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5. Verbs in the present

A few verbs you will live inside, with the forms you actually hear.

Romanian dictionaries list verbs with a: a fi to be, a avea to have, a merge to go. That a is the infinitive marker. In a sentence you drop it and conjugate.

A fi: eu sunt, tu ești, el/ea este (or e), noi suntem, voi sunteți, ei/ele sunt. In Moldavian speech, eu îs for eu sunt is common. A avea: am, ai, are, avem, aveți, au. Age, possession, and a lot of everyday need go through this verb.

A merge is to go. Merg, mergi, merge, mergem, mergeți, merg. In Moldavia a umbla often does that job; in the standard, a umbla is closer to walk about. A vrea: vreau, vrei, vrea. Vreau apă is a full useful sentence. A putea: pot, poți, poate. Nu pot. A înțelege: înțeleg. Nu înțeleg is the one you will say most as a beginner.

Oltenia still uses the simple past in ordinary speech — făcui, zisei — where the rest of the country, and the standard conversation, uses am făcut, am zis. You do not need to produce that. You should not be surprised by it.

• sunt / ești / este I am, you are, he or she is.
• am / ai / are I have, you have, he or she has.
• merg / mergem I go / we go.
• vreau I want.
• pot I can. Nu pot, I cannot.
• înțeleg I understand. Nu înțeleg.
• mănânc I eat.
• vorbesc I speak.
• lucrez I work.
• plec I leave.

Next: travel and asking. Look words up in the translator.