to want (something)
With a direct object — the plain transitive use.
Vreau o cafea.
I want a coffee.
Ce vrei?
What do you want?
#14 · Verb
vrea
In Romanian, vrea means “to want (something)”. It’s the #14 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 want" — the 14th most frequent word, and the verb that gets a beginner talking fastest. Vreau să… lets you express any intention with a verb you already know, and the conditional aș vrea is the polite form you will use in every shop and restaurant.
neutralto want to (do something)
With să + a conjugated verb — Romanian has no infinitive construction here.
Vreau să plec.
I want to leave.
Vrei să mergem?
Do you want us to go?
would like (conditional: aș vrea)
The polite register. Ordering with vreau is understandable but blunt; aș vrea is the norm.
Aș vrea un ceai.
I would like a tea.
Aș vrea să întreb ceva.
I'd like to ask something.
to mean / to intend (a vrea să spună)
The set phrase for "to mean".
Ce vrei să spui?
What do you mean?
Forms you’ll actually hear
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken Romanian. The top 4 forms cover about 90% of everyday use — learn these first.
vrei28%
vreau26%
vrea23%
vrut13%
Show 6 more forms
vrem3%
vreți3%
o3%
or<1%
vream<1%
vrând<1%
Conjugation
- Infinitive
- a vrea
- Past Participle
- vrut
- Gerund
- vrând
- Auxiliary
- a avea
- Reflexive
- No
- Transitivity
- transitive
| Tense | eu | tu | el/ea | noi | voi | ei/ele |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | vreau | vrei | vrea | vrem | vreți | vor |
| Imperfect | voiam | voiai | voia | voiam | voiați | voiau |
| Perfect compus | am vrut | ai vrut | a vrut | am vrut | ați vrut | au vrut |
| Future | voi vrea | vei vrea | va vrea | vom vrea | veți vrea | vor vrea |
| Conditional | aș vrea | ai vrea | ar vrea | am vrea | ați vrea | ar vrea |
| Subjunctive | să vreau | să vrei | să vrea | să vrem | să vreți | să vrea |
- A verb of wanting has no natural command form — to tell someone what to want you rephrase (Vrei să…? or an imperative of the other verb).
- The imperfect is voiam / voia (from the older a voi); vream exists but is literary and rare.
- Spoken Romanian builds a casual future from this verb: o să vin, o să mergem — the o is the same element the corpus files under a vrea.
Examples
Vrei o cafea?
Do you want a coffee?
vrei - Present 2nd singular — the most frequent form of this verb in real conversation.
Aș vrea să rezerv o masă.
I'd like to book a table.
aș vrea - Conditional auxiliary aș + infinitive vrea. This is the polite default for requests.
N-am vrut să te supăr.
I didn't mean to upset you.
vrut - Compound past with the participle vrut, plus the n- contraction of nu.
Nu vrea să vorbească.
He doesn't want to talk.
vrea - Third person present. The second verb sits in the subjunctive: să vorbească.
Vreau să învăț română.
I want to learn Romanian.
vreau - The pattern to memorize whole: vreau să + any verb you know.
The 3rd person plural present is "vor" — identical to the future auxiliary vor. Vor o casă is "they want a house", but vor veni is "they will come": if a bare infinitive follows, it is the future.
In expressions
Common phrases built around vrea — worth learning as whole units.
vreau să— I want to
lit. “I-want that” · conjugates by person: vrei să (you), vrea să (he/she)
Ce vrei?— What do you want?
lit. “what you-want”
aș vrea— I would like
lit. “I-would want” · conjugates by person: ai vrea (you), ar vrea (he/she)
vrei să spui— you mean (to say)
lit. “you-want that you-say”
Ce vrei să spui?— What do you mean?
lit. “what you-want that you-say”
Corpus examples
.
Everything will be fine.
?
What do you mean?
?
What do you mean?
?
What do you mean?