiiiii… mere coapte.
  “It has many types of jam, cinnamon, annnnnd…baked apples.”

Naturally, you can use it to list nouns, verbs, or adjectives. The Oxford comma isn’t used in Romanian.

ci is another useful conjunction, used to set up an explicit contrast between two things. You can think of it as being similar to the English word “but” or “on the contrary.” This contrast happens in a single sentence—note how the second half can’t stand alone.

• Nici eu, ci el.
  “Not I, but he.”

Next we have the word ori, which is easy to remember because it’s almost the same as the English conjunction “or.” In fact, it’s practically interchangeable:

• Viață-n libertate ori moarte.
  “Life in liberty or death.”

As in English, we can also set up an “either / or” equivalent. Here we’ll repeat ori both times.

• E ori ăsta, ori ăla!
  “It’s either this one or that one!”

For the same construction, you can also choose a more literary variant, fie.

• Vom învăța ceva, fie din structura sa chimică, fie prin măsurare.
  “We will learn something, either from the chemical structure or from measurements.”

And if you want the more formal register, but two “or”s in the same sentence spooks you, then try out the third synonym, sau.

• Au fost unele incidente la decolare sau aterizare.
  “There have been some incidents with take-off and landing.”

With all these choices, you may forget to learn how to negate them! And as strange as the two-part conjunctions may seem, we do have a mandatory one with “neither / nor” in English. You guessed it; in Romanian, it’s a double-up as well: nici.

• Aici nu există nici bunuri, nici servicii.
  “There are neither goods nor services here.”

3. The Complex Romanian Conjunctions

Now we’ll move on to complex conjunctions, which can connect two different full sentences together. Consider the sentences “He didn’t go,” and “I went.” In English, we can use the conjunction “but” to connect those into a single “He didn’t go, but I went.” Thus, this takes two independent sentences and forms them into one.

In Romanian, we can use the word dar to express “but” in this particular way. As in English, it’s always used with a comma in front.

• Credeam ca sunt singura, dar și tu ești aici.
  “I thought I was alone, but you’re here too.”

There’s a similar word, însă, that doesn’t require a comma. It’s kind of like adding a comma plus “however” to the word it follows.

• Instinctul însă îmi spune s-o fac.
  “My instincts, however, say I should do it.”

When we want to express the concepts of “except for” or “apart from” we have to use a set phrase, namely în afară de.

• Nu se mișca nimeni în afară de hoți.
  “No one moved except for the robbers.”

Enough of this contrariness. How about some more agreeable Romanian conjunctions? The word for “so” and “therefore” is deci. You use it to connect two similar ideas that logically follow from one to the other.

• E pediatru, deci iubește copiii.
  “He’s a pediatrician, so he likes kids.”

This is another one you can draw out in speech if you don’t know how to end the sentence in a better way.

• Am doctoratul, deciiii…
  “I do have a PhD, soooo…”

To express certain relations of time, we can use the phrase după ce or simply după by itself. This means “after,” and it can actually be a simple or complex conjunction. Here’s how it looks in a simple sentence:

• După epidemie, nimeni nu a mai trăit acolo.
  “Nobody lived there after the outbreak.”

And then in a complex sentence, connecting two shorter clauses:

• Lucrurile au mers rău, după ce el a fost transferată aici.
  “Things went bad after he was transferred here.”

Speaking of time, what if two things are going on in the same moment? In English, we can use “while,” and in Romanian, we’ll go with the set phrase în timp ce, literally “at the time of.”

• Pot vorbi în timp ce lucrez.
  “I can talk while I work.”

We can, in fact, use this to contrast two things more directly, even when time isn’t explicitly involved.

• Lui Mihai îi place plăcinta cu mere, în timp ce Andreei îi place cea cu vișine.
  “Mihai likes the apple pie, while Andreea likes the one with cherries.”

4. Two Letters, Five Distinct Conjunctions: The Case of Că

By itself, că means “that.” It’s clearly cognate to que in Spanish and che in Italian, and yet it’s one of the most flexible conjunctions in all of Europe. Mastering all of its different meanings truly opens doors of expression for you.

How can we use it? Let’s have a look at five different ways:

1. Reporting what somebody or something said:

• Jordan a spus că Mihai a fost nebun.
  “Jordan said that Mihai was mad.”

2. Expressing the cause of some event:

• Am ajuns târziu că mi s-a stricat mașina.
  “I arrived late because my car broke down.”

3. Showing a certain type of an action:

• Eram bucuros la gândul că o voi revedea.
  “I was overjoyed at the thought that I would see her.”

4. Expressing the degree of strength of an adjective:

• Este așa de furios că a început să țipe la toată lumea.
  “He’s so angry that he started yelling at everyone.”

5. Passing judgment on a situation:

• E rău că nu te lași de fumat.
  “It’s bad that you do not quit smoking.”

With all those out of the way, could there be anything left? Just one…

5. A Uniquely Romanian Conjunction

There’s one conjunction we haven’t mentioned yet. It’s not particularly difficult to understand, but it deserves its own section because it doesn’t have any parallels in any related languages.

The preposition is iar. Sometimes it means “but” while other times it means “and,” except when it feels like meaning “while however.”

By and large, this Romanian conjunction word is for introducing a contrast. It doesn’t imply that the contrast is very strong, but it points it out unmistakably.

• Ninge la Budapesta, iar la Bucureşti bate vântul.
  “It’s snowing in Budapest, and it’s windy in Bucharest.”

• Lui Adrian îi place fotbalul, iar Mariei baschetul.
  “Adrian likes football, and Mary (likes) basketball.”

As you can see, the sentiment here isn’t difficult to understand—this isn’t some strange unknown realm of human experience only the Romanians have tapped into. You can think like this too. But note that we could translate this word as “though,” “while,” or “but,” and still have the same general meaning.

