to help (somebody)
Direct object, no preposition. The person helped is a clitic: mă, te, îl, o, ne, vă, îi, le.
Te ajut.
I'll help you.
Mă poți ajuta?
Can you help me?
#140 · Verb
ajuta
In Romanian, ajuta means “to help (somebody)”. It’s the #140 most frequently used Romanian word. Below you’ll find how to use it, its forms, real example sentences, and common word pairings.
Meaning & Use
A ajuta is "to help", rank 140. Unlike English, it takes a plain direct object — Te ajut, "I will help you", with no preposition at all. The related noun gives the emergency shout: Ajutor! is "Help!". And Cu ce vă pot ajuta? is the sentence every Romanian shop assistant opens with.
neutralto help (to do something)
With să and a verb for the task itself.
Mă ajuți să car asta?
Will you help me carry this?
to be of help / to do good
Without an object, of a thing rather than a person: it helps, it does some good.
Nu ajută la nimic.
It doesn't help at all.
to help oneself / each other (a se ajuta)
The reflexive covers both helping yourself and helping one another.
Se ajută unul pe altul.
They help each other.
Forms you’ll actually hear
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken Romanian. The top 4 forms cover about 84% of everyday use — learn these first.
ajuta43%
ajute14%
ajutat13%
ajută13%
Show 8 more forms
ajutați6%
ajutăm5%
ajut3%
ajutam1%
ajuți<1%
ajutată<1%
ajutau<1%
ajutând<1%
Conjugation
- Infinitive
- a ajuta
- Past Participle
- ajutat
- Gerund
- ajutând
- Imperative Singular
- ajută
- Imperative Plural
- ajutați
- Auxiliary
- a avea
- Reflexive
- No
- Transitivity
- transitive
| Tense | eu | tu | el/ea | noi | voi | ei/ele |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | ajut | ajuți | ajută | ajutăm | ajutați | ajută |
| Imperfect | ajutam | ajutai | ajuta | ajutam | ajutați | ajutau |
| Perfect compus | am ajutat | ai ajutat | a ajutat | am ajutat | ați ajutat | au ajutat |
| Future | voi ajuta | vei ajuta | va ajuta | vom ajuta | veți ajuta | vor ajuta |
| Conditional | aș ajuta | ai ajuta | ar ajuta | am ajuta | ați ajuta | ar ajuta |
| Subjunctive | să ajut | să ajuți | să ajute | să ajutăm | să ajutați | să ajute |
- The 2nd-plural present ajutați and the 2nd-plural imperfect ajutați are identical, as in every first-conjugation verb.
- The noun ajutor means "help" and, shouted alone, is the Romanian emergency call.
- a ajuta la with a thing means "to help with": Ajut la bucătărie, "I help in the kitchen".
Examples
Te ajut eu.
I'll help you.
ajut - The clitic te is a direct object, with no preposition. Putting eu after the verb stresses who is offering.
Cu ce vă pot ajuta?
How can I help you?
ajuta - The standard service phrase. Romanian asks cu ce, "with what", where English asks "how".
Ajută-mă, te rog!
Help me, please!
ajută - The imperative with the clitic hyphenated on. It is identical to the 3rd-singular present.
M-a ajutat mult.
He helped me a lot.
ajutat - The clitic mă contracts to m- before the auxiliary a. mult is the adverb here, so it does not agree.
Vreau să te ajut.
I want to help you.
să ajut - After vreau să the clitic sits between să and the verb.
Sper să ne ajute cineva.
I hope somebody helps us.
să ajute - The 3rd-person subjunctive ajute. cineva is the subject and follows the verb, which is normal for new information.
A ajuta takes a direct object, not an indirect one. It is Te ajut and Îl ajut — never *Îți ajut or *Ajut la tine. The English "help to somebody" has no Romanian equivalent.