to want; to will (literary/archaic)
Rare today in everyday speech; survives mostly in older texts and set expressions.
Așa a voit Dumnezeu.
Thus God willed it.
A voia să plece, dar a rămas.
He wanted to leave, but he stayed.
#137 · Verb · VERB
In Romanian, voi means “to want; to will (literary/archaic)”. It’s the #137 most frequently used Romanian word. Below you’ll find how to use it, its forms, real example sentences, and common word pairings.
A verb used in modern Romanian as an auxiliary in future and conditional forms; the related expression 'a voi' is archaic/literary, meaning 'to want, to will'.
archaicRare today in everyday speech; survives mostly in older texts and set expressions.
Thus God willed it.
He wanted to leave, but he stayed.
In practice, learners usually meet the forms as part of future/conditional grammar rather than as a standalone verb.
I will go to Bucharest tomorrow.
I would like to help you, but I can't.
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken Romanian. The top 2 forms cover about 85% of everyday use — learn these first.
| Tense | eu | tu | el/ea | noi | voi | ei/ele |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | voi | vrei | vrea | vrem | vreți | vor |
| Imperfect | voiam | voiai | voia | voiam | voiați | voiau |
| Perfect compus | am voit | ai voit | a voit | am voit | ați voit | au voit |
| Future | voi voi | vei voi | va voi | vom voi | veți voi | vor voi |
| Conditional | aș voi | ai voi | ar voi | am voi | ați voi | ar voi |
| Subjunctive | să (nu) voiesc | să (nu) voiești | să (nu) voiească | să (nu) voim | să (nu) voiți | să (nu) voiască |
Voi pleca imediat după masă.
I will leave right after lunch.
voi pleca is future construction using a first-person plural form in standard future usage. - Future in modern Romanian.
Nu știam că voi veniți atât de devreme.
I didn't know that you were coming so early.
voi veniți - Future reference / standard auxiliary use in context.
Așa a voit să se întâmple.
That is how it wanted to happen / That was how it was meant to happen.
a voit - Literary/archaic meaning 'to want, to will'.