We can’t always use iar with every contrast. For that second sentence, if we wanted to say instead, “Mary doesn’t like football,” or Mariei nu-i place, then iar sounds a bit strange because now Mary is directly contrasting Adrian instead of just tangentially.

6. How RomanianPod101 Can Help You Master Romanian Grammar

The more you actually read and listen to Romanian, the more these finer points are going to stick out to you. Before long, with a good study plan, you’ll have an innate sense of these nuances that rivals a native-born Romanian.

And out of anything you do to increase your ability in Romanian, learning the conjunctions well is probably the closest thing to a silver bullet.

Each one that you learn allows you to make numerous new sentences and constructions. Reading an article like this is like running through dark hallways and flipping on lights in your brain.

But if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it! Take a look at the latest RomanianPod101 lessons right here, and make sure those new possibilities stay open.

Before you go, let us know in the comments how comfortable you feel using Romanian conjunctions now. Is there anything you’re still struggling with? We look forward to hearing from you!

Author: Yassir Sahnoun is a HubSpot certified content strategist, copywriter and
polyglot who works with language learning companies. He helps companies attract
sales using content strategy, copywriting, blogging, email marketing & more.

Romanian society can be described as “laid-back” in some ways. With the sultry sun, the rich food, and the beautiful scenery, who wouldn’t expect the people to be relaxed?

Because of that, you can let your hair down. Treat people well, and they’ll treat you well.

Until you do something that you thought was obviously fine, and you realize that the other party took it as very obviously not fine.

That situation is confusing, embarrassing, and maybe even dangerous at the wrong time. And the worst part is that it happened from ignorance of Romanian customs, not malice.

So that’s why this article exists: part phrasebook, part etiquette guide that helps you avoid doing things out of ignorance. Learning to deal with other cultures is simply learning to deal with what they perceive as “normal.” Soon, you’ll find that it’s not so far from your own definitions.

Table of Contents

1. Greeting Others
2. Traveling Etiquette & More Cultural Etiquette in Romania
3. Dining Etiquette in Romania
4. Business Etiquette in Romania
5. Conclusion: How RomanianPod101 Can Help You Master Romanian

1. Greeting Others

Romanian greetings are no sweat, and possibly one of the easiest aspects of social etiquette in Romania. This is important, because correct greetings are sometimes your first and only chance to make a good impression.

First, you have to understand that Romanians divide the day into morning, day, and evening-night.

Thus to greet people, you’d say bună dimineața or “Good morning,” bună ziua or “Good day,” and bună seara or “Good evening.”

Then you shake hands. Pretty simple!

Now the word dimineața is a bit long, so many people casually shorten it to ‘neața, like English speakers might say “morn’n.” It’s still polite, as long as you say it earnestly and not with a grimace.

So those are the formal textbook greetings. And those are perfect choices to use when greeting people you don’t know. But do be aware that it sounds a little odd to bust these phrases out in convenience stores or when asking for directions on the street.

The casual greetings are actually mostly taken from other languages! People in the Transylvania region say Servus, from German, while folks living in the west are likely to say Ciao from Italian. As English keeps spreading and getting trendier, it’s also not unheard of for people to just greet each other with “Hey.”

The “real” way is to just say bună at any time of day.

To take your leave from somebody, there’s one all-purpose phrase for “goodbye”: la revedere.

2. Traveling Etiquette & More Cultural Etiquette in Romania

If you’re going to learn just a single phrase in Romanian, make it this one:

• Mulțumesc!
  “Thank you!”

As you travel around, enjoying the “bakeries” (brutării) and “coffee shops” (cafenele), you’ll probably say “thank you” a dozen times a day or more. American readers will probably be interested to know that when it comes to etiquette in Romania, people don’t say “thank you” for every single interaction the way it happens in the U.S.. Buying the bread, receiving the bread, and getting your change should only require one thanks instead of three.

If someone has done you a particular kindness (this is quite probable thanks to Romanian hospitality), then there’s an easy way to make your thanks more meaningful:

• Mulțumesc foarte mult!
  “Thank you very much!”

You’re likely to hear others use the informal variant of “thanks.” No prizes for guessing which language it came from originally:

• Mersi!
  “Thanks!”

Romania is actually a popular destination for the hitchhike-around-Europe crowd. This won’t be a hitchhiking guide (you can find plenty of those online), but you should know that if you head to the outskirts of the cities, you’ll notice people standing at designated spots.

People walking for the fun of it are relatively rare as well, so don’t be surprised if somebody stops and offers you a lift! To politely decline, simply smile, shake your head, and say Nu, mersi meaning “No, thanks.” To accept, get in and tell the driver the name of the place you’re headed.

When you get to your tourist destination, you can follow the example of everybody else. Keep the space clean and keep your voice down as you travel around. In religious places, do your best to wear modest and decent clothing—if you didn’t bring any, it’s possible that you may be refused entry.

In most places, it’s fine to click away with your camera, but if something seems particularly culturally significant, you’ll want to use this phrase:

• Pot să fac o poză?
  “Can I take a photo?”

Although many Romanians are quite fluent and comfortable speaking English, there may be times when communication breaks down anyway. Or, like me, you find yourself the only visitor at a museum with signs all in Romanian.

• Este ceva în engleză?
  “Is there anything in English?”

You might be lucky enough to be invited over to someone’s house. In that case, you should bring a gift, perhaps something for the children, some high-quality liquor, candy, or flowers (there are more flower shops in Romania than you would expect!).

When you arrive, use this phrase:

• Aveți o casă frumoasă!
  “You have a beautiful home!”

3. Dining Etiquette in Romania

There are no big mysteries here—Romanian dining etiquette is quite similar to dining etiquette all over the Western world.

