I (subject)
Usually dropped — Romanian is a pro-drop language. Say eu only for emphasis or contrast.
Eu plătesc.
I'm paying (not you).
Și eu!
Me too!
#6 · Pronoun
eu
In Romanian, eu means “I (subject)”. It’s the #6 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 "I" — and the doorway to the whole first-person family. In practice eu itself is optional (the verb ending already says who is speaking), so the forms you will actually hear most are the unstressed object pronouns mă, îmi and mi-, which cluster in front of the verb.
neutralme (direct object: mă / m-)
Unstressed clitic sitting immediately before the verb.
Mă auzi?
Can you hear me?
M-a văzut.
He saw me.
to me (indirect object: îmi / mi-)
The dative clitic; it becomes mi- when another pronoun or a vowel follows.
Îmi place.
I like it.
Mi-a spus.
He told me.
me (after a preposition: mine)
The stressed form, used after cu, pentru, la, despre…
pentru mine
for me
cu mine
with me
we / us (noi, ne, nouă)
The plural of the same person: noi as subject, ne as object clitic, nouă in the dative.
Ne vedem mâine.
See you tomorrow.
Noi mergem acasă.
We're going home.
Forms you’ll actually hear
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken Romanian. The top 7 forms cover about 81% of everyday use — learn these first.
mă21%
eu15%
-mi10%
ne10%
mine9%
îmi9%
m-7%
Show 7 more forms
mi-5%
noi5%
-mă5%
ne-2%
mi1%
-ne<1%
ni<1%
Forms & Contrasts
- Subtype
- personal
| Subject (singular) | eu | Usually omitted; used for emphasis. |
|---|---|---|
| Direct object (unstressed) | mă / m- / -mă | Before the verb: mă vede, m-a văzut, ajută-mă. |
| Indirect object (unstressed) | îmi / mi- / -mi | Îmi place, mi-a spus, spune-mi. |
| Stressed (after prepositions) | mine | cu mine, pentru mine, la mine. |
| Stressed dative | mie | Emphatic: Mie mi-a spus. |
| Subject (plural) | noi | "we" — also usually dropped. |
| Object (plural) | ne / ne- / -ne | Ne vedem, ne-a spus, spune-ne. |
| Stressed plural | nouă / noi | Nouă ne place; cu noi. |
vs. mă vs. îmi
mă is the direct object ("me"), îmi the indirect ("to me"). Verbs like a plăcea and a spune take îmi.
Mă vede. / Îmi vorbește.
He sees me. / He talks to me.
vs. mine vs. mă
mine is the stressed form used after prepositions; mă can never follow a preposition.
Se uită la mine.
He's looking at me.
vs. noi (we) vs. noi (new)
Identical spelling, different words: the pronoun noi and the plural adjective noi ("new").
Noi avem pantofi noi.
We have new shoes.
Examples
Mă cheamă Andrei.
My name is Andrei.
mă - Literally "they call me Andrei" — mă is the most frequent form of this whole lemma.
Îmi pare rău.
I'm sorry.
îmi - The dative clitic îmi: the feeling happens "to me". Same pattern as îmi place.
Mi-e foame.
I'm hungry.
mi- - îmi contracts to mi- before e (= este): mi-e frig, mi-e frică, mi-e dor.
Vino cu mine.
Come with me.
mine - After a preposition you must use the stressed form mine, never mă.
Eu nu știu, dar el știe.
I don't know, but he does.
eu - The subject pronoun appears precisely because there is a contrast.
Do not use eu as an object. "for me" is pentru mine, never *pentru eu — and the pre-verb slot takes mă/îmi, not eu.
In expressions
Common phrases built around eu — worth learning as whole units.
Și eu.— Me too. / So do I.
lit. “and I”
Nici eu.— Me neither. / Nor do I.
lit. “nor I”
Corpus examples
.
I can't believe it.
.
Good to see you.
.
See you later.
.
I love you too.
.
I'm very sorry.