Romanian Verbs Irregulars

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jen_ber Thursday 23rd of June 2005 12:36:34 AM
verbs - I have been studying romanian for about a week and a half and I am having some difficulty with the verbs. My first question is, how many irregular verbs are there and how do you recognize them (if possible). Also with the -a verbs, how do you know whether or not to use the -ez ending? Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

cristally Sunday 11th of September 2005 04:57:46 PM
- You must be kidding,because i don't think that someone could count all those verbs,anyway the irregular verbs you can recognize them by their ending, they just don't end like regular verbs:)

jen_ber Monday 12th of September 2005 11:35:58 PM
- i wasnt asking for an exact number, just whether or not there is a lot of them. im not sure what you mean by they dont end like regular verbs. some of them, yes i can recognize right away but the rest of them look like regular verbs to me. if you could give me a few examples it would help. perhaps my question should be, are there a set of rules for conjugating irregulars or are they all different?
thank you

Lorelai Tuesday 13th of September 2005 05:24:18 AM
- Hi Jen_ber,

Well, the (sad) truth is that there is a fair number of irregular verbs in Romanian.
Basically, there are only 4 conjugations of verbs, based on the last vowel (or vowels) of their infinitive form:
- 1st conjugation – verbs than end in "a": a lucra (to work), a pleca (to leave)

- 2nd conjugation – verbs that end in "ea": a avea (to have, own), a vedea (to see)

- 3rd conjugation – verbs that end in "e": a face (to do), a cere (to ask)

- 4th conjugation – verbs that end in "i" and in "î": a dormi (to sleep), a primi (to receive), a coborî (to descent).

Now, the verbs are conjugated by removing the ending from the infinitive form and adding a number of endings. Simple enough but...the 4 conjugations further subdivide according to the letter that precede the last vowel and can take different terminations. Also, many verbs modify their stem when they are conjugated.
For example, to conjugate "a întreba" (to ask), we remove the "a" to obtain what is called the "stem" of the verb -întreb- and procede like this:

eu întreb
tu întreb[b]i[/b]
el, ea într[b]ea[/b]b[b]ă[/b]
noi întreb[b]ăm[/b]
voi întreb[b]aţi[/b]
ei, ele într[b]ea[/b]b[b]ă[/b]

Unlike in another languages where you can find a pattern even for these irregularities, in Romanian virtually any verb can "misbehave" and conjugate accorting to its own rules. :D Therefore, I would say you're really better off not trying to memorize a dozen rules but learning the irregulars as they come.

Whenever you stumble across anything that seem peculiar, feel free to ask here and we'll do our best to help you, ok.

jen_ber Tuesday 13th of September 2005 08:03:09 AM
- Thank you, I really appreciate any help I can get. Bummer about there not being patterns to the irregulars. Im sure you'll be hearing from me again before too long. :D

Jeremy87 Friday 16th of September 2005 05:02:48 AM
- i have noticed i believe that certain -a verbs that have the 'ez' endings are ones that have the final stem letter as c or g, as well as verbs that end in (consonant)ia. -a verbs that end in (vowel)ia dont take the 'ez' ending.

The verb întârzia (to be late, come late), is one of those completely irregular verbs.
eu întârzii
tu întârzii
el/ea întârzie
noi întârziem
voi întârzieţi
ei/ele întârzie

Still, for most verbs you will need to learn on your own whether they end with the ez endings or not. Good luck :) and i'll leave you a little resource, where I got my knowledge from.

http://www.seelrc.org:8080/grammar/pdf/stand_alone_romanian.pdf

jen_ber Tuesday 20th of September 2005 03:16:18 AM
- Thanks! :D

delia Friday 02nd of December 2005 12:07:28 AM
- [quote][i]Originally posted by Jeremy87[/i]

The verb întârzia (to be late, come late), is one of those completely irregular verbs.
eu întârzii
tu întârzii
el/ea întârzie
noi întârziem
voi întârziaţi
ei/ele întârzie

Still, for most verbs you will need to learn on your own whether they end with the ez endings or not. Good luck :) and i'll leave you a little resource, where I got my knowledge from.

http://www.seelrc.org:8080/grammar/pdf/stand_alone_romanian.pdf[/quote]

I noticed this thread lost "space" and somehow we overlooked this small mistake.I was thinking that verbs are a "sore point" in every language and i need to know whether we should start practising on them more.I expect feedback from students.

