what?
Used to ask about identity, nature, reason, or an unknown thing.
Ce vrei?
What do you want?
Ce faci?
What are you doing?
Ce e asta?
What is this?
#9 · Pronoun · PRON
In Romanian, ce means “what?”. It’s the #9 most frequently used Romanian word. Below you’ll find how to use it, its forms, real example sentences, and common word pairings.
Very common Romanian interrogative and relative word meaning “what,” “which,” or “that/which” in many contexts. It is also used in exclamations and after certain expressions.
neutralUsed to ask about identity, nature, reason, or an unknown thing.
What do you want?
What are you doing?
What is this?
Used when choosing or specifying among options; often before a noun or in set question patterns.
Which book do you want?
Which film did you see?
Introduces relative clauses and clauses after verbs or expressions of saying, knowing, seeing, etc.
I don’t know what he is saying.
I forgot what you said.
Say what you think.
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken Romanian. The top form cover about 96% of everyday use — learn these first.
| invariable form | ce | Does not inflect. |
|---|---|---|
| common use | ce + noun | Often means “which/what kind of”: ce carte, ce om, ce zi. |
| relative use | ce ... | Can mean “what/that/which” in embedded clauses. |
vs. care
care usually means “which” and is used for selecting from a known set; ce is broader and often means “what” or “what kind of.”
Care carte vrei? / Ce carte vrei?
Which book do you want? / What book do you want?
vs. ceea ce
ceea ce is a fixed relative phrase meaning “what/that which,” often more formal or explicit than ce alone.
A spus ceea ce știa.
He said what he knew.
Ce faci azi?
What are you doing today?
ce - Basic question word.
Nu știu ce vrea.
I don’t know what he wants.
ce - Relative clause after a verb of knowing.
Ce idee bună!
What a good idea!
ce - Exclamatory use.
Common phrases built around ce — worth learning as whole units.
lit. “of what”
lit. “what is”
lit. “that-one what”
lit. “of what not”
lit. “for what”