to see (with the eyes)
The literal sense: perceiving something visually.
Nu văd nimic.
I can't see anything.
Ai văzut filmul?
Have you seen the film?
#42 · Verb
vedea
In Romanian, vedea means “to see (with the eyes)”. It’s the #42 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 Romanian "to see" — rank #42 and the first genuinely irregular verb most learners meet. The measured corpus is blunt about which forms matter: văzut (the participle, in am văzut) comes first, then văd, then the imperative vezi and the "let's see" form vedem. Learn those four and you can already handle most of what a vedea does in conversation.
neutralto meet / to see someone
Meeting up, in the same social sense as English "see you". Usually reflexive: a se vedea cu cineva.
Ne vedem mâine.
We'll see each other tomorrow.
M-am văzut cu ea.
I met up with her.
to understand / to realise
Figurative "I see" — grasping a point rather than looking at it.
Văd ce vrei să spui.
I see what you mean.
Vezi? Ți-am zis.
See? I told you.
to check / to find out (vedem, să vedem)
"Let's see" as a way of postponing or investigating — one of the most common uses of all.
Să vedem ce se întâmplă.
Let's see what happens.
Mai vedem.
We'll see. (i.e. not now)
to be visible (se vede)
Impersonal reflexive: something shows, or it is apparent that something is so.
Se vede marea de aici.
You can see the sea from here.
Se vede că e obosit.
You can tell he is tired.
Forms you’ll actually hear
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken Romanian. The top 4 forms cover about 81% of everyday use — learn these first.
văzut31%
văd22%
vezi14%
vedem14%
Show 12 more forms
vedea8%
vadă5%
vede3%
vedeți2%
vedeam<1%
vedeau<1%
vedeai<1%
văzuse<1%
văzând<1%
văzute<1%
văzu<1%
vedeați<1%
Conjugation
- Infinitive
- a vedea
- Past Participle
- văzut
- Gerund
- văzând
- Imperative Singular
- vezi
- Imperative Plural
- vedeți
- Auxiliary
- a avea
- Reflexive
- No
- Transitivity
- both
| Tense | eu | tu | el/ea | noi | voi | ei/ele |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | văd | vezi | vede | vedem | vedeți | văd |
| Imperfect | vedeam | vedeai | vedea | vedeam | vedeați | vedeau |
| Perfect compus | am văzut | ai văzut | a văzut | am văzut | ați văzut | au văzut |
| Future | voi vedea | vei vedea | va vedea | vom vedea | veți vedea | vor vedea |
| Conditional | aș vedea | ai vedea | ar vedea | am vedea | ați vedea | ar vedea |
| Subjunctive | să văd | să vezi | să vadă | să vedem | să vedeți | să vadă |
- eu and ei/ele share the present form văd, exactly as in a putea (pot).
- The infinitive vedea and the imperfect 3rd singular vedea are spelled identically — the auxiliary (voi vedea, ar vedea) tells you which one you are looking at.
- a se vedea cu cineva = to meet someone; ne vedem is the standard way to say "see you".
- The impersonal se vede că… means "you can tell that…", and se pare că is its close cousin for "it seems that".
Examples
Nu am văzut-o de mult.
I haven't seen her in a long time.
văzut - Perfect compus with the irregular participle văzut; the clitic -o attaches to the participle, not to the auxiliary.
Te văd mâine.
I'll see you tomorrow.
văd - Present used for the near future — completely normal in spoken Romanian. The clitic te comes before the verb.
Vezi că plouă!
Careful, it is raining!
vezi - The imperative vezi (not *vede) very often means "watch out / note that" rather than literally "look".
Ne vedem la șase.
We'll meet at six.
vedem - Reflexive plural: literally "we see each other" — this is how Romanians arrange to meet.
Vreau să văd ce scrie acolo.
I want to see what it says there.
să văd - After vreau, Romanian uses să plus a conjugated verb; the subjunctive of vedea is să văd, să vezi, să vadă.
The 3rd person is where learners slip: the indicative is el vede but the subjunctive is să vadă (with -ă), and the singular imperative is vezi, not *vede. The participle is văzut, never *vedut.
In expressions
Common phrases built around vedea — worth learning as whole units.
ne vedem— see you (later); we'll see each other
lit. “us we-see”
Corpus examples
.
Good to see you.
.
See you later.