The imperfect is a one-word Romanian past tense for an action or state viewed as ongoing, repeated, habitual, or part of the background of a story: Când am ajuns, Ana citea. (When I arrived, Ana was reading.)
How do you form the Romanian imperfect?
Start with the verb's working stem, such as lucr- from a lucra. Add the imperfect suffix selected by the verb and then the six personal endings -m, -i, zero, -m, -ți, -u; the first-person singular and plural therefore look alike.
| Infinitive type | Suffix | Example forms | What to remember |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verbs in -a | -a- | a lucra → lucram, lucrai, lucra | The same suffix continues in the plural: lucram, lucrați, lucrau. |
| Verbs in -î | -a- | a coborî → coboram, coborai, cobora | The -î ending takes -a- here, not -ea-. |
| Verbs in -ea | -ea- | a vedea → vedeam, vedeai, vedea | The visible -ea of the infinitive is not itself the full set of endings. |
| Verbs in -e | -ea- | a cere → ceream, cereai, cerea | Some stems change spelling in particular verbs; learn common forms as sets. |
| Verbs in -i with a consonant-final stem | -ea- | a povesti → povesteam, povesteai, povestea | The present-tense -esc- pattern does not continue into the imperfect. |
| Verbs in -i with a vowel-final stem | -ia- | a locui → locuiam, locuiai, locuia | The i belongs to the stem, so the suffix is written -ia- here. |
| Special high-frequency forms | -a- | a ști → știam; a scrie → scriam | These -ia- sequences are written with -a- after the stem; do not force the general -ea- pattern. |
What do the six persons look like?
The endings are stable across the main patterns. The table makes the repeated first-person forms and the plural ending -ți visible.
| Verb | eu | tu | el / ea | noi | voi | ei / ele |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a lucra (to work) | lucram | lucrai | lucra | lucram | lucrați | lucrau |
| a coborî (to descend) | coboram | coborai | cobora | coboram | coborați | coborau |
| a vedea (to see) | vedeam | vedeai | vedea | vedeam | vedeați | vedeau |
| a cere (to ask for) | ceream | cereai | cerea | ceream | cereați | cereau |
| a citi (to read) | citeam | citeai | citea | citeam | citeați | citeau |
| a locui (to live) | locuiam | locuiai | locuia | locuiam | locuiați | locuiau |
| a ști (to know) | știam | știai | știa | știam | știați | știau |
| a scrie (to write) | scriam | scriai | scria | scriam | scriați | scriau |
Some frequent verbs use established stem spellings: a face has făceam (I was doing/making), and a veni has veneam (I was coming). They still take the usual imperfect suffix and personal endings.
Which high-frequency verbs are irregular?
These common verbs have irregular imperfect forms. Learn each paradigm as a whole set.
| Verb | eu | tu | el / ea | noi | voi | ei / ele |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a fi (to be) | eram | erai | era | eram | erați | erau |
| a avea (to have) | aveam | aveai | avea | aveam | aveați | aveau |
| a da (to give) | dădeam | dădeai | dădea | dădeam | dădeați | dădeau |
| a voi (to want) | voiam | voiai | voia | voiam | voiați | voiau |
| a sta (to stay / stand) | stăteam | stăteai | stătea | stăteam | stăteați | stăteau |
For the first-person singular and plural imperfect of a voi, the neutral contemporary form is voiam. DOOM3 also records vream, from a vrea, as rare, so do not treat it as the default learner form.
When do you use the imperfect?
When the speaker views a past situation as unfolding, repeated, habitual, continuing as a state, or part of the setting for another event, choose the imperfect. English may translate it with was/were …-ing, used to, would, or sometimes a simple past.
- For an action in progress when another event occurs, use the imperfect: Citeam când m-ai sunat. (I was reading when you called me.)
- For a repeated or habitual past routine, use the imperfect: În copilărie, mergeam la bunici în fiecare vară. (As a child, I used to go to my grandparents every summer.)
- For a continuing background state or description, use the imperfect: Era frig și ploua. (It was cold and raining.)
- For a past state of knowledge, belief, or expectation, use the imperfect: Știam că ajungi la șase. (I knew you were arriving at six.)
- For a softened request or pre-request, use the imperfect: Voiam doar să vă cer un sfat. (I just wanted to ask you for some advice.)
How does the imperfect relate to a completed past event?
In a short past narrative, the imperfect commonly supplies the background and the compound past marks the bounded event that moves the story forward: Când am intrat, Maria citea. (When I entered, Maria was reading.) The imperfect itself does not say that an action was never completed; it leaves its beginning or endpoint outside the speaker's focus.
A sentence can contain several imperfects when the situations overlap or repeat: Când treceam pe acolo, magazinul era mereu închis. (Whenever I passed there, the shop was always closed.) For the full contrast with the Romanian compound past, see perfectul compus and the dedicated comparison article.
How do you negate the imperfect and add clitics?
Because the imperfect is a simple tense, put nu before the finite verb. Unstressed personal or reflexive pronouns and adverbs such as mai stay between nu and the verb, as in the general Romanian pattern for negation.
- Positive reflexive form: Mă grăbeam. (I was hurrying.)
- Negative reflexive form: Nu mă grăbeam. (I was not hurrying.)
- Negative with an adverb: Nu mai vedeam nimic. (I could no longer see anything.)
- Two object clitics: Tu mi-o arătai. (You were showing it to me.) → Tu nu mi-o arătai. (You were not showing it to me.)
What mistakes should you avoid?
- Do not use the present ending after the imperfect stem: lucram, not lucrez or lucrăm, for “I was working.”
- Not every -i verb takes -ia-. The verb a citi gives citeam, while vowel-final a locui gives locuiam.
- Keep the ă in the imperfect of a face: the standard form is făceam.
- Do not put nu after the pronoun or the verb: say Nu mă grăbeam, not Mă nu grăbeam or Mă grăbeam nu.
- Do not translate every imperfect as English was …-ing: a repeated routine such as mergeam la bunici is usually “I used to go to my grandparents.”
Choose the imperfect for a background action: Când am ajuns, Ana ___ o carte. (When I arrived, Ana was reading a book.)
- citea
- am citit
- va citi
- citisem
Citea presents Ana's reading as already in progress when the completed event am ajuns happened. The other choices either express a different tense or do not agree with the requested background meaning.
What is the first-person plural imperfect of a locui?
- locueam
- locuam
- locuiam
- lociam
A vowel-final -i stem such as locui- takes -ia-, giving noi locuiam. The imperfect form is written with -uiam, not with a shortened or invented stem.
Complete the paradigm: Ei ___ acolo când eram copii. (They were there when we were children.)
- erați
- erau
- eram
- fost
The third-person plural imperfect of a fi is erau. Eram is first-person singular or plural, erați is second-person plural, and fost is the participle, not an imperfect form.
Choose the correct negative sentence for “I was not hurrying.”
- Mă nu grăbeam.
- Nu grăbeam mă.
- Nu mă grăbesc.
- Nu mă grăbeam.
In the imperfect, nu comes before the clitic and the finite verb: Nu mă grăbeam. The present grăbesc changes the tense, while the other two choices put the clitic in the wrong position.
What is the usual force of Voiam doar să vă cer un sfat?
- A softened request or pre-request
- A fixed past habit
- A completed event
- A prediction about the future
Here voiam uses the imperfect to make a present-oriented request sound less abrupt: “I just wanted to ask you for some advice.” It is not describing a repeated habit or a completed event.