Phrasebase Archive
	jen_ber	Thursday 23rd of June 2005 12:36:34 AM
	verbs - I have been studying romanian for about a week and a half and I am having some difficulty with the verbs. My first question is, how many irregular verbs are there and how do you recognize them (if possible). Also with the -a verbs, how do you know whether or not to use the -ez ending? Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
	cristally	Sunday 11th of September 2005 04:57:46 PM
	- You must be kidding,because i don't think that someone could count all those verbs,anyway the irregular verbs you can recognize them by their ending, they just don't end like regular verbs:)
	jen_ber	Monday 12th of September 2005 11:35:58 PM
	- i wasnt asking for an exact number, just whether or not there is a lot of them. im not sure what you mean by they dont end like regular verbs. some of them, yes i can recognize right away but the rest of them look like regular verbs to me. if you could give me a few examples it would help. perhaps my question should be, are there a set of rules for conjugating irregulars or are they all different? thank you
	Lorelai	Tuesday 13th of September 2005 05:24:18 AM
	- Hi Jen_ber, Well, the (sad) truth is that there is a fair number of irregular verbs in Romanian. Basically, there are only 4 conjugations of verbs, based on the last vowel (or vowels) of their infinitive form: - 1st conjugation – verbs than end in "a": a lucra (to work), a pleca (to leave) - 2nd conjugation – verbs that end in "ea": a avea (to have, own), a vedea (to see) - 3rd conjugation – verbs that end in "e": a face (to do), a cere (to ask) - 4th conjugation – verbs that end in "i" and in "î": a dormi (to sleep), a primi (to receive), a coborî (to descent). Now, the verbs are conjugated by removing the ending from the infinitive form and adding a number of endings. Simple enough but...the 4 conjugations further subdivide according to the letter that precede the last vowel and can take different terminations. Also, many verbs modify their stem when they are conjugated. For example, to conjugate "a întreba" (to ask), we remove the "a" to obtain what is called the "stem" of the verb -întreb- and procede like this: eu întreb tu întreb[b]i[/b] el, ea într[b]ea[/b]b[b]ă[/b] noi întreb[b]ăm[/b] voi întreb[b]aţi[/b] ei, ele într[b]ea[/b]b[b]ă[/b] Unlike in another languages where you can find a pattern even for these irregularities, in Romanian virtually any verb can "misbehave" and conjugate accorting to its own rules. :D Therefore, I would say you're really better off not trying to memorize a dozen rules but learning the irregulars as they come. Whenever you stumble across anything that seem peculiar, feel free to ask here and we'll do our best to help you, ok.
	jen_ber	Tuesday 13th of September 2005 08:03:09 AM
	- Thank you, I really appreciate any help I can get. Bummer about there not being patterns to the irregulars. Im sure you'll be hearing from me again before too long. :D
	Jeremy87	Friday 16th of September 2005 05:02:48 AM
	- i have noticed i believe that certain -a verbs that have the 'ez' endings are ones that have the final stem letter as c or g, as well as verbs that end in (consonant)ia. -a verbs that end in (vowel)ia dont take the 'ez' ending. The verb întârzia (to be late, come late), is one of those completely irregular verbs. eu întârzii tu întârzii el/ea întârzie noi întârziem voi întârzieţi ei/ele întârzie Still, for most verbs you will need to learn on your own whether they end with the ez endings or not. Good luck :) and i'll leave you a little resource, where I got my knowledge from. http://www.seelrc.org:8080/grammar/pdf/stand_alone_romanian.pdf
	jen_ber	Tuesday 20th of September 2005 03:16:18 AM
	- Thanks! :D
	delia	Friday 02nd of December 2005 12:07:28 AM
	- [quote][i]Originally posted by Jeremy87[/i] The verb întârzia (to be late, come late), is one of those completely irregular verbs. eu întârzii tu întârzii el/ea întârzie noi întârziem voi întârziaţi ei/ele întârzie Still, for most verbs you will need to learn on your own whether they end with the ez endings or not. Good luck :) and i'll leave you a little resource, where I got my knowledge from. http://www.seelrc.org:8080/grammar/pdf/stand_alone_romanian.pdf[/quote] I noticed this thread lost "space" and somehow we overlooked this small mistake.I was thinking that verbs are a "sore point" in every language and i need to know whether we should start practising on them more.I expect feedback from students.