All over Europe, though, there’s one little phrase that many people are flummoxed to find missing in English. This phrase is Poftă bună, literally “good appetite.” When you hear this from the host, you’ve got permission to dig in.

Aside from that, eating etiquette in Romania includes eating with the knife in the left hand and the fork in the right. At big gatherings, cuisine is often served family-style in large dishes from which everyone helps themselves. Bread might not come with butter, but that’s okay because you can dip it in the sauce on your plate.

If you’re not an alcohol drinker, you might feel a little intimidated or pressured by frequent toasts. That’s okay. Just leave your glass about half-full and people won’t bother you. If you would like to make a toast, raise your glass and say noroc!

Smaller restaurants might be short on table space, and in Romania there’s nothing odd about sharing a table with a stranger as you eat your lunch. Simply ask:

• Scuză-mă, pot să stau aici?
  “Excuse me, may I sit here?”

Let’s be real—both of you are probably just going to look at your phones anyway.

When you need the attention of the server, look in their direction and say vă rog, which literally means “please.”

• Nota, vă rog.
  “The check, please.”

You may end up hearing other Romanians around you say auzi to get the attention of their server. This is one example you shouldn’t copy! It means “Can you hear me?” and it’s considered very rude. Keep your interactions polite and respectful, and you’ll always get the best service.

4. Business Etiquette in Romania

Have you ever considered having different business cards made for the different countries that you go to? It’s a tiny detail that slips most people’s minds until they reach for their wallet – and it suddenly dawns on them that the phone number doesn’t include the country code, or something similar like that.

• Poftim cartea mea de vizită.
  “Here’s my business card.”

In addition, if your business has been around for a while, put that on there too. Even if it’s actually a technicality and there have been major reforms, being able to say something like “Established 1953” holds a lot of weight.

That said, don’t go out of your way to brag.

Factors like an established business and an educated representative are simply facts that Romanians will respect, particularly if they’re presented in a reserved way.

Nobody likes someone trying to win on charm alone, and Romanians tend to be less willing to trust outsiders from the start. You’ve got to win them over by backing your claims up with facts.

As for business meeting etiquette in Romania, before and after you actually get down to business, you need to be a little chatty. Make small talk and ask about the other party’s family to show that you care about their life outside your bottom line.

• Ce mai face familia dumneavoastra?
  “How is your family?”

Don’t rush things during the negotiations, because that breaks the facade of just being a couple of friends having a chat. Keep things light and pleasant—be interested in the small talk, for example—and the conversation will naturally turn to business of its own accord.

5. Conclusion: How RomanianPod101 Can Help You Master Romanian

The simplest thing you can do to handle etiquette in any foreign place is to try. Ask questions, laugh at yourself when you get things wrong, and stay open-minded.

Even in relatively similar cultures, there can still be big differences. Just a little bit of foresight about what others tend to value in speech and conduct can go a long way toward seeing problems as “cultural differences” instead of “whatta bunch of jerks.”

And just like how you’ll get good service in restaurants if you have good manners, you’ll find things easier and smoother overall if you know how to navigate the etiquette in Romania. Even if you’re still hung up about speaking Romanian, the more you pay attention to etiquette, the more you’ll fit right in.

How does Romanian etiquette compare to customs in your own country? Let us know in the comments!

Author: Yassir Sahnoun is a HubSpot certified content strategist, copywriter and polyglot who works with language learning companies. He helps companies attract sales using content strategy, copywriting, blogging, email marketing & more.

Did you know there are many different types of calendars?

As you probably know – a calendar is a system of organizing days in weeks and months for specific purposes, according to Wikipedia.

Worldwide, most countries use the Gregorian calendar. Some just work on the same framework, meaning that time is divided into units based on the earth’s movement around the sun – the “solar calendar”. Other calendars keep time by observing the moon’s movements, a combination of the moon and the sun’s movements, and seasons.

Through RomanianPod101, you can learn all about this and so much more! Our themed, culturally relevant lessons are skillfully designed so you can do your planning perfectly for a holiday or a date.

Having a good plan for a visit or a trip is like studying well for an exam. You’re just so much better prepared! For that, you could well need specific phrases to plan around appointments and such, especially on business trips. Make sure to use the charts we provide here with the days of the week in Romanian, as well as the months in Romanian to navigate your way as you plan. Great resources!

Also – always remember to have fun!

Table of Contents

1. Why Will It Help To Know How To Talk About Dates in Romanian?
2. Talking About your Plans
3. Can RomanianPod101 Help You In Other Ways Too?

1. Why Will It Help To Know How To Talk About Dates in Romanian?

Well, that’s not a difficult question to answer. No matter why you’re travelling, it would be best to at least know the names of days and months in Romanian. You don’t want to miss your flight or an appointment because you confused “vineri” (Friday) with “Sâmbătă” (Saturday)! Or maybe you planned a holiday for “iulie” (July), but you booked a flight for “iunie” (June) by accident!

Avoid this confusion by learning the Romanian calendar before you leave.

Now, as promised, the 15 phrases to help you make and discuss plans.

2. Talking About your Plans

Perhaps you’re working in Romania, or maybe you’re enjoying a prolonged holiday. Fabulous! Memorize these phrases so you can be sure to successfully negotiate meetings, appointments, dates, events, the list goes on!

1. Ce faci weekend-ul acesta?

“What are you doing this weekend?”

This question is usually a preamble to inviting someone somewhere. Given that it’s over the weekend, it probably means a casual get-together or another social event. (But not necessarily! A manager or boss could also ask this for entirely different reasons.)

It’s a handy phrase to know when you’ve made Romanian or expat friends in the country. Or, be the one doing the inviting. Then train your ear to learn the following phrases so you can understand the response.

2. Călătoresc în acest weekend.

“I am traveling this weekend.”

