good (quality)
The general "of good quality" sense — food, films, weather, work.
un film bun
a good film
Mâncarea e bună.
The food is good.
#52 · Adjective
bun
In Romanian, bun means “good (quality)”. It’s the #52 most frequently used Romanian word. Below you’ll find how to use it, its forms, real example sentences, and common word pairings.
Meaning & Use
The Romanian "good", and the 52nd most frequent word in the language — partly because bun is a real adjective and partly because bună on its own is how friends say hello. It is a four-form adjective (bun / bună / buni / bune), so it is the cleanest possible model for how Romanian adjectives agree. Comparison is fully regular with mai and cel mai — there is no irregular "better" to learn.
neutralkind / good-hearted (of a person)
Applied to people, bun leans towards kindness rather than competence. For "good at" you need bun la.
un om bun
a good man
E bună cu toată lumea.
She's kind to everyone.
good at / suited for
With la (a skill) or de/pentru (a purpose).
E bun la matematică.
He's good at maths.
Nu e bun de nimic.
It's good for nothing.
greeting element (bună, bună ziua, bună seara)
Feminine bună alone is the casual "hi"; the fuller greetings agree with the feminine nouns zi and seară.
Bună!
Hi!
Bună ziua!
Good day / hello (polite).
valid / still fine
Of tickets, documents, or food that has not gone off — "still good".
Biletul mai e bun?
Is the ticket still valid?
Laptele nu mai e bun.
The milk has gone off.
Forms you’ll actually hear
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken Romanian. The top 3 forms cover about 88% of everyday use — learn these first.
bun42%
bună33%
bune13%
Show 5 more forms
buni8%
buna3%
bunul<1%
bunele<1%
bunei<1%
Adjective Forms
| masculine singular | bun | |
|---|---|---|
| feminine singular | bună | |
| masculine plural | buni | |
| feminine plural | bune | |
| neuter singular | bun | |
| neuter plural | bune |
- Comparative
- mai bun (mai bună / mai buni / mai bune)
- Superlative
- cel mai bun (cea mai bună / cei mai buni / cele mai bune)
- Irregular Note
- Fully regular — Romanian has no irregular "better/best" like English or Italian. The only extra piece is that cel itself agrees with the noun. For "very good" use foarte bun; the -issim style superlative (bunicel, prea bun) belongs to other registers.
- Placement
- bun normally follows its noun (un om bun, o zi bună). Putting it in front is emphatic or literary and forces the definite article onto the adjective: bunul meu prieten, "my good friend". In the measured forms this is exactly why bunul and buna exist alongside the far more common bun and bună.
Examples
Este o idee bună.
That's a good idea.
bună - idee is feminine, so the adjective takes -ă. Agreement is with the noun, never with the speaker.
Sunt oameni buni.
They are good people.
buni - Masculine plural -i. Note it pairs with the suppletive plural oameni.
Am primit vești bune.
I got good news.
bune - Feminine plural -e — also the form used for neuter plurals (rezultate bune).
Filmul ăsta e mai bun decât celălalt.
This film is better than the other one.
mai bun - Comparison is analytic: mai + adjective, then decât for "than". No separate word for "better".
E cel mai bun prieten al meu.
He is my best friend.
cel mai bun - Superlative = cel (agreeing: cel / cea / cei / cele) + mai + adjective.
Bună seara! Ce mai faceți?
Good evening! How are you?
bună - The greeting is frozen in the feminine because seară is feminine — not because greetings are feminine.
Bună on its own is a casual "hi", not a compliment. If you actually mean "she is good", say Ea e bună — bare Bună to a stranger will simply be heard as a greeting.
In expressions
Common phrases built around bun — worth learning as whole units.
Bună!— Hi! / Hello!
lit. “good (fem)”
bun venit— welcome
lit. “good arrival”
Pe bune?— For real? / Seriously?
lit. “on good”