A Romanian adjective describes a noun and usually changes to match its gender and number. Compare un băiat bun (a good boy) with o fată bună (a good girl): masculine băiat takes bun, while feminine fată takes bună.
How do you choose the matching adjective form?
Choose the adjective form that matches the noun's gender and number. First identify the noun pattern in Romanian noun gender. Then match singular with singular and plural with plural.
- Find the noun that the adjective describes: in case frumoase (beautiful houses), the adjective describes case.
- Check the noun's gender and number. Articles and numerals can show the agreement pattern: un pairs with masculine and neuter singular nouns, o with feminine singular nouns, doi with masculine plurals, and două with feminine and neuter plurals. A neuter noun therefore uses the masculine pattern in the singular and the feminine pattern in the plural.
- Use the matching adjective form: un hotel nou (a new hotel), but două hoteluri noi (two new hotels).
| Noun gender | Singular example | Plural example |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | un băiat bun (a good boy) | doi băieți buni (two good boys) |
| Feminine | o fată bună (a good girl) | două fete bune (two good girls) |
| Neuter | un scaun bun (a good chair) | două scaune bune (two good chairs) |
Which adjective forms should you learn?
Adjectives may have one, two, three, or four written forms. The table gives useful examples rather than a rule for predicting every new adjective. The fuller adjective form patterns article covers more endings and stem changes.
| Pattern | Forms by gender and number | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Four forms | masculine and neuter singular; feminine singular; masculine plural; feminine and neuter plural | bun, bună, buni, bune (good) |
| Three forms | masculine and neuter singular; feminine singular; all plurals | mic, mică, mici (small); nou, nouă, noi (new) |
| Two forms | all singulars; all plurals | mare, mari (big); verde, verzi (green) |
| One form | all genders and numbers | roz (pink): o rochie roz, două rochii roz (a pink dress, two pink dresses) |
What happens with a neuter noun?
A neuter noun takes masculine agreement in the singular and feminine agreement in the plural. In un scaun bun (a good chair), bun is masculine singular; in două scaune bune (two good chairs), bune is feminine plural. See neuter nouns for the noun pattern.
Which adjective forms stay the same across gender or number?
Some gender and number combinations share the same adjective form. With mare, every singular uses mare, while every plural uses mari: un oraș mare, o casă mare, orașe mari, case mari (a big city, a big house, big cities, big houses).
The standard invariable adjective roz keeps one written form with every gender and number. This is a real adjective pattern, not a missing ending: pereți roz (pink walls) and rochii roz (pink dresses). The examples here are neutral contemporary Standard Romanian; regional, archaic, and conversational forms are outside this basic lesson.
Mistakes to avoid
- Do not use the masculine singular automatically: o fată bună, not o fată bun.
- Do not use doi with every plural noun: două fete bune and două scaune bune both need două.
- Do not change an invariable adjective: două rochii roz, not două rochii roze in this basic pattern.
- Do not assume that one ending works for every adjective. Learn each adjective's gender-number forms together, such as bun, bună, buni, bune or mare, mari.
Which phrase shows feminine singular adjective agreement?
- o carte bună
- un băiat bun
- doi băieți buni
- două scaune bune
Carte is feminine singular, so the matching form is bună. The other phrases are masculine singular, masculine plural, and neuter plural.
Complete: două scaune ___ (two good chairs)
- bun
- bună
- bune
- buni
Scaune is a neuter plural noun. Neuter plurals take the feminine plural adjective form, bune.
Which sentence uses feminine plural agreement and means “The two houses are big”?
- Cele doi case sunt mari.
- Cele două case sunt mari.
- Cele două case sunt mare.
- Cele două casă sunt mari.
Case is feminine plural, so the numeral is două and the plural form of mare is mari.
Complete: Am două cărți ___. (I have two new books.)
- nouă
- nou
- noii
- noi
Cărți is feminine plural, and nou has the plural form noi for all genders.
Which statement describes the forms of mare?
- It has separate masculine and feminine singular forms.
- It has one singular form, mare, and one plural form, mari, for all genders.
- It never changes for singular or plural.
- It uses mare in every plural phrase.
Mare is one form for singular and mari is the plural form: un băiat mare, o fată mare, băieți mari, fete mari.