The Romanian alphabet

Romanian uses a modern Latin alphabet of 31 letters. Five letters carry a mark: ă, â, î, ș, and ț. The marks belong in words such as măr (apple), în (in), șase (six), and țară (country). The alphabet also includes less frequent letters such as q, w, and y, which appear mainly in foreign names, loans, and specialized vocabulary.

What are the 31 letters of the Romanian alphabet?

Learn the alphabet in the order below, with each uppercase letter paired with its lowercase form. Each of the five marked letters occupies its own position, distinct from a, i, s, or t.

Are ă, â, î, ș, and ț separate letters?

Yes. Ă, ă; Â, â; Î, î; Ș, ș; and Ț, ț are separate letters in the Romanian alphabet. Their marks belong to the letter: keep the breve on ă, the circumflex on â and î, and the comma below ș and ț.

• Write the comma below ș and ț, not a cedilla: șase (six), școală (school), țară (country), and față (face).
• Keep the mark in uppercase forms too: Școala începe. (The school begins.) and Țara este mare. (The country is large.)
• A mark can distinguish words, so keep it: fată (girl) and față (face) are different words.
• The detailed spelling distribution of â and î belongs in the î and â lesson; this article only establishes that both are alphabetic letters.

Where do K, Q, W, and Y appear?

K, Q, W, and Y are part of the modern 31-letter alphabet, even though they are less frequent in traditional Romanian vocabulary. You will meet them in foreign proper names, borrowed words, technical terms, brands, and international forms. Romanian words and texts can therefore contain these letters.

A borrowed word can keep a foreign-looking letter and take Romanian endings. Check a current dictionary for its spelling and endings instead of adding an English plural automatically. The lesson on borrowed and foreign words explains how borrowed words fit Romanian grammar.

How does Romanian alphabetical sorting work?

Sort Romanian words letter by letter in Romanian alphabet order. A marked letter occupies a different position from its unmarked counterpart. Uppercase and lowercase forms occupy the same alphabetic position.

When you alphabetize names or vocabulary, do not silently flatten ă, â, î, ș, or ț into plain letters. A database or spreadsheet may use a different language setting or may ignore marks when sorting. When the order must follow the Romanian alphabet, choose Romanian as the sorting language.

Why do Romanian letters and sounds not always match one-to-one?

Romanian spelling often gives clues about reading, but letters and sounds are not always in a one-to-one relationship. A single letter can have different values in different surroundings, and a group of letters can work together to represent one consonant value. Treat the patterns below as a first reading orientation, not as a complete pronunciation course.

How do C and G change before E and I?

Before e or i, plain c and g use their special Romanian values. The spelling groups ce, ci, ge, and gi show those values; to keep the c value heard in casă or the g value heard in gară before e or i, Romanian writes che, chi, ghe, or ghi.

• In che, chi, ghe, and ghi, the h is part of the spelling pattern. It does not represent a separate consonant in these groups.
• The letters e and i in these groups help establish the reading of the preceding c or g. Depending on what follows, they can represent a vowel or function only inside the letter group. A written letter therefore does not always represent a separate sound.
• Other combinations also need context. For example, x can represent more than one consonant sequence, and foreign words can preserve source-language spellings or values. When a new word does not fit a familiar pattern, check a current dictionary.

Which Romanian alphabet mistakes should you avoid?

• Do not remove the Romanian marks from ă, â, î, ș, or ț because they look optional on an English keyboard.
• Do not replace comma-below ș and ț with cedilla forms or with plain s and t.
• Do not claim that k, q, w, or y are absent from Romanian; they are alphabet letters, although their frequency and contexts differ.
• Do not assume that every letter has one fixed sound or that every written letter contributes a separate sound.
• Do not read che, chi, ghe, and ghi as four unrelated exceptions: in these groups, h helps preserve the intended value of c or g before e or i.