The Romanian past participle is a non-finite verb form used in compound tenses and in passive or adjective-like phrases. It is the second word in Am făcut tema. (I did the homework.), where făcut is the participle of a face (to do, make).
How do you form the Romanian past participle?
Start with the short infinitive and replace its ending with the participle ending used by that verb; for verbs in -e, learn the individual participle because more than one ending is possible.
- Identify the verb's dictionary form, including a: a lucra (to work).
- Remove the infinitive marker a and recognize the ending: lucra ends in -a.
- Use the verb's participle, checking the full form when the pattern is not predictable: a lucra -> lucrat.
- Keep the participle in its basic form for an active compound tense, then allow agreement only when it is used adjectivally or in a passive construction.
| Infinitive ending | Frequent participle ending | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -a | -at | a lucra -> lucrat (to work); a cânta -> cântat (to sing) |
| -ea | -ut | a vedea -> văzut (to see); a apărea -> apărut (to appear) |
| -e | -ut, -s, or -t | a cere -> cerut (to ask); a merge -> mers (to go); a rupe -> rupt (to tear) |
| -i | -it | a dormi -> dormit (to sleep); a veni -> venit (to come) |
| -î | -ât | a coborî -> coborât (to descend); a urî -> urât (to hate) |
These are useful formation families, not a promise that every stem will stay unchanged. Spelling or stem changes can occur: a vedea becomes văzut, a face becomes făcut, and a spune becomes spus.
Why are -e verbs especially important to learn?
Verbs ending in -e can have participles ending in -ut, -s, or -t, and the infinitive spelling alone does not reliably tell you which form to choose. Learn the participle with the verb.
| Infinitive | Participle | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| a începe | început | to start |
| a cere | cerut | to ask for |
| a merge | mers | to go |
| a scrie | scris | to write |
| a râde | râs | to laugh |
| a rupe | rupt | to tear, break |
| a fierbe | fiert | to boil |
The choice is lexical rather than a simple spelling exercise: a scrie -> scris and a rupe -> rupt both end in -e, but their participles use different endings. Some consonants or vowels also alternate, as in a spune -> spus.
Which frequent participles should you memorize?
Learn high-frequency participles as part of each verb's vocabulary entry, especially for essential verbs and forms with a visible stem change.
| Infinitive | Past participle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a fi (to be) | fost | Am fost acasă. (I was at home.) |
| a avea (to have) | avut | Am avut timp. (I had time.) |
| a face (to do, make) | făcut | Ai făcut cafea. (You made coffee.) |
| a vedea (to see) | văzut | A văzut filmul. (He or she saw the film.) |
| a merge (to go) | mers | Am mers pe jos. (I or we walked.) |
| a spune (to say, tell) | spus | Mi-a spus adevărul. (He or she told me the truth.) |
| a scrie (to write) | scris | Am scris mesajul. (I wrote the message.) |
| a pune (to put) | pus | Au pus masa. (They set the table.) |
| a lua (to take) | luat | Am luat trenul. (I took the train.) |
| a da (to give) | dat | I-am dat cartea. (I gave him or her the book.) |
A dictionary or a reliable conjugation reference is useful when a new verb is unfamiliar. Do not create a participle by adding -at to every verb: a merge has mers, and a face has făcut.
What happens in an active compound tense?
In an active compound tense, the auxiliary carries the person and number while the past participle stays invariant. In the Romanian compound past, use a form of a avea plus the participle.
| Subject | Form with a veni | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| eu | am venit | I came |
| ea | a venit | She came |
| noi | am venit | We came |
| ei / ele | au venit | They came |
The participle is still invariant in other active compound forms such as să fi venit (to have come) and aș fi venit (I would have come). A woman says Ea a venit, and a group says Ele au venit, not venită or venite merely because the subject is feminine or plural.
When does the participle agree?