This could be a reply if you’re not available because you’re doing other fun stuff.

No matter why you are visiting Romania, do take the time to explore the country! It’s beautiful and it has so many wonderful, interesting spots ready to be visited.

3. Am de gând să stau acasă.

“I am planning to stay at home.”

Maybe you feel unwell, but don’t want to give too much information? Or maybe you have work to do? Perhaps you just need some quiet gardening time…it doesn’t matter. This response is polite and honest without oversharing.

It could also be a slightly open-ended response, depending on how you deliver it. Because hey, being home could still mean your plans are flexible, right?

That said – depending on your relationship with the inviter, nuances like these will probably not be so apparent in a foreign culture. So, best to use this excuse for declining an invitation only if you are truly set on staying in.

4. În această săptămână sunt ocupat.

“This week I am busy.”

Another polite phrase that gives a reason for declining an invitation but without oversharing details.

Don’t decline too many invitations, though! You don’t want people to think that you’re too busy to hang out with them. They will stop inviting you out, and you know how the saying goes – all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy…! Being social is good for the soul.

5. Sunt liber mâine.

“I am free tomorrow.”

Yay! Perhaps you were approached by that person and they asked about your availability for a date. This would be a fine reply. Not too eager, but still indicating that you’re interested.

Or maybe you’re just replying to a colleague or manager’s request for a meeting. Polite, honest and clear.

Alternatively, you’re just busy right now, and plans are not going the way they were…well, planned. Compromise is a lovely thing! And this phrase sounds just like that.

Use it to indicate that you want to accommodate an invitation or the inviter’s plans, despite your current unavailability. Only if you are really free, of course.

6. Putem reprograma asta?

“Can we reschedule this?”

So, life happened and you are unable to meet obligations or attend a planned meeting. This is a suitable question to ask if you wish to indicate your willingness to still engage with whatever is on the table.

Obviously you should (ideally) not ask to reschedule a party or big meeting! (Unless you’re the boss or it’s your own party, of course.) But if there’s reasonable wiggle room regarding arrangements, then this one’s your question.

7. Voi avea suficient timp la sfârșitul lunii.

“I will have enough time at the end of the month.”

A go-to phrase when events or activities are likely to take up a lot of your time, such as going away for a weekend, spending the day at a local market, or writing your manager’s quarterly report (with 20 flow-charts in Powerpoint) – anything that won’t only take an hour or two.

8. Când este momentul potrivit pentru tine?

“When is the best time that suits you?”

Remember phrase #5? That was a possible reply to this question. Asked by your crush, very possibly! Or, it could be asked by any other person for any other reason, doesn’t matter.

If this is addressed to you, it usually means that the person respects your time and schedule, which is a good thing. It probably also means that their own schedule is flexible, another good thing.

This is also a polite question to ask when a manager or senior colleague wants to meet with you. Let them decide on the time, and be as accommodating as possible. This attitude shows respect for seniority – good for career building. (Within reason, of course. You don’t need to postpone your wedding or your paid-up holiday to Australia because your manager wants to see you.)

9. Această dată este ok pentru tine?

“Is this date OK with you?”

But – if the other party insists that you choose a time for a meeting, appointment, or date etc., then do so! Respond with this nice, somewhat casual question that leaves space for negotiation, but only needs a simple reply.

Suitable for friends, and casual acquaintances and colleagues.

10. Ești disponibil în acea zi?

“Are you available on that day?”

This is the a-bit-more-formal version of the previous question. Again, it has room for negotiation, but only needs a simple response – nice and neat!

Maybe this is the go-to question when you’re addressing your seniors at work, or a person much older than you.

11. Putem face acest lucru cât mai curând posibil?

“Can we do it as soon as possible?”

This question has an urgency to it that should preferably be responded to with the same. A simple reply will be good – yes or no. Less negotiable, this is still polite because it’s a question that gives you a choice.

But stand ready with one of the phrases in this article to help tie down a time and date!

12. Sunt disponibil în fiecare seară.

“I’m available every evening”

If you’re going to reply with this phrase, context is everything.

– If it’s your manager asking you to put in a bit of overtime, and you are available to – great reply! When deadlines are tight and everybody is stressing, your willingness to go the extra mile can only improve your relationship with your boss.

(Still, no need to be a doormat! If you get asked to work overtime too often, or if everyone else is goofing around while you have to graft, then re-evaluate the situation. And if you feel you’re being exploited a bit, don’t stress! Equip yourself with the diplomatic, yet assertive responses right in this article.)

– If it’s an old friend or longtime significant other asking to hang out – good reply. You know one another and appearances don’t matter any longer.

– If it’s a new crush who just asked when you’d be available for a date – stop. Not such a great reply. Tone down a bit! “Interested but not overly eager” is what you’re going for here.

Refer back to response #5, or use a counter-question, such as #1. Whatever suits you.

But if they – or anyone else – invite you to scale the Himalayas with them, then the next phrase will probably be the only sane response!

13. Trebuie să planific acest lucru cu mult timp înainte.

“I need to plan this well in advance.”

So, as said under #9, perhaps you’re invited to join someone conquer the Himalayas.

Or your company manager wants you to plan the Party that Tops All Year-End Parties Forever.

Simply – if you get asked to do something that you know will need a lot of thorough planning, this is a good phrase to respond with.

It’s an assertive phrase that demonstrates two things regarding your attitude:

a) That you know your own abilities, and respect your own schedule.
b) That your respect other people’s time and schedule too.

Then just be sure to actually do that planning well in advance!

14. Trebuie să găsim o altă dată.

“We need to find another date.”

So, you’re in negotiations regarding a date.

This is an assertive statement that should probably not be used with a “My way or the highway” attitude.

