father
The plain noun, used with an article or a possessive.
un tată bun
a good father
tatăl meu
my father
#80 · Noun
tată
In Romanian, tată means “father”. It’s the #80 most frequently used Romanian word. Below you’ll find how to use it, its forms, real example sentences, and common word pairings.
Meaning & Use
Tată is "father", rank 80, and it is masculine despite ending in -ă. Three forms share the frequency almost equally, and each has its own job: tată the plain noun, tatăl the definite "the father", and tata, a special kinship form that already means "my dad" with no possessive attached. That third form is the one no table prepares you for.
neutraldad / my dad (tata)
A kinship form that carries "my" inside it. Tata a sunat means "Dad called" — adding meu is possible but unnecessary.
Tata e acasă.
Dad is home.
L-am întrebat pe tata.
I asked Dad.
father (addressing him)
The bare tată is also how you speak to him — and, warmly, how a parent speaks to a child.
Tată, vino aici!
Dad, come here!
father (religious)
Tatăl in the definite is the standard religious "the Father".
Tatăl nostru
Our Father
Forms you’ll actually hear
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken Romanian. The top 3 forms cover about 92% of everyday use — learn these first.
tatăl32%
tată30%
tata30%
Show 3 more forms
tatălui6%
tatei2%
tatii<1%
Noun Forms
- Gender
- masculine
- Countability
- countable
| singular indefinite | tată | |
|---|---|---|
| singular definite | tatăl | |
| plural indefinite | tați | |
| plural definite | tații | |
| genitive dative singular | tatălui | |
| genitive dative plural | taților |
Two definite forms coexist. The regular one is tatăl (genitive-dative tatălui), used with possessives and in formal contexts. The kinship form tata means "dad / my dad" on its own, and it takes lui in front for the genitive and dative: lui tata. The older tatei survives in speech and in writing, and shows up in the measured data, but lui tata is the safer modern choice.
Examples
Tata vine mâine.
Dad is coming tomorrow.
tata - The kinship form. No possessive is needed — tata already means "my dad" to whoever is speaking.
Tatăl meu e medic.
My father is a doctor.
tatăl - With an explicit possessive the noun takes the ordinary definite form tatăl. Professions need no article after a fi: e medic, not *e un medic.
E un tată bun.
He's a good father.
tată - The indefinite. Note un and bun in the masculine — the -ă ending does not make this noun feminine.
Mașina tatălui meu e veche.
My father's car is old.
tatălui - The genitive tatălui carries the possession. The possessive meu then agrees with tată, not with mașina.
I-am spus lui tata.
I told Dad.
tata - The kinship form takes lui in front for the genitive and dative — lui tata, not *tatei — a small irregularity worth memorising.
Tată is masculine even though it ends in -ă: un tată, tatăl meu, never *o tată or *tata mea. Romanian has a small group of these — tată, popă, vlădică — and they take masculine agreement throughout.