to catch, seize, grab
physical contact or taking hold of something/someone
Prinde mingea!
Catch the ball!
L-a prins de mână.
He grabbed him by the hand.
Am prins pește azi.
We caught fish today.
#200 · Verb · VERB
In Romanian, prinde means “to catch, seize, grab”. It’s the #200 most frequently used Romanian word. Below you’ll find how to use it, its forms, real example sentences, and common word pairings.
Verb very common in Romanian; depending on context it means to catch, grab, get hold of, start to take effect, or (colloquially) to understand.
neutralphysical contact or taking hold of something/someone
Catch the ball!
He grabbed him by the hand.
We caught fish today.
reaching someone or stopping them
The police caught him quickly.
I caught up with the train.
very common colloquial use
Did you get it?
I don’t really get what you mean.
used for plans, habits, ideas, weather, or something beginning to work
The joke caught on.
The plant took root well.
The idea caught on quickly.
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken Romanian. The top 4 forms cover about 81% of everyday use — learn these first.
| Tense | eu | tu | el/ea | noi | voi | ei/ele |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | prind | prinzi | prinde | prindem | prindeți | prind |
| Imperfect | prindeam | prindeai | prindea | prindeam | prindeați | prindeau |
| Perfect compus | am prins | ai prins | a prins | am prins | ați prins | au prins |
| Future | voi prinde | vei prinde | va prinde | vom prinde | veți prinde | vor prinde |
| Conditional | aș prinde | ai prinde | ar prinde | am prinde | ați prinde | ar prinde |
| Subjunctive | să prind | să prinzi | să prindă | să prindem | să prindeți | să prindă |
Prinde ușa când intri.
Hold the door when you come in.
prinde - direct physical action
Nu prind bine la telefon aici.
I don’t get good reception on my phone here.
prind - colloquial use with reception/signals
A prins imediat sensul textului.
He understood the meaning of the text right away.
a prins - past action, understanding