person / human being
The default sense, and gender-neutral in the plural: oameni is "people" of any gender.
Sunt mulți oameni aici.
There are a lot of people here.
Fiecare om are dreptul…
Every person has the right…
#55 · Noun
om
In Romanian, om means “person / human being”. It’s the #55 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 55th most frequent Romanian word, and the one that catches everyone out: the plural of om is not "omi" but oameni — a suppletive plural, like English person/people. In fact the plural forms oameni and oamenii are measured as more frequent than the singular. Beyond "man" it means "human being" in general, "person", and colloquially "a decent sort" (e om bun) — and om, cu omul is how Romanian says "one-on-one".
neutralman (adult male)
Used of a male when context makes it clear, though bărbat is the precise word for "man" as opposed to "woman".
Un om în vârstă.
An elderly man.
omul de la ușă
the man at the door
a good sort / a real human being
Evaluative: calling someone om (often with bun or de treabă) is a compliment about character.
E om bun.
He's a good man.
un om de treabă
a decent guy
somebody's man — an employee, a contact
With a possessive: omul meu, oamenii lui = "my guy", "his people".
Trimit un om.
I'll send someone.
oamenii lui
his people / his men
one / you (impersonal)
Bare om with a 3rd-singular verb works like impersonal English "you" or French on — mostly in proverbs and reflections.
Omul cât trăiește învață.
One learns as long as one lives.
Forms you’ll actually hear
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken Romanian. The top 3 forms cover about 83% of everyday use — learn these first.
oameni31%
oamenii28%
om24%
Show 3 more forms
omul10%
oamenilor5%
omului1%
Noun Forms
- Gender
- masculine
- Countability
- countable
| singular indefinite | om | |
|---|---|---|
| singular definite | omul | |
| plural indefinite | oameni | |
| plural definite | oamenii | |
| genitive dative singular | omului | |
| genitive dative plural | oamenilor |
Romanian attaches the definite article to the end of the noun: om → omul, oameni → oamenii (the plural -i of oameni plus the article -i, written as a double i). The genitive-dative adds -ui in the singular (omului) and -lor in the plural (oamenilor).
Examples
E un om foarte bun.
He is a very good man.
om - Singular indefinite with un — and the adjective takes the masculine singular bun.
Oamenii așteaptă afară.
The people are waiting outside.
oamenii - Definite plural: the article -i is glued onto oameni, giving the double-i spelling oamenii.
Cunosc mulți oameni aici.
I know a lot of people here.
oameni - Indefinite plural. Note there is no pe: oameni here is non-specific, so the object marker is not used.
Omul acela e vecinul meu.
That man is my neighbour.
omul - Definite singular omul; the demonstrative acela follows the already-definite noun.
Le-am spus oamenilor adevărul.
I told the people the truth.
oamenilor - Dative plural oamenilor, doubled by the clitic le — the standard pattern for indirect objects.
E problema omului, nu a mea.
That's the man's problem, not mine.
omului - Genitive singular omului marks possession, where English would use ’s.
The plural is suppletive: om → oameni, never "omi". Both halves must be learned as separate words, together with their definite forms omul and oamenii.