Article by Oana Iosifidis
Have you noticed how every conversation book, in any language, starts?
With the greeting formulas, asking for direction, and maybe how to present yourself.
But when you talk to people, while visiting a country, or if you interact for work, what did you find useful?
We tried to think of the possible activities and then to choose the most common Romanian words used in that situations.
Obviously, the ways to say Hello or greet somebody are among the most used Romanian words, for foreigners. Here are some of those words in Romanian:
- Hello! – Bună!
- Hi! – Salut!
- Good morning! – Bună dimineaţa!
- Good afternoon! – Bună ziua!
- Good night! – Noapte bună!
- How are you? – Ce faci? (sg.)/ Ce mai faceţi? (pl.)
- Fine, thank you. – Bine, mulţumesc.
- Goodbye! – La revedere!
- What is your name? – Cum vă numiţi?
- My name is … – Numele meu este…
- Nice to meet you – Îmi pare bine
Then, if you go to shops or just order coffee, I think it comes in handy to know how to say please, thank you, to be able to order a coffee or to just say that you do not speak the language or that you do not understand. Here are some popular Romanian words and phrases for these situations:
- Thank you very much! – Mulţumesc mult!
- Please. Te rog (sg.) / Vă rog. (pl.)
- Yes. – Da.
- No. – Nu.
- You are welcome! – Cu plăcere!
- Coffee – Cafea
- Tea – Ceai
- I would like a coffee, please! – Aș vrea o cafea, vă rog!
- I do not understand. – Eu nu înţeleg.
- I do not speak Romanian. – Nu vorbesc româneşte.
- Excuse me. – Scuzaţi-mă.
- I am sorry. – Îmi pare rău.
- Have a nice day! – Îti doresc o zi minunată!”
- Do you have this model in size S? – Aveți mărimea S la acest model?
- Do you have this in other colours as well? – Aveți și alte culori?
If you plan to go shopping and plan to exercise your Romanian as well, maybe you need to learn the names of different pieces of clothing, colors and some other specific terms.
- Shirt – Cămașă
- Suit – Costum
- Dress – Rochie
- Skirt – Fustă
- Pants – Pantaloni
- Black – Negru
- White – Alb
- Red – Roșu
- Blue – Albastru
- Yellow – Galben
- Shoes – Pantofi
If you need to ask for direction and the person responding does not speak English, I guess it will be a great help to understand the most common words when it comes to giving directions:
- Mergeți drept înainte – Continue straight
- Este foarte aproape – It is very close
- Este departe – It is far away
- Virați la dreapta / stânga – Turn right / left
- A doua strada la dreapta – The second right
- Luati metroul 2 stații pâna la stația … – Take the subway, for 2 stations, until ….
- Strada – Street
- Autobuz – Bus
- Tramvai – Tram
- Puteți merge pe jos, este la 5 minute, drept înainte. – You can walk there, it is just 5 minutes away, straight ahead.
If you like to get these little knowledge pills, by learning words and expressions for different situations, please browse the site for more thematic articles.
Whenever you learn a foreign language, it helps to interact and use the language whenever you have the chance. So, don’t be scared to use the words you know, to pronounce them, to let people speak to you in Romanian because this will help you get acquainted with the language.
If you ask what are the most used Romanian words for native speakers, I think the situation is not different than in any other language.
The pronouns are present in almost any sentence (you will find some below), the verbs describing the most common daily activities, and also the name of the objects we have around us in our house or work, or the names of foods and drinks. The names of our body parts will be for sure in the list of most used or popular words, and also the names of the animals.
- Eu, tu, el, ea – I, you, he, she
- Noi, voi, ei, ele – We, you, they, they
- A face – to do
- A mânca – to eat
- A dormi – to sleep
- A iubi – to love
- Apă – Water
- Vin – Wine
- Carne – Meat
- Legume – Vegetables
- Fructe – Fruits
- Casă – House
- Masă – Table
- Cap – Head
- Mână – Hand
- Picior – Leg
- Câine – Dog
- Pisică – Cat
Romanian is not hard and it is a beautiful language. You can learn the basics quite fast, then maybe put a bit of effort to learn grammar and then… you will just have fun with it.
We hope you find the information helpful and that you find the courage to start learning. Right now, you can do so, eben from the confort of your home, with online Romanian classes.