to stand; to be standing upright
describes posture or position
Stă în picioare.
He/She is standing up.
Câinele stă la ușă.
The dog is standing by the door.
#62 · Verb · VERB
In Romanian, sta means “to stand; to be standing upright”. It’s the #62 most frequently used Romanian word. Below you’ll find how to use it, its forms, real example sentences, and common word pairings.
Basic Romanian verb meaning “to stand, stay, remain, be located” depending on context. Very common in everyday speech and in many fixed expressions.
neutraldescribes posture or position
He/She is standing up.
The dog is standing by the door.
often about being somewhere or continuing in a place/state
I'm staying home tonight.
The book is on the table.
in some contexts, especially with people, it can mean “to sit” even if the literal posture is not emphasized
Please sit down.
The children are sitting at the table.
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken Romanian. The top 4 forms cover about 83% of everyday use — learn these first.
| Tense | eu | tu | el/ea | noi | voi | ei/ele |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | stau | stai | stă | stăm | stați | stau |
| Imperfect | stăteam | stăteai | stătea | stăteam | stăteați | stăteau |
| Perfect compus | am stat | ai stat | a stat | am stat | ați stat | au stat |
| Future | voi sta | vei sta | va sta | vom sta | veți sta | vor sta |
| Conditional | aș sta | ai sta | ar sta | am sta | ați sta | ar sta |
| Subjunctive | să stau | să stai | să stea | să stăm | să stați | să stea |
Stau la bibliotecă până la cinci.
I'm staying at the library until five.
stau - present, 1st person plural/singular context
Ea stă lângă fereastră.
She is sitting by the window.
stă - present, 3rd person singular
Stați aici un moment, vă rog.
Please wait here for a moment.
stați - imperative plural/polite
Common phrases built around sta — worth learning as whole units.
lit. “to stand well to” · îți stă bine = it suits you / you look good in it