That stuff only works in the movies – think sharp-tongued Samuel L. Jackson. Or fierce Kristen Stewart. Yea, they can be scary, so tone down that tone.

Also, be mindful that fickle people who change plans all the time don’t keep friends! Taking others’ needs into consideration, while simultaneously having your way is a delicate art that takes proper cultivation. Use this phrase sparingly – we have better ones here to negotiate with.

Of course, if your planned trip to the dentist falls on the same day as the only Billie Eilish concert close by…well, priorities are priorities. Feel free to call the dentist with this phrase. Or even better, use the next one.

15. Nu pot să o fac în acea zi.

“I cannot do it on that day.”

This is the low-key-but-still-firm cousin of the previous phrase. You’re stating a personal fact, and depending on your tone, this can be as non-negotiable as you prefer.

Again, only use this when you really mean it, if you’re visiting Romania or any other foreign country.

So, that’s it, folks! Which phrase did you find the most helpful? Let us know in the comments!

3. Can RomanianPod101 Help You In Other Ways Too?

Well yes, of course!

We think you will find these phrases easy to use when talking about dates and months in Romanian. But knowing how to employ them properly could help you avoid sticky situations!

RomanianPod101 is uniquely geared to help you with this and so much more.

This InnovativeLanguage.com initiative is one of many online language-learning courses. With us, you’ll find it easy and fun to learn a new language, and here are a few reasons why:

• Immediately upon enrollment, you’ll receive hundreds of well-designed lessons to get you going.
• Watch superb recordings of native Romanian speakers in cool slide-shows – the easy way to practice till you sound just like a native speaker yourself!
• Also immediately upon enrollment, you’ll get access to a huge library of free resources! These include extensive, theme-based Vocabulary Lists and a Word of the Day List (For free, hot bargains!) These alone are sure to give your vocab-learning boxing gloves.
• You’ll also immediately be able to use an excellent and free Romanian online dictionary. Necessary for quick, handy translations, no matter where you find yourself.
• For the serious learner, there are numerous enrollment upgrades available, one of which offers you a personal, online Romanian host. Allow us to hold your hand and support you in your learning!

If you’re serious about mastering Romanian easily yet correctly, RomanianPod101 is definitely one of, if not the best, online language learning platforms available. Talking about your plans or dates in Romanian need not ever spoil your stay.

So, hurry up—enroll today!

To some people, family means no one gets left behind.

To others, it just means tasty food.

Learning to talk about and understand the different words for family members in other languages can seem like a daunting task. There’s, what, a dozen words you’ve got to learn all at once? Two dozen?

But here’s why it’s worth it to learn about Romanian family traditions and terms in your Romanian studies.

Speaking clearly and correctly about a topic so integral to a culture like family is an important challenge to overcome. There are few things so closely tied to one’s identity as one’s family – just imagine the kind of gut reaction you would have if your sister called you “mom!”

In this article, you’ll learn how to say “family” in Romanian, the most important family vocabulary in Romanian, as well as some information on family members in Romanian culture.

And when it comes to Romania in particular, you have an interesting combination to deal with. For one, the concept of family itself is probably quite similar to your own, if you come from a Western culture. But for another?

Well, you’ll find that out in a moment. Let’s begin.

Table of Contents

1. The Family in Romanian Culture
2. Describing Your Immediate Family
3. Describing Your Extended Family
4. Your Family Through Marriage
5. Patronymics and Matronymics in Romanian
6. The Romanian Royal Family and Their Language
7. How RomanianPod101 Can Help You Master Romanian

1. The Family in Romanian Culture

Generally speaking, families in Romania aren’t very different from families in the rest of Europe and North America.

Marriages tend to be stable, and people living in big cities tend to have fewer kids. Young people are expected to be relatively independent when they reach adulthood, though that does bring us to one minor difference between Romanians and people from other cultures.

Simply put, the family unit is stronger in Romania. You know your cousins well, your parents rely on you for support in their old age, and you’re expected to be a loving and helpful parent to your own children.

Romanians tend to get together in large family reunions for holidays and important celebrations. It’s not unusual for teenage Romanians to travel to other cities or towns to help out their grandparents during the summer, whether that be on the farm, around the house, or at their small business.

Fortunately for someone outside the culture, these subtle differences don’t present huge challenges. And, as you’re about to see, neither does the language.

2. Describing Your Immediate Family

First things first: The words for “family” or familie in Romanian have no surprises. Pretty much every word maps directly onto its English equivalent, so there’s no need to worry that your conception of “brother” somehow doesn’t match up with the Romanians’.

Let’s start with parents, maybe the simplest family terms in Romanian for English speakers:

“Mother” is mamă, which makes plenty of sense. “Father” is tată, also not too far if you think of the English “daddy.” Interestingly, the informal, childlike word for “daddy” is, in fact, tati. And “parent” in general? That would be părinte.

There’s no single word for “sibling,” however, there is one for “twins.” It’s gemeni for “male twins” and gemene for “female twins.”

A “sister” is soră, and a “brother” is frate; you should recognize the Latin root from words like “fraternity” or “fraternize.” If you absolutely must include “brothers and sisters,” say exactly that: fraţi şi surori. Note that soră is irregular in the plural.

Romanian doesn’t have separate words for “older” or “younger.” Instead, you use mai mare after the word to indicate “older” and mai mic/mică for “younger.”

Onto children: The word in Romanian for “child” in a gender-neutral sense is copil, while a “son” is fiu and a “daughter” is fiică.

Remember, when talking about people in Romanian, we use the masculine plural for couples of mixed gender. So fraternal twins would be referred to as gemeni, and when speaking about your parents you’d use the male form părinți.

3. Describing Your Extended Family

And yet we’re just getting started. As mentioned above, the concept of an “extended” family is slightly different in Romania, but only because you’re expected to be closer to those family members.

