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Learn Romanian

A Romance language with a Balkan twist, from suffixed articles to să plus subjunctive.

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Romanian descends from Latin, so speakers of Spanish, Italian or French spot a lot of familiar vocabulary, yet it developed apart from the other Romance languages and picked up Slavic, Greek and Turkish words along the way. It is the only major Romance language that still has noun cases, it attaches the definite article to the end of the word (lup, lupul), and its neuter nouns act masculine in the singular and feminine in the plural. The letters ă, â, î, ș and ț mark sounds English lacks. Learnr turns your goal into a personalized Romanian course.

How to learn Romanian, step by step

Learn the five special letters. Ă is a schwa like the a in about, while â and î spell the same sound, a high central vowel with no English match. Ș is sh and ț is ts. Getting these right makes words like mâine and pâine sound correct from the start.
Attach articles to the end of nouns. A house is o casă, but the house is casa. A man is un om, the man is omul. Practice converting nouns to definite form, since Romanian uses the definite form far more than English and the ending shifts with case.
Understand the neuter gender. Neuter nouns take masculine agreement in the singular and feminine in the plural: un scaun, două scaune (one chair, two chairs). Learn each noun with its plural form, because the plural reveals the gender and the ending.
Use să instead of an infinitive. Where English says I want to go, Romanian says vreau să merg, literally I want that I go. Drill pairs with vreau, pot and trebuie so the subjunctive becomes a reflex, since it appears in almost every conversation about plans.
Add the genitive and dative. Cartea fetei means the girl's book and îi dau fetei means I give to the girl. These cases share one set of endings, which makes them easier. Learn the article forms -ului, -ei and -lor as the key signals.
Listen, speak and review daily. Short daily lessons on Learnr keep the endings fresh, and Romanian films, songs or podcasts train your ear to the fast, linked speech of native speakers. Try saying small daily routines aloud to rehearse verbs.

What you'll learn

Pronounce ă, the shared sound of â and î, and the letters ș and ț
Form definite nouns with suffixed articles such as casa and omul
Use the genitive and dative forms in everyday phrases
Replace English infinitives with să and the subjunctive
Handle everyday conversations about routines, travel and plans

What's inside your Romanian course

A sample path Learnr builds for Romanian. Your real course adapts to your goal and level.

1. Romanian alphabet and special letters
2. Three genders, plurals and the suffixed article
3. Present tense and the main irregular verbs
4. Să plus subjunctive for wants and plans
5. Cases: nominative, genitive, dative and vocative
6. Past tense, future forms and conversation

How long does it take to learn Romanian?

English speakers usually reach everyday conversation in 6 to 12 months at 30 to 60 minutes a day, faster with another Romance language behind them. Mastering cases and the full verb system takes longer, often two years or more of regular use.

What you need before you start

No prior language is needed. Spanish, Italian, French or Latin give you a large vocabulary head start, and basic grammar terms help with the case system.

Common mistakes to avoid

Writing ş and ţ with a cedilla instead of the correct comma below, or dropping diacritics entirely, which changes words like peste (over) and pește (fish).
Translating I want to with an infinitive instead of să plus the subjunctive, a common giveaway of an English speaker.
Guessing gender from the singular alone and ignoring neuter nouns, so plural endings come out wrong; always learn the plural with each new noun.

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Romanian questions, answered

Is Romanian similar to Italian?

They share a lot of Latin-derived vocabulary, and simple texts can be partly understood across them. Romanian grammar, sounds and Slavic loanwords make it distinct, so spoken comprehension without study is limited.

Is Romanian the same as Moldovan?

The standard language of Moldova is Romanian. Accents and some vocabulary differ regionally, but a Romanian course prepares you for both countries.