Agreement appears when the participle works as an adjective or as part of a passive construction. It then matches the noun or grammatical subject in gender and number, like the patterns in Romanian adjective agreement.
| Use | Example | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Active compound | Ana a scris scrisoarea. (Ana wrote the letter.) | scris is invariant |
| Adjective | o scrisoare scrisă (a written letter) | scrisă is feminine singular |
| Passive, singular | Scrisoarea a fost scrisă de Ana. (The letter was written by Ana.) | scrisă agrees with scrisoarea |
| Passive, plural | Scrisorile au fost scrise de Ana. (The letters were written by Ana.) | scrise is feminine plural |
The auxiliary a fi in a passive construction does not remove this agreement: compare mesajul a fost scris (the message was written) with mesajele au fost scrise (the messages were written). The participle agrees with the passive subject, not with the agent after de.
Can a participle behave like an adjective or noun?
Yes. A participle can become an ordinary adjective, and an adjective can be used as a noun-like expression. For example, un fost coleg (a former colleague), o fostă colegă (a former female colleague), foști colegi (former colleagues), and foste colege (former female colleagues) show agreement; foștii can mean the former members or people, with the definite article and plural form.
This lexical adjective use is different from the active compound verb: a fost means was or has been, while fost in un fost coleg means former. Not every participle is equally common as an adjective or noun, so learn these uses with the word.
How do negation and clitics fit around the participle?
For a negative active compound, put nu before the auxiliary group: Nu am văzut filmul. (I did not see the film.) Some participles also take the prefix ne- to make an independent adjective-like form, such as necunoscut (unknown) and nevăzut (unseen); this is lexical and is not available for every verb.
Unstressed object clitics normally come before the auxiliary, while feminine singular o commonly follows the participle: l-am văzut (I saw him or it), am văzut-o (I saw her or it), and nu l-am văzut (I did not see him or it). The hyphens mark the close boundary; they do not change the participle.
Mistakes to avoid
- Do not assume every -e verb has a predictable participle ending. Compare a cere -> cerut, a merge -> mers, a scrie -> scris, and a rupe -> rupt.
- Do not use the masculine singular form automatically in a passive or adjectival phrase: scrisoarea a fost scrisă, not scrisoarea a fost scris.
- Do not make an active compound participle agree with its subject: Ele au venit, not Ele au venite.
- Do not put nu after the participle in the compound tense: use nu am plecat, not am plecat nu.
Which infinitive and past participle pair is correct?
- a scrie -> scriat
- a merge -> mers
- a vedea -> vedat
- a hotărî -> hotărut
A merge has the participle mers. The other options use a made-up ending or an incorrect stem and ending; a hotărî has the current standard participle hotărât.
Complete the sentence: Noi am ___ la birou. (We worked at the office.)
- lucrut
- lucrit
- lucrs
- lucrat
The verb a lucra ends in -a and has the participle lucrat. The auxiliary am marks the subject; the participle does not change for noi.
Which sentence correctly uses an invariant participle in an active compound past?
- Ea a venit ieri.
- Ea a venită ieri.
- Ea a venite ieri.
- Ea a venit-a ieri.
In a venit, the auxiliary a carries third-person singular marking and venit stays unchanged. The feminine subject does not make an active compound participle feminine.
Which sentence correctly means “The letters were written by Ana”?
- Scrisorile au scris de Ana.
- Scrisorile a fost scrise de Ana.
- Scrisorile au fost scrise de Ana.
- Scrisorile au fost scris de Ana.
The passive uses au fost plus the participle, and scrise agrees with feminine plural scrisorile. The agent after de does not control agreement.
Which sentence uses a negative participle as an adjective rather than a negative compound tense?
- Nu am cunoscut persoana.
- Persoana este necunoscută publicului.
- Am necunoscut persoana.
- Persoana nu cunoscută publicului.
Necunoscută is an adjective-like form meaning unknown and agrees with feminine singular persoana. In Nu am cunoscut, nu negates the compound tense, while the other two sentences do not form a standard negative construction.