to pass (of time)
Time as the subject. Timpul trece is a fixed observation.
Timpul trece repede.
Time passes quickly.
Au trecut doi ani.
Two years have passed.
#144 · Verb
trece
In Romanian, trece means “to pass (of time)”. It’s the #144 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 trece is "to pass" in nearly all its English senses: time passes, you pass a shop, a pain passes, you pass an exam. Rank 144. Its participle trecut is also the noun for "the past" and the adjective for "last" — anul trecut, "last year" — which is why that form leads the measured data.
neutralto pass by / to drop in (a trece pe la)
pe la plus a place means calling in briefly.
Trec pe la tine mâine.
I'll drop by your place tomorrow.
to cross
A street, a river, a border.
Trece strada.
He crosses the street.
to go away (of pain or feeling)
Îmi trece is the standard way to say a pain or a mood is lifting.
O să-ți treacă.
You'll get over it.
last / past (trecut)
The participle as an adjective — anul trecut, săptămâna trecută.
anul trecut
last year
Forms you’ll actually hear
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken Romanian. The top 4 forms cover about 84% of everyday use — learn these first.
trecut44%
trece20%
trec10%
treci9%
Show 9 more forms
treacă7%
trecem6%
treceți1%
trecea<1%
trecând<1%
trecuse<1%
trecute<1%
treceau<1%
trecu<1%
Conjugation
- Infinitive
- a trece
- Past Participle
- trecut
- Gerund
- trecând
- Imperative Singular
- treci
- Imperative Plural
- treceți
- Auxiliary
- a avea
- Reflexive
- No
- Transitivity
- both
| Tense | eu | tu | el/ea | noi | voi | ei/ele |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | trec | treci | trece | trecem | treceți | trec |
| Imperfect | treceam | treceai | trecea | treceam | treceați | treceau |
| Perfect compus | am trecut | ai trecut | a trecut | am trecut | ați trecut | au trecut |
| Future | voi trece | vei trece | va trece | vom trece | veți trece | vor trece |
| Conditional | aș trece | ai trece | ar trece | am trece | ați trece | ar trece |
| Subjunctive | să trec | să treci | să treacă | să trecem | să treceți | să treacă |
- eu and ei/ele share the present form trec.
- The 3rd-person subjunctive treacă is irregular and appears constantly in o să treacă and lasă să treacă.
- a trece pe la is a short visit; a trece prin is passing through; a trece peste is getting over something.
Examples
Timpul trece repede.
Time passes quickly.
trece - The subject takes the definite article — timpul, not timp — because it is a general truth.
Trec pe la tine diseară.
I'll drop by yours this evening.
trec - pe la marks a brief visit. The present carries the future, as usual.
Săptămâna trecută am fost bolnav.
Last week I was ill.
trecut - The participle as an adjective, agreeing in the feminine: trecută. The whole phrase works adverbially with no preposition.
O să-ți treacă.
You'll get over it.
treacă - The colloquial future o să plus the subjunctive treacă. The dative clitic ți says whose pain it is.
Ai trecut examenul?
Did you pass the exam?
trecut - The exam sense, with a direct object. The noun takes its definite article.
Lasă să treacă.
Let it pass.
treacă - a lăsa să plus the subjunctive — the standard "let it" frame.
Trecut does three jobs: the participle ("passed"), the adjective "last" (anul trecut), and the noun "the past" (în trecut). All three are the same word, so the position in the sentence is what tells you which one you are reading.