his (possessive)
Placed AFTER the noun, which carries the definite article: cartea lui, "his book". lui never changes for the thing owned.
casa lui
his house
prietenii lui
his friends
#37 · Determiner / article
lui
In Romanian, lui means “his (possessive)”. It’s the #37 most frequently used Romanian word. Below you’ll find how to use it, its forms, real example sentences, and common word pairings.
Meaning & Use
lui is Romanian's third-person possessive — "his" — and at rank 37 it does two jobs at once. As a possessive it forms the trio lui (his) / ei (her) / lor (their): cartea lui, cartea ei, casa lor. As a grammar marker it turns a name into a possessor: mașina lui Andrei, "Andrei's car" — where English adds 's, Romanian puts lui in front of the name. It is also the dative pronoun "to him", which is why you meet it constantly.
neutralher / their (the same slot: ei, lor)
Same position, different owner: ei = her, lor = their. Together with lui these three cover every third-person possessor.
mama ei
her mother
copiii lor
their children
's — the genitive marker before a personal name
Romanian marks a named possessor by putting lui BEFORE the name, for men and for most foreign or indeclinable names.
mașina lui Andrei
Andrei's car
sora lui Maria
Maria's sister
to him / for him (dative pronoun)
The stressed dative of el. In a full sentence it is normally doubled by the clitic îi.
Lui i-am spus.
I told HIM.
Dă-i lui cartea.
Give him the book.
Forms you’ll actually hear
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken Romanian. The top 2 forms cover about 86% of everyday use — learn these first.
lui68%
ei19%
Show 2 more forms
lor13%
-i<1%
Forms & Contrasts
- Subtype
- possessive
| his | lui | After a definite noun: cartea lui. |
|---|---|---|
| her | ei | Same slot as lui. Also means "they" as a subject pronoun — context disambiguates. |
| their | lor | Both genders, invariable: casa lor, copiii lor. |
| Genitive marker before a name | lui + name | lui Andrei, lui Maria, lui Ana-Maria. Feminine Romanian names may instead take the -ei ending: Mariei. |
| Possessive articles used with lui/ei/lor | al / a / ai / ale | Required when the noun is indefinite or separated: un coleg al lui, ale lui probleme. |
| Dative clitic | îi / i- / -i | The short "to him/her" that doubles lui/ei: i-am spus lui. |
vs. său / sa
său agrees with the thing owned and always refers back to the sentence subject; lui is invariable and can point at anyone. In speech lui is far more common.
cartea sa / cartea lui
his (own) book / his book
vs. ei (subject pronoun "they")
Before the verb ei is the subject "they"; after a noun it is the possessive "her".
Ei vin. / Mama ei vine.
They are coming. / Her mother is coming.
vs. Mariei (the -ei genitive)
Feminine Romanian names can take a genitive ending instead of lui — both are heard, the ending is the more careful register.
cartea Mariei / cartea lui Maria
Maria's book (either way).
vs. îi (dative clitic)
îi is the obligatory short form; lui is the optional stressed one added for emphasis.
Îi dau cartea. / Lui îi dau cartea.
I'm giving him the book. / It's HIM I'm giving the book to.
Examples
Am citit cartea lui.
I read his book.
lui - Possessives follow the noun and the noun takes its definite ending: carte → cartea lui. Never *lui carte.
Este telefonul lui Mihai.
It's Mihai's phone.
lui Mihai - The name-genitive: lui goes in front of the name and the name itself does not change.
Prietenul ei vine mâine.
Her boyfriend is coming tomorrow.
ei - Same slot as lui, but for a female owner. Careful: ei is also "they" — position tells you which.
Un prieten al lui a sunat.
A friend of his called.
al lui - When the noun is indefinite, the possessive article al / a / ai / ale must appear, agreeing with the thing owned: un prieten al lui, o prietenă a lui.
Casa lor e lângă a noastră.
Their house is next to ours.
lor - lor covers "their" for any gender, and never inflects.
lui is invariable — it agrees with the OWNER, not with what is owned. English speakers who have studied French or Spanish reach for a *lui/*lui-a distinction that does not exist: cartea lui and cărțile lui are both correct, and cartea ei means "her book" regardless of the book. What does agree is the possessive article: un prieten al lui but o prietenă a lui.