Decimals, percentages, and quantities

Romanian uses a comma for the decimal separator and says virgulă when reading it: Prețul este de 12,5 lei (the price is 12.5 lei). The same number system uses la sută for percentages and agreement-sensitive words for quantities. The Romanian cardinal numbers article supplies the basic number forms; this lesson focuses on numbers used as measurements and amounts.

How do you write and read a decimal?

Write a comma between the whole-number part and the decimal part, then read the comma as virgulă. The number after the comma is read as a cardinal number, not with the English word “point.”

1.000 represents one thousand, while 1,5 represents one and a half. For the forms of the tens and the linker de, see numbers over twenty and the linker de.

How do you express a percentage?

One standard way to read a percentage is a cardinal number followed by la sută: douăzeci la sută means twenty percent. You can also use the noun procent: douăzeci de procente. Do not omit de in that noun-based phrase.

In a sentence, the percentage phrase can name the measured group: Douăzeci la sută dintre participanți au răspuns. (Twenty percent of the participants answered.) The numeral remains a cardinal number; la sută supplies the percentage meaning.

How do you name a fraction?

For a named fraction, use a feminine fractional noun, often formed with -ime. Use the singular after one and the plural after a larger cardinal number: o treime (one third), but două treimi (two thirds).

In mathematical speech, a fraction can also be read with pe or supra: doi pe trei or doi supra trei (two over three).

The regular fractional series also has o doime for one half. This form appears in specialist terminology; o jumătate is the everyday expression.

How do you ask how much or how many?

Use cât or câtă with a singular mass or uncountable noun, and câți or câte with a plural countable noun. The form follows the noun's grammatical gender and number; the cât, câtă, câți, and câte article gives the full question pattern.

How do amount words agree?

The common amount words mult (much, many) and puțin (little, few) change for gender and number when they modify a noun. With feminine singular mass nouns, use multă and puțină. With masculine plural nouns, use mulți and puțini. With feminine or neuter plural nouns, use multe and puține.

How do you give an approximate quantity?

Put an approximation word before the numeral phrase. Aproximativ and circa are common in documents and other more formal written contexts; cam, vreo, and în jur de are especially common in conversation.

Choose the marker according to whether the amount is over, under, or almost at the stated value.

Mistakes to avoid

• Romanian writes the decimal as 1,5, with a comma rather than the English-style point in 1.5.
• Use either douăzeci la sută or douăzeci de procente for 20%; do not say douăzeci procent without de.
• Match the quantity form to the noun's gender and number: câte cărți but câți oameni.
• Amount words also change with the noun's gender and number: multă apă, mulți oameni, and multe cărți.
• Do not confuse și inside a compound number with de before a counted noun: douăzeci și trei de pagini (twenty-three pages).