without (a thing or a person)
The noun after it stays bare, with no article — the mirror of cu.
cafea fără zahăr
coffee without sugar
fără mine
without me
#126 · Preposition
fără
In Romanian, fără means “without (a thing or a person)”. It’s the #126 most frequently used Romanian word. Below you’ll find how to use it, its forms, real example sentences, and common word pairings.
Meaning & Use
Fără is "without", rank 126, invariable — the exact opposite of cu and behaving identically. Two things are worth knowing beyond the translation: before a verb it becomes fără să plus the subjunctive, and in telling the time it means "to", as in cinci fără un sfert, "a quarter to five".
neutralwithout doing (fără să)
Before a verb it needs să and the subjunctive. English uses an -ing form here; Romanian cannot.
fără să spună nimic
without saying anything
fără să vreau
without meaning to
to (in clock time)
Romanian subtracts from the coming hour: opt fără zece is ten to eight.
cinci fără un sfert
a quarter to five
minus / less (in arithmetic and prices)
Occasionally for subtraction, though minus is more usual.
fără îndoială
without doubt
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.
fără100%
Grammar Behavior
fără + bare noun
No article, exactly as with cu.
ceai fără zahăr
tea without sugar
fără + stressed pronoun
mine, tine, el, noi, voi, ei — never the clitics.
Au plecat fără noi.
They left without us.
fără să + subjunctive
The obligatory frame before a verb.
fără să întrebe
without asking
hour + fără + minutes
Clock time counting down to the next hour.
trei fără douăzeci
twenty to three
vs. cu
The direct opposite, and grammatically identical: same bare noun, same stressed pronouns.
cu zahăr / fără zahăr
with sugar / without sugar
vs. și (in clock time)
și adds minutes past the hour; fără subtracts them from the hour to come.
două și zece / două fără zece
ten past two / ten to two
vs. lipsă
fără is a preposition; a duce lipsă de is the verb phrase for lacking something.
fără bani / duc lipsă de bani
without money / I am short of money
Examples
O cafea fără lapte, vă rog.
A coffee without milk, please.
fără - The noun after fără is bare. Compare cu lapte, which behaves exactly the same way.
Nu pot trăi fără tine.
I can't live without you.
fără - The stressed pronoun tine is required after any preposition — never the clitic te.
A plecat fără să spună nimic.
He left without saying anything.
fără să - fără să plus the subjunctive. The double negative survives inside it: să spună nimic.
E ora zece fără cinci.
It's five to ten.
fără - Clock time counts down to the coming hour. For minutes past, Romanian uses și: zece și cinci.
Fără îndoială că are dreptate.
Without doubt he is right.
fără - A fixed phrase opening the sentence, followed by că and a full clause.
Before a verb, fără needs să: fără să știu, "without knowing". English "-ing" tempts you into *fără știind, which is not Romanian. The gerund exists but cannot follow this preposition.
In expressions
Common phrases built around fără — worth learning as whole units.
fără să— without (doing)
lit. “without that”