Grammar terms label patterns in sentences. Copilul citește o carte interesantă. (The child is reading an interesting book.) In this example, copilul and carte are nouns. Citește is a verb, and interesantă is an adjective.
Which grammar labels do you need first?
Start with three layers. Word class tells you what kind of word it is. Sentence role tells you what job it does here. Grammatical form tells you which version fits the context.
| Layer | Question | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Word class or part of speech | What kind of word is it? | citește is a verb. |
| Sentence role or syntactic function | What job does it do here? | Maria is the subject in Maria citește. (Maria is reading.) |
| Grammatical form | Which version fits this context? | citim is first-person plural present in Noi citim. (We are reading.) |
What kind of word is it?
A word class groups words with similar grammatical behavior. It is also called a part of speech. These are the classes named most often in this library.
| Term | Plain meaning | Romanian example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | Refers to a person, place, thing, or idea | copil (child), București (Bucharest), carte (book), liniște (quiet) |
| Verb | Presents an action, event, or state | a citi (to read), a fi (to be) |
| Adjective | Describes or classifies a noun and can agree with it | o carte interesantă (an interesting book) |
| Pronoun | Refers to a participant without naming it with a noun | Ea citește. (She is reading.) |
| Article | Helps mark a noun as indefinite or definite | o carte (a book), cartea (the book) |
| Numeral | Expresses a number or an order | două cărți (two books), al doilea student (the second student) |
| Adverb | Adds information such as manner, time, place, or degree | citește repede (reads quickly) |
| Preposition | Introduces a relation involving a noun or pronoun | la școală (at school / to school) |
| Conjunction | Links words, groups, or clauses | ceai și cafea (tea and coffee) |
You will also see determiner as a practical label for a word used with a noun to identify or quantify it, such as acest in acest student (this student). Romanian references often call acest an adjectiv pronominal (pronominal adjective). The labels come from different ways of describing the same use; the Romanian form does not change. See the parts of speech overview for the fuller classification.
What job does it do in a sentence?
A sentence role describes the job of a word or group in one particular sentence. Maria citește cartea. (Maria is reading the book.) In this example, Maria is the subject. Citește is both the finite verb and the predicate, and cartea is the direct object.
| Term | Plain meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | The noun phrase or pronoun that normally controls person and number on the finite verb | Maria in Maria citește. |
| Finite verb | A conjugated verb carrying tense or mood and usually person and number | citește in Maria citește. |
| Predicate | What a basic clause says about the subject, centered on the verb | citește in Maria citește. |
| Direct object | A noun phrase or pronoun used as the object selected by a transitive verb (a verb that takes a direct object) | cartea in Maria citește cartea. |
| Phrase | A group of words acting together as one unit | o carte interesantă is a noun phrase |
| Clause | A unit organized around a predicate; a sentence can contain one or more clauses | Maria citește. is one clause |
Word class and sentence role describe different properties. Cartea is a noun and the direct object in Maria citește cartea. (Maria is reading the book.) It is also a noun, but the subject, in Cartea este interesantă. (The book is interesting.) The dedicated subject, predicate, and object article develops these roles.
How do words change form?
A form is the version of a word used in context. Inflection changes a word to express grammar without creating a new dictionary word. Verbs are conjugated, while nouns, pronouns, articles, and adjectives can be declined.
| Term | Plain meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive or dictionary form | The form used to name a verb | a citi (to read) |
| Finite or conjugated form | A verb form chosen for a subject, tense, and mood | citim in Noi citim. (We are reading.) |
| Stem | The base used to build a particular form | citi- in citim |
| Ending | A final element that can mark grammatical information | -m in citim marks first-person plural |
| Conjugation | The system or process of changing verb forms | citesc, citești, citește are present forms of a citi |
| Declension | The system of forms used especially for number and case in nouns and related words | fată becomes fetei in a definite genitive or dative form |
Features carried by forms
A grammatical feature is information expressed by a form or construction. These labels recur throughout the library.
| Feature | Plain meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | A noun class: masculine, feminine, or neuter; it affects agreeing words | un băiat bun (a good boy), o fată bună (a good girl) |
| Number | Singular or plural | o carte (one book), două cărți (two books) |
| Person | First person for the speaker, second for the addressee, or third for others | eu citesc (I read), tu citești (you read) |
| Tense | Locates a situation in time | Eu citesc. (I read / I am reading.), Eu am citit. (I read / I have read.) |
| Mood | Presents a situation as a statement, command, possibility, and so on | Citește! (Read!) is imperative |
| Case | Marks a noun phrase's relation in a clause or phrase | fetei is genitive in cartea fetei (the girl's book) |
| Definiteness | Distinguishes an indefinite reference from a definite one | o carte (a book), cartea (the book) |
| Agreement | Makes one word match relevant features of another | o fată bună (a good girl), două fete bune (two good girls) |
Inflection is not always a matter of attaching one ending. A stem or vowel can also change, as in carte and cărți. Romanalia articles show the whole form when an ending-only shortcut would hide a stem or vowel change. See how agreement works for the matching patterns.
What do usage labels mean?
Unless an article says otherwise, it teaches neutral contemporary Standard Romanian first. A usage label tells you where another form is typical; it does not automatically mean that the form is wrong.
| Label | Meaning in this library |
|---|---|
| Neutral Standard | Unmarked contemporary Romanian suitable for ordinary speech and writing |
| Conversational | Typical of ordinary conversation; it may still be fully standard |
| Formal | Suited especially to official, careful, or ceremonious contexts |
| Literary | Marked as characteristic of literary or artistic style, not ordinary neutral use |
| Archaic | Characteristic of an older stage of the language and not neutral today |
| Regional | Associated with a particular area rather than general Standard Romanian |
The English label literary here means a style associated with literature. It is not identical to the Romanian expression limbă literară, which Romanian linguistic works often use for the codified standard language. The register article explains these choices further.
Mistakes to avoid
- Do not confuse a word class with a sentence role. A noun can be a subject in one sentence and an object in another.
- Do not identify a form without its context. citește is third-person singular present in Maria citește. (Maria is reading.), but second-person singular imperative in Citește! (Read!).
- Do not expect every English grammar label to map to a single Romanian school label. Use the definition and example to see what the article means.
Which word is the verb in Ana citește cartea repede.?
- Ana
- citește
- cartea
- repede
Citește is the finite verb: it presents the action and carries the present-tense form used with the third-person singular subject Ana.
In o carte, două cărți, which grammatical feature changes?
- Number
- Tense
- Person
- Mood
O carte is singular and două cărți is plural, so the contrast is one of number.
In Maria citește cartea., which description of Maria is correct?
- An adjective serving as the subject
- A noun serving as the direct object
- A noun serving as the subject
- A verb serving as the predicate
Maria is a proper noun by word class and the subject by sentence role; it controls the third-person singular verb citește.
Which sentence has correct agreement?
- Fata este bun.
- Fata sunt bună.
- Fata este bună.
- Fata este buni.
Feminine singular fata takes the feminine singular adjective bună, and the third-person singular verb is este.
Why can cartea be a direct object in one sentence and a subject in another?
- Every noun is always both a subject and an object
- The definite article changes a noun into a verb
- Romanian has no fixed sentence roles
- Word class and sentence role describe different properties
Cartea remains a noun, but its role depends on the sentence: it is the object in Maria citește cartea and the subject in Cartea este interesantă.