big / large
Physical size, the core sense.
o casă mare
a big house
un oraș mare
a big city
#87 · Adjective
mare
In Romanian, mare means “big / large”. It’s the #87 most frequently used Romanian word. Below you’ll find how to use it, its forms, real example sentences, and common word pairings.
Meaning & Use
Mare is "big", rank 87, and it is one of the easy ones: a single form for the whole singular, masculine and feminine alike, and mari for the whole plural. Two forms cover everything. It also means "great" and, of people, "grown-up" or "older" — fratele meu mai mare is "my older brother", not "my larger brother".
neutralgreat / important
Of people, events and abstractions. In front of the noun it is emphatic and takes the article: marele actor.
o mare problemă
a big problem
Ștefan cel Mare
Stephen the Great
grown-up / older
Of people’s age. mai mare is "older", cel mai mare is "the oldest" — never "the biggest" when applied to a person.
sora mea mai mare
my older sister
Când o să fii mare…
When you grow up…
heavy / strong (of weather and quantity)
Where English changes adjective, Romanian keeps mare: ploaie mare, "heavy rain".
un vânt mare
a strong wind
Forms you’ll actually hear
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken Romanian. The top 2 forms cover about 93% of everyday use — learn these first.
mare79%
mari14%
Show 6 more forms
marele3%
marea2%
marelui<1%
marile<1%
marilor<1%
marii<1%
Adjective Forms
| masculine singular | mare | |
|---|---|---|
| feminine singular | mare | |
| masculine plural | mari | |
| feminine plural | mari | |
| neuter singular | mare | |
| neuter plural | mari |
- Comparative
- mai mare
- Superlative
- cel mai mare (cea mai mare / cei mai mari / cele mai mari)
- Irregular Note
- Fully regular — Romanian has no separate word for "bigger" or "biggest", only mai mare and cel mai mare. Note that cel itself agrees with the noun even though mare does not.
- Placement
- Normally after the noun: o casă mare, probleme mari. Put in front it becomes emphatic and takes the definite article on itself — marele actor, marea problemă — which is exactly where the forms marele, marea, marii and marile in the measured data come from.
Examples
E o casă mare.
It's a big house.
mare - The same form for a feminine noun as for a masculine one — mare does not change in the singular, unlike bun / bună.
Sunt probleme mari.
There are big problems.
mari - One plural form for both genders. Two forms, mare and mari, cover this adjective completely.
E mai mare decât mine.
He's older than me.
mare - The comparative uses mai and decât. Of a person, mai mare means older, not bigger.
E cel mai mare oraș din țară.
It's the largest city in the country.
mare - The superlative cel mai. din, not în, is used for "in" after a superlative.
Marele avantaj e prețul.
The great advantage is the price.
marele - Placed in front of the noun for emphasis, the adjective takes the definite article itself: marele avantaj, not *avantajul mare here.
Marea is two different words. As this adjective it is the definite feminine ("the great…"); as a noun it is "the sea" (mare, feminine). La mare means "at the seaside", while o problemă mare means "a big problem" — the context always separates them, but the coincidence surprises everyone once.