yes
The plain affirmative answer.
— Vii? — Da.
— Are you coming? — Yes.
Da, sigur.
Yes, of course.
#22 · Adverb
da
In Romanian, da means “yes”. It’s the #22 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 "yes" — and one of the first words worth owning properly, because Romanian answers a negative question differently from English. To contradict "You're not coming?" you do not say da, you say ba da.
neutralyes, actually (ba da — contradicting a negative)
When the question or statement was negative, plain da is ambiguous; ba da is the correct contradiction.
— Nu vii? — Ba da!
— Aren't you coming? — Yes I am!
right? / really? (checking)
Rising intonation turns it into a check or mild surprise.
Da? Nu știam.
Really? I did not know.
hello (answering the phone)
A very common, slightly brusque way to pick up a call.
Da, alo?
Yes, hello?
Forms you’ll actually hear
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken Romanian. The top form cover about 100% of everyday use — learn these first.
da100%
Patterns
Stands alone as a full answer, or opens a sentence followed by a comma. It is invariable and never inflects.
da (answer)
A complete reply on its own.
Da.
Yes.
ba da
Contradicts a negative question or statement.
Ba da, am fost acolo.
Yes I was, I was there.
da, dar …
Agree then qualify — the everyday hedge.
Da, dar e scump.
Yes, but it's expensive.
ba nu
The mirror image: contradicting a positive statement.
— Ai luat cheile. — Ba nu!
— You took the keys. — No I did not!
Examples
Da, mulțumesc.
Yes, thank you.
da - The standard polite acceptance.
— Nu ți-a plăcut? — Ba da, mi-a plăcut mult.
— You didn't like it? — Yes I did, I liked it a lot.
ba da - The negative question forces ba da. A bare da here would be read as agreeing with the negative.
Da, dar nu acum.
Yes, but not now.
da - Softened agreement — da followed by a qualification with dar.
Ai zis da?
Did you say yes?
da - da can act as a noun-like object of a verb, exactly as in English.
Do not confuse this da with the verb form dă ("he/she gives") — the breve changes the word entirely. And the infinitive a da is "to give", not "to yes".
In expressions
Common phrases built around da — worth learning as whole units.
a-și da seama— to realize
lit. “to give oneself account” · reflexive dative clitic marks who realizes: îmi dau seama (I realize), și-a dat seama (he/she realized)
a da drumul— to let go; to release; to turn on/start
lit. “to give the-road” · dative clitic marks the object: dă-i drumul (let it go / go ahead); îi dau drumul (I turn it on)
a da voie— to allow, to permit
lit. “to give permission” · dative clitic marks who's permitted: îmi dai voie? (may I?); dați-mi voie = allow me
a da afară— to throw out; to kick out; to fire
lit. “to give out” · l-a dat afară = they fired him / kicked him out
a da jos— to take down; to take off; to get down/off
lit. “to give down” · a se da jos din pat = to get out of bed; a da jos haina = to take off the coat
a da înapoi— to give back; to step back; to back down
lit. “to give back” · dă-mi banii înapoi = give me the money back; dați-vă înapoi = step back
a-și da demisia— to resign, to quit (one's job)
lit. “to give one's resignation” · mi-am dat demisia = I resigned
a se da bătut— to give up, to admit defeat
lit. “to give oneself beaten” · nu mă dau bătut = I won't give up