Moving up a generation, we have your bunic, or your “grandfather,” along with your bunică or “grandmother.” To them, you’re probably a “grandson” or nepot, or a “granddaughter” or nepoată.

Suppose your parents have siblings as well? No problems here. An “aunt” is mătușă, and “uncle” should be a piece of cake for English speakers, as it’s unchi. These words don’t change if someone is an aunt or uncle by marriage or by blood. A “cousin” is văr, another word which is inherently gender-neutral.

Here, we actually can’t shift the perspective like we did with grandparent/grandchild. The word for “nephew” is nepot, the same as “grandson,” and “niece” fits the same pattern. To be specific, we can say something like “nephew of an uncle” which would be nepot de unchi.

And then when it’s time to get really extended, there’s a handy prefix to put on some of these words. The prefix is stră-, cognate to “extra” in English (and Latin, where it ultimately derives from). Take a word like străvechi which means “very old; ancient.” That’s made up of stră– +‎ vechi, or “extra” + “old.”

So in family terms, we can slap that prefix onto a few of the words we learned. So: străbunic, străbunică, strănepot, and strănepoată. Doing so gives us the “great” generation. That is, a “great-grandfather,” “great-grandmother,” “great-grandson,” and “great-granddaughter!”

It even gives us a general word for “ancestor“: străbun.

The only exceptions are when talking about great-aunts and great-uncles. To do that in Romanian, you need the phrase unchi de gradul doi or străunchi for “great-uncle” and mătușă de gradul doi or strămătușă for “great aunt.”

4. Your Family Through Marriage

Like English, Romanian has plenty of words for your family-by-marriage, also known as your in-laws.

Before you get to that stage in your relationship, though, you need some words for love.

One’s “boyfriend” or “girlfriend” is iubit or iubită, respectively. This is, naturally, related to the base verb “to love,” which is a iubi.

After marriage (căsătorie) the happy couple becomes soț or “husband” and soție or “wife.”

And what about their families? Well, here we have a whole new set of words for relatives-in law. Your “parents-in-law” are your socru or “father-in-law” and soacră or “mother-in-law.” Your siblings by marriage? That would be your cumnat or “brother-in-law” and cumnată or “sister-in-law.”

Suppose your own child gets married? Their husband would be your ginere or “son-in-law,” and their wife would be your noră or “daughter-in-law.”

As the saying goes, soon comes a baby in a baby carriage. It turns out that names in Romanian sometimes follow family patterns as well…

5. Patronymics and Matronymics in Romanian

If you think of a “typical Romanian” name, what does it sound like?

Most likely, the last name is going to end in –scu, since that’s a feature of the majority of Romanian names. Why the popularity?

Well, the –escu or –scu suffixes actually mean “son of.” They’re what’s known as patronymics, or names passed down through the male line.

Matronymics aren’t quite so common. The pattern is roughly detectable by noting the preposition a and the genitive case marker –ei around a particular name, all formed into one word thanks to the passage of time. So a child of Maria would be a-Mariă-ei = Amariei.

This tradition doesn’t really happen very much anymore. In some countries—even in Europe—names will change every generation to reflect one’s ancestry. But nowadays, Romanian people tend to keep and pass down their last names.

6. The Romanian Royal Family and Their Language

Here’s an interesting bit of historical, political, and cultural trivia. Romania officially has no Familia Regală or “royal family.” So why does everybody know who they are?

Regele Mihai I, known as King Michael I in English, abdicated the throne in 1947. But he was still around, and although he lived for many years abroad, Romanians still knew who he was. By 2007, he had returned to the country and drafted some suggestions for how the modern parliament should treat the royal family—and they listened to him.

He outlined a line of succession, and that’s where we’ll get our final family-related vocabulary here today.

First, there hasn’t been a “queen” or regina for several hundred years—generally, kings are wed to princesses.

The word for “princess” is principesa, and as Michael had five daughters, there are currently five princesses. Traditionally, the word for “prince” is prinţ; however, Michael’s grandson is usually referred to as principele, a word that means the same thing but is noticeably different. Why’s that? Well, for various reasons, he’s been cut out of the line of succession!

7. How RomanianPod101 Can Help You Master Romanian

Reading this article is one thing. But what’s the best way to actually make sure you’re able to use and understand these words when they come up?

By using them.

Take a moment right now to look over the lesson materials right here on RomanianPod101.com and start locking those memories in. We offer an array of insightful blog posts, free vocabulary lists, and podcasts. Also check out our MyTeacher program for Premium Plus members if you’re interested in a one-on-one learning experience with your own personal Romanian teacher!

Then, the natural next step is to imagine yourself somewhere in Romania—a sunflower field, a friendly hostel, your country’s embassy—describing your own family in Romanian. Now what if somebody else you know was doing it?

And what if you were the king?

This kind of active imagination, combined with your ordinary studies, is a sure-fire way to really anchor new words into your memory. Some people even speak this stuff aloud and record it for later; you don’t have to share it with anyone!

When your Romanian skills have expanded to include any and all family matters, you’ll be prepared. So prepared, in fact, that you can walk right into a family reunion and leave everyone totally blown away.

We hope you found this article helpful. How are you going to practice these new Romanian family names? Let us know in the comments!

Traveling to foreign countries is nearly always an exciting, enriching, and beneficial experience. Yet, some things can be real downers, such as boredom on a lengthy flight to Romania. Really, binge-watching onboard movies can only be interesting for so long! And jet lag – another huge downer. Did you know that jet lag is more severe when you travel from the West to the East?

Well, we won’t know how to beat that, but there are fortunately plenty of remedies around to investigate.

