the possessive article before mine / yours / his…
Required whenever the possessive does not sit directly on a definite noun. cartea mea needs nothing, but o carte a mea does.
un prieten al meu
a friend of mine
Cartea e a mea.
The book is mine.
#61 · Determiner / article
al
In Romanian, al means “the possessive article before mine / yours / his…”. It’s the #61 most frequently used Romanian word. Below you’ll find how to use it, its forms, real example sentences, and common word pairings.
Meaning & Use
Al is a word English has no equivalent for: the possessive article that links a noun to a possessor. It has four forms — al, a, ai, ale — and it appears in un prieten al meu, cartea e a mea, and in every ordinal number (al doilea). Rank 61, and one rule carries all of it: al agrees with the thing owned, never with the owner.
neutralthe genitive link ("of")
Joins a noun to a following genitive when the two are not adjacent, or when the first noun is indefinite.
un coleg al fratelui meu
a colleague of my brother's
sfârșitul acesta al poveștii
this ending of the story
the ordinal marker
Every ordinal above "first" is built with it: al doilea, a treia, al patrulea.
al doilea etaj
the second floor
a treia oară
the third time
Forms you’ll actually hear
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken Romanian. The top 2 forms cover about 86% of everyday use — learn these first.
a49%
al37%
Show 2 more forms
ale8%
ai6%
Forms & Contrasts
- Subtype
- article
| Masculine / neuter sg. | al | un prieten al meu; al doilea. |
|---|---|---|
| Feminine sg. | a | Cartea e a mea. The most frequent of the four. |
| Masculine pl. | ai | prietenii ai mei. |
| Feminine / neuter pl. | ale | Ale cui sunt? |
vs. the bare possessive (cartea mea)
When the possessive sits straight after a definite noun, al is dropped. Add it back as soon as anything separates them or the noun is indefinite.
cartea mea / o carte a mea
my book / a book of mine
vs. the genitive ending alone
A definite noun can take a genitive directly (cartea fratelui). al reappears when the first noun is indefinite: o carte a fratelui.
cartea fratelui / o carte a fratelui
my brother's book / a book of my brother's
vs. a (the infinitive marker)
The form a is also the particle in front of every infinitive (a merge, a fi). Same two letters, unrelated jobs.
a mea / a merge
mine / to go
Examples
Cartea e a mea.
The book is mine.
a - a because carte is feminine singular. After a fi the possessive always needs this article — never *Cartea e mea.
Un coleg al meu m-a sunat.
A colleague of mine called me.
al - The noun is indefinite (un coleg), so the possessive must be introduced by al. Compare colegul meu, where nothing is needed.
Sunt prietenii ai mei?
Are they friends of mine?
ai - ai for a masculine plural. The form is chosen by prietenii, the thing possessed.
Ale cui sunt cheile?
Whose are the keys?
ale - ale for a feminine plural (cheile), followed by the genitive cui. This is the standard way to ask "whose".
Stau la al doilea etaj.
I live on the second floor.
al - The ordinal use. Only "first" escapes it — primul, prima, built differently.
Al agrees with the thing possessed, not with the owner. In fiicele unui prieten al meu the al is masculine because prieten is, while ale would be wrong there. Ask yourself "what is owned?" and the form follows.