to be (identity, description, state)
Linking a subject to a noun or adjective.
Sunt român.
I am Romanian.
E frumos afară.
It's nice outside.
#3 · Verb
fi
In Romanian, fi means “to be (identity, description, state)”. It’s the #3 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 "to be" — the third most frequent word in the language and the most irregular. Its present forms come from three different roots (sunt, ești, e), and the short spoken "e" alone is one of the top handful of word forms in real conversation.
neutralto be (location, existence)
Where something is, or that it exists at all.
Unde ești?
Where are you?
Nu e nimeni acasă.
Nobody is home.
auxiliary in the future and conditional-perfect
The infinitive fi follows voi/vei/va and aș/ai/ar: voi fi, ar fi fost.
Voi fi acolo.
I'll be there.
Ar fi fost mai bine.
It would have been better.
să fie — "let it be" / "whether"
The subjunctive fie is used for wishes, concessions, and the fie… fie… "either… or…" pattern.
Să fie sănătos!
May he be healthy!
fie azi, fie mâine
either today or tomorrow
Forms you’ll actually hear
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken Romanian. The top 6 forms cover about 85% of everyday use — learn these first.
e31%
sunt14%
este12%
fost10%
fi10%
ești8%
Show 18 more forms
era4%
fie3%
-i2%
suntem1%
fii1%
fiu1%
eram1%
erau<1%
sunteți<1%
fim<1%
erai<1%
fiind<1%
fiți<1%
fusese<1%
fu<1%
fuseseră<1%
find<1%
nefiind<1%
Conjugation
- Infinitive
- a fi
- Past Participle
- fost
- Gerund
- fiind
- Imperative Singular
- fii
- Imperative Plural
- fiți
- Auxiliary
- a avea
- Reflexive
- No
- Transitivity
- intransitive
| Tense | eu | tu | el/ea | noi | voi | ei/ele |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | sunt | ești | este / e | suntem | sunteți | sunt |
| Imperfect | eram | erai | era | eram | erați | erau |
| Perfect compus | am fost | ai fost | a fost | am fost | ați fost | au fost |
| Future | voi fi | vei fi | va fi | vom fi | veți fi | vor fi |
| Conditional | aș fi | ai fi | ar fi | am fi | ați fi | ar fi |
| Subjunctive | să fiu | să fii | să fie | să fim | să fiți | să fie |
- eu and ei/ele share the same present form (sunt); the pronoun or context tells them apart.
- After a vowel the copula often clips onto the previous word in writing: cine-i acolo, ce-i asta.
- Romanian does not use a fi for age, hunger or fear — those take a avea or a dative: am 30 de ani, mi-e frică.
Examples
E în regulă.
It's fine.
e - Spoken Romanian almost always shortens este to "e" — it is by far the most common form of this verb.
Ce ești tu?
What are you?
ești - Present 2nd singular — irregular root, learn it whole.
Am fost la piață.
I went to the market.
fost - Compound past uses the auxiliary a avea plus the participle fost — never *sunt fost.
Era târziu când a sunat.
It was late when he called.
era - Imperfect for background states; the completed event beside it takes the compound past.
Nu fi supărat!
Don't be upset!
fi - Negative command uses the infinitive fi, while the positive command is fii: Fii atent!
Positive singular command is "fii" (Fii calm!) but the negative one flips to the infinitive: "Nu fi calm" — never *nu fii.
Corpus examples
.
Everything will be fine.
, .
No, it's fine.
?
Why are you here?
.
It's going to be okay.
?
Is everything okay?