To beat flight boredom, though, we may have the answer for you at RomanianPod101! Why don’t you take the time to study Romanian travel phrases? We make this super easy and fun, with great downloadables, like our PDF Cheat Sheets. Quickly memorize these, and impress your Romanian friends or travel guide with your flawless Romanian!

Table of Contents

1. Importance Of Learning Travel Phrases
2. 13 Must-Have Travel Phrases and Words
3. Good-To-Have Travel Phrases
4. Ways To Improve Communication in a Foreign Country
5. RomanianPod101 Can Help You Master Travel Phrases Easily and Effortlessly!

1. Importance Of Learning Travel Phrases

Impressing Romanian people or your travel partners will be the least of the benefits you reap from learning these helpful phrases. These are greater ones:

1) Eliminate Travel Frustration: First of all, you’ll be able to cut out a good chunk of travel frustration and inconvenience due to language barriers.

Know how to pronounce and use at least the basic Romanian phrases, and then just look foreign. This should go a long way to help you get by and win you friends, because locals would be more inclined to help someone who took the trouble to learn a smidgen of their language.

2) Emergency Readiness: In case of an emergency, you will be able to get help a lot quicker if you know how to ask for what in Romanian. Imagine miming to a doctor or nurse that you have a sore ear but that you’re allergic to penicillin. Not so easy, right?

Rather, you should know basic emergency travel phrases, especially if you suffer from a serious condition. Also, information about life-threatening allergies you have should always be on your person in the language of the country you’re visiting.

3) Sight-Seeing Readiness: Hopefully, you also travel to learn more about a country’s culture. Visiting the main tourist sites in Romania will be more interesting if you know how to ask pertinent questions in Romanian.

In this blog, we’ll also be giving you important travel phrases to consider – from the 13 essential must-have phrases to ones that are just generally useful and good to know.

Let’s get cracking!

2. 13 Must-Have Travel Phrases and Words

Seasoned explorers of multiple countries will tell you that certain words and phrases are absolute must-knows in anyone’s travel vocabulary. Learning from them, we collated some of the most essential ones here for you.

If you know these travel phrases and words by heart in Romanian, you will be much better equipped for your visit than most of your movie-binging travel mates.

1) Mulţumesc (Thank you)

As a tourist, you will be relying on the kindness of strangers to get by. Repay them with a small acknowledgment of their friendly generosity – know how to say “thank you” in Romanian.

2) Vorbiți engleza? (Do you speak English?)

While it may be a bit of a cop-out, sometimes you just can’t figure out how to communicate. Maybe you’re blanking on one specific word you need, maybe they’re speaking with a heavy accent, or maybe it’s just really late and you really want to get to the hotel. In that case, try asking if they speak English, and hopefully you can make things a little bit simpler for yourself.

Don’t abuse this phrase, though! If you just try to get by without learning any of the local language, not only will you not learn anything – you’ll be out of luck if they can’t speak English!

3) Există un autobuz de la aeroport în oraș? (Is there a bus from the airport to the city?)

Public transit is usually cheaper, if slower, than taking a taxi or rideshare. Use this phrase to see if you can get where you’re going when you’re strapped for cash, or just when you’d like to take the scenic route into town!

4) Acesta este autobuzul care merge la aeroport? (Is this the right bus for the airport?)

Likewise, if you’re the kind of person who can get themselves moving early (or maybe you just have a late flight), maybe you want to take the bus to the airport rather than taking a cab. If that’s the case, you’ll want to be sure you’re actually heading the right way! You wouldn’t want to end up at a lookout point half an hour away, watching your flight take off in the distance, would you?

5) Scuzați-mă, cât e tariful? (Excuse me, what’s the fare?)

If you are paying for a cab, you’ll want to know how much. Most legal taxis will have meters, but when dealing with a currency you’re not familiar with, it can be worth asking just to double check that you’re paying the right amount – especially if the currency has cents.

6) Am o rezervare (I have a reservation)

This one you can expect to use at least a few times throughout your trip, unless you’re the kind of person who travels by the seat of their pants and just goes to whatever hotel, motel, or hostel has rooms available.

7) Aveți camere libere în seara asta? (Do you have any vacancies tonight?)

If that’s the case, you’ll definitely be using this phrase instead. Quite possibly a lot, depending on how lucky you are!

8 ) Unde este stația de tren? (Where is the train station?)

If you’re in a country with an expansive commuter rail system (or maybe just a fan of other types of locomotives), you may want to know where the closest station is. Just don’t go looking for pennies on the rails!

9) Sunt alergic la alune (I am allergic to peanuts)

Replace “peanuts” with whatever the word for your allergen may be. If your allergy is serious, you probably already know the importance of stating this very clearly in Romanian.

If the condition is life-threatening, be sure to have a letter or prescription from a medical professional in Romanian on your person at all times. Consider getting a medical alert bracelet specially made in Romanian if your stay will be longer than a month or so.

10) Aveți mâncăruri vegetariene? (Do you have any vegetarian dishes?)

If you dislike eating certain things, or you have certain dietary restrictions, it would be best if you knew how to convey this clearly in Romanian.

Remember, though, that saying “I’m vegan” or “I’m diabetic” may not be enough to get you what you want. The rules for veganism and vegetarianism are not standard everywhere in the world. Also, your patron might not understand what “diabetic” means. If you have a medical condition, it would be best to research some in-depth vocabulary beforehand.

11) Aș putea primi o hartă? (Could I get a map?)

Planning on exploring your destination? Hopelessly lost? Maybe just an amateur cartographer? No matter the reason, this phrase is sure to come in handy. That said, you’re more likely to get use out of it at some sort of tourist or travel center than you are asking a random passerby on the street.

12) Cât costă aceasta? (How much is this?)

Even if you’re not a big shopper, you’re probably going to need this phrase at some point. Knowing how to count in Romanian will, of course, help a lot with purchases too.

