to go / to travel
Movement away from here, or towards a named place. Neutral about the means — you add cu for transport, pe jos for on foot.
Merg la muncă.
I go to work.
Mergem la mare.
We're going to the seaside.
#57 · Verb
merge
In Romanian, merge means “to go / to travel”. It’s the #57 most frequently used Romanian word. Below you’ll find how to use it, its forms, real example sentences, and common word pairings.
Meaning & Use
A merge is "to go", rank 57, and the most-used movement verb in spoken Romanian. Two things surprise learners. First, the top measured form is not the 3rd singular but the 1st plural mergem — because half of its real use is arranging things together: Mergem? "Shall we go?". Second, a merge also means "to work" and "to be acceptable": Merge telefonul? "Is the phone working?", Merge și așa "That will do".
neutralto work / to function
Of machines, plans and arrangements. Where English says "it works", Romanian says merge.
Nu merge internetul.
The internet isn't working.
Merge mașina?
Does the car run?
to be acceptable / to do
A verdict on an option, close to English "that works for me" or "that will do".
Merge și așa.
It'll do like that.
Îți merge marți?
Does Tuesday work for you?
to go well / to be going (of a situation)
With a dative clitic it reports how someone is doing: îmi merge bine.
Cum îți merge?
How are things going for you?
Îmi merge bine la școală.
I'm doing well at school.
to go with / to match
Of clothes, colours and food, with cu.
Cămașa merge cu pantalonii.
The shirt goes with the trousers.
Forms you’ll actually hear
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken Romanian. The top 4 forms cover about 83% of everyday use — learn these first.
mergem37%
merge23%
merg13%
mergi10%
Show 7 more forms
mers8%
meargă5%
mergeți2%
mergea1%
mergând<1%
mergeau<1%
mergeam<1%
Conjugation
- Infinitive
- a merge
- Past Participle
- mers
- Gerund
- mergând
- Imperative Singular
- mergi
- Imperative Plural
- mergeți
- Auxiliary
- a avea
- Reflexive
- No
- Transitivity
- intransitive
| Tense | eu | tu | el/ea | noi | voi | ei/ele |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | merg | mergi | merge | mergem | mergeți | merg |
| Imperfect | mergeam | mergeai | mergea | mergeam | mergeați | mergeau |
| Perfect compus | am mers | ai mers | a mers | am mers | ați mers | au mers |
| Future | voi merge | vei merge | va merge | vom merge | veți merge | vor merge |
| Conditional | aș merge | ai merge | ar merge | am merge | ați merge | ar merge |
| Subjunctive | să merg | să mergi | să meargă | să mergem | să mergeți | să meargă |
- eu and ei/ele share the present form merg — only the context or an explicit pronoun separates them.
- The subjunctive meargă is the form to drill: it follows trebuie să, vreau să and poate să, all of which are themselves top-100 words.
- Transport takes cu plus the definite article (cu mașina, cu trenul, cu autobuzul); on foot is pe jos.
Examples
Mergem?
Shall we go?
mergem - The single most frequent form of this verb. A bare 1st-plural present is a complete proposal in Romanian — no "shall" or "let us" is needed.
Unde mergi?
Where are you going?
mergi - 2nd singular. Romanian has one present tense, so mergi covers both "you go" and "you are going".
Nu merge liftul.
The lift isn't working.
merge - The "function" sense. The subject follows the verb here, which is the normal order when the news is the subject itself.
Vreau să merg acasă.
I want to go home.
să merg - After vreau să the verb takes the subjunctive; for eu it is identical to the present merg.
Trebuie să meargă mai repede.
It has to go faster.
să meargă - The 3rd-person subjunctive meargă is irregular — it breaks away from merge and is worth memorising on its own.
Am mers pe jos până acasă.
We walked all the way home.
mers - Compound past with a avea. Note pe jos for "on foot" — never *cu picioarele.
A merge is "to go", but the everyday spoken imperative "Go!" is du-te (from a se duce), not mergi. Mergi! sounds like an instruction to keep walking; Du-te! is what a Romanian actually says.
In expressions
Common phrases built around merge — worth learning as whole units.
Să mergem.— Let's go.
lit. “that we-go”
a-i merge bine— to be doing well; to go well (for someone)
lit. “to go well to” · cum îți merge? = how's it going?; îmi merge bine = I'm doing well