13) Acceptați cardul de credit? (Do you take credit card?)

This is another travel phrase that will smooth your monetary transactions considerably.

3. Good-To-Have Travel Phrases

Unlike the previous phrases, these are not really essential so much as they are useful. Yet, knowing these will still smooth over some bumps on your journey, more than just knowing the crucial phrases would.

1) Este Wi-Fi gratuit? (Is the Wi-Fi free?)

If you’re abroad, your normal cellular plans probably won’t have any service, and you’ll be totally reliant on publically available Wi-Fi while you’re out and about. Just ask a server, clerk, or attendant, and they’ll be happy to let you know. Just make sure you’re paying attention when they tell you the password!

2) Ați putea să îmi faceți o poză vă rog? (Could you take a picture of me please?)

What would a trip be with no photos to commemorate the event? Just be sure to ask this of someone who actually looks like they’d be willing to, unless you’re willing to risk being given the cold shoulder or worse. If you’re at a tourist attraction, you’ll find that most people are more than happy to take one for you, so long as you take one of them as well!

3) Ai unele recomandări? (Do you have any recommendations?)

Eating alone in a restaurant? Or going out with new Romanian friends or business colleagues? Let them help you decide what to have.

4) Aș dori un loc pentru nefumători, vă rog (I’d like to have a non-smoking seat, please)

Though smoking has gone out of fashion in some places, it’s still popular in others. In the event you’re at a restaurant where smoking is allowed on premises, you can always ask this question to the staff and be seated elsewhere.

5) Apă, vă rog (Water, please)

If you’ve emptied your glass, or are cutting yourself off after a few drinks, you can always ask for some water. It can be especially useful if the restaurant is busy to the point you need to call out to someone to get service.

6) Îmi faceți nota de plată? (Could I have the check?)

To finish off the restaurant related phrases, if you’re eating with friends or really want to impress your colleagues, taking the bill can be a nice treat for them. Of course, this phrase could come in handy as well if you’re eating alone and you’re just impatient to leave.

7) Ce ați recomanda pentru un suvenir? (What do you recommend for a souvenir?)

Now that your trip is over, what better way to cap it all off than a memento, or maybe a gift for friends and family at home? It’ll be nicer to have something recommended by the locals than a cheap bauble from the airport store, so go ahead and ask someone you’ve met what they think.

4. Ways To Improve Communication in a Foreign Country

When traveling, it’s possible to keep communication smooth when you don’t share a language.

Do so by keeping these five tips in mind. They are aimed to help you communicate with those who cannot speak English very well, and also to keep your traveling experience pleasant!

1. Keep your English simple and easy to understand.
If the person you are talking to speaks very little English, use basic verbs, adjectives, and nouns, and keep sentences short.

However, don’t patronize them by talking in pidgin or like you would address a child. Keep your speech simple but natural, and use the correct grammar.

For instance, don’t say: “You come when?”. If you say: “When will you come?”, you will very likely be understood, and may even help someone who wants to improve their English.

2. Ask someone to write information down.
Apply Rule 1 first at your hotel, where the staff is very likely to be able to speak some English. Get them to write down, in their native language, things like: “I would like to go to the airport, please,” “Please take me to the beach,” or “Where is the closest bathroom?”

These written questions are something you can then give to taxi drivers or any other people who are willing and able to help you. This simple step could make your life a lot easier when you travel to a foreign country!

3. Avoid asking leading questions!
If you want the correct information from a non-native English speaker, that is.

When you need directions, for instance, don’t ask: “To get to the bus stop, do I need to turn left here?” If the person didn’t really understand you, you will probably just get a smile and a “Yes,” which could possibly make you miss your bus.

Rather, you should ask: “Where is the bus stop?” If they understand you, you will get the correct directions.

4. Pick the right person to ask for help.
Time to look at people and think a bit about their appearance! A younger person who looks like they might be a student is more likely to have English skills than the friendly but ancient lady smiling at you from a fruit stall.

If you don’t see anyone like that, head into town to the nearest bank, hospital, pharmacy, or hotel. The staff at those places usually speak a bit of English.

5. Know when to quit.
If you stuck to the above rules, but the person you are talking to only stares at you blankly, say thank you and leave. Hanging around hoping someone will suddenly understand and respond is just wasting your time, and may irritate them as well. Go find someone else.

5. RomanianPod101 Can Help You Master Travel Phrases Easily and Effortlessly!

So, reader, have you found this article helpful?

Do you feel comfortable enough to use some essential travel phrases in Romanian? We’d also love to hear if you think we left out important travel phrases. Leave your suggestions and opinions in the comments!

RomanianPod101 takes the lead with many free learning tools to help you master Romanian reading and speaking easily, and in fun ways.

These tools include:

– An extensive vocabulary list, regularly updated
– A new Romanian word to learn every day
– Quick access to the Romanian Key Phrase List
– A free Romanian online dictionary
– The excellent 100 Core Romanian Word List
– An almost limitless Lesson Library for learners of all levels

You will also have access to topic-specific recordings like our Before You Travel: Survival Phrases lesson.

Learn even more efficiently with the help of a personal tutor, after taking an assessment test to personalize and tailor your training.

Getting a tutor is also a good option if you meet challenges in your learning, or need to fast-track correct pronunciation and diction. Your very own friendly, Romanian-speaking teacher will be only a text away on a special app, anywhere, anytime – an excellent option for business persons!

Using a guided learning system that was developed by experts in language and online education, you’ll receive personal feedback and constant support to improve in no time. You’ll also be tasked with weekly assignments in reading, writing, and speaking to hone your Romanian speaking skills.

Imagine how impressed your Romanian friends or colleagues will be when you display your excellent conversational skills! With RomanianPod101, getting there will be easy and fun.