Question Formation in Romanian

In Brief

Romanian normally turns a statement into a yes/no question by changing the intonation, not by adding an equivalent of English do: Vorbești română? means “Do you speak Romanian?” To ask for specific information, place a question word such as ce “what,” cine “who,” unde “where,” când “when,” cum “how,” or de ce “why” near the beginning: Unde locuiești? “Where do you live?”

Overview

Question formation is an A1 skill that immediately makes Romanian useful. It lets you check facts, ask for directions, learn someone’s name, order food, and keep a conversation going. Romanian has two main types: yes/no questions, which can be answered with da “yes” or nu “no,” and information questions, which ask for a person, thing, place, time, reason, manner, choice, or quantity.

The encouraging part for an English-speaking learner is that Romanian does not use do/does/did as a question-making auxiliary (a helping verb). A Romanian question can keep the same basic subject–verb–object order as a statement. In speech, the voice signals that it is a question; in writing, the question mark does that job.

Romanian often leaves out a subject pronoun such as tu “you,” because the verb ending already identifies the subject. Thus Vorbești română? is complete: the ending -ești tells the listener that the subject is informal singular “you.” This article builds on Basic Word Order.

How It Works

Yes/no questions: keep the sentence, change the intonation

The simplest pattern is:

statement word order + rising or questioning intonation + ?

Statement	Yes/no question	English question
Tu locuiești aici.	Tu locuiești aici?	Do you live here?
Maria vine mâine.	Maria vine mâine?	Is Maria coming tomorrow?
Ai timp.	Ai timp?	Do you have time?

No word corresponding to English do is inserted. Do not try to translate “Do you speak?” one word at a time. Romanian simply uses Vorbești? The same principle applies in other tenses: Ai văzut filmul? means “Did you see the film?” Here ai belongs to the Romanian compound past itself; it is not an extra question marker.

A subject can appear, but Romanian commonly omits subject pronouns when the person is already clear:

• Tu lucrezi aici? — “Do you work here?” The explicit tu can add contrast or emphasis.
• Lucrezi aici? — “Do you work here?” Neutral in most contexts.

A negative yes/no question uses nu before the verb:

• Nu vii cu noi? — “Aren’t you coming with us?”
• Nu ai apă? — “Don’t you have water?”

Like English negative questions, these can suggest surprise or an expectation. A neutral Vii cu noi? simply asks whether the person is coming; Nu vii cu noi? may imply that the speaker thought they would.

Information questions

An information question begins with an interrogative (a question word or phrase) in the usual neutral pattern. The rest of the clause generally follows ordinary Romanian grammar. There is no English-style do-support:

• Unde locuiești? — literally “Where live-you?”, naturally “Where do you live?”
• Ce mănâncă Ana? — “What is Ana eating?”
• Când începe cursul? — “When does the class start?”

The main beginner question words are:

Romanian	Core meaning	What it asks about	Example
ce	what	a thing, action, or description	Ce faci? — What are you doing?
cine	who	a person	Cine vine? — Who is coming?
unde	where	location or destination	Unde mergi? — Where are you going?
când	when	time	Când plecați? — When are you leaving?
cum	how	manner, condition, or identity in set phrases	Cum te simți? — How do you feel?
de ce	why	reason	De ce înveți româna? — Why are you learning Romanian?
care	which; which one	a choice or identification	Care autobuz merge în centru? — Which bus goes downtown?
cât	how much; how long	quantity, price, or extent	Cât costă? — How much does it cost?

When the question word is the subject

The subject is the person or thing that performs the action. If cine or ce itself is the subject, do not add another subject:

• Cine vorbește? — “Who is speaking?”
• Ce s-a întâmplat? — “What happened?”

English also avoids do in “Who called?”, but uses it in “Who did you call?” Romanian marks that second distinction differently. A specific person used as a direct object (the person directly affected by the action) normally follows pe:

• Cine te sună? — “Who is calling you?” (cine is the subject)
• Pe cine suni? — “Who are you calling?” (pe cine is the direct object)

This pe cine pattern is important and should be learned as a unit.

Prepositions stay with the question word

When the answer would contain a preposition such as cu “with,” despre “about,” or pentru “for,” put that preposition before the question word:

• Cu cine mergi? — “Who are you going with?”
• Despre ce vorbiți? — “What are you talking about?”
• Pentru cine este cadoul? — “Who is the gift for?”

This differs from everyday English, which often leaves the preposition at the end. Romanian does not normally copy the English pattern “Who ... with?”; it says cu cine at the front.

For places, learn common combinations rather than translating every preposition mechanically:

• Unde ești? — “Where are you?” (location)
• Unde mergi? — “Where are you going?” (destination)
• De unde ești? — “Where are you from?” (origin)
• Până unde merge autobuzul? — “How far does the bus go?”

Ce, care, and cât are not interchangeable

Use ce for an open “what” question: Ce citești? “What are you reading?” Before a noun, ce can also mean “what/which kind of”: Ce carte citești? “What book are you reading?”

Use care when identifying or choosing from a known or implied set:

• Care este camera ta? — “Which is your room?”
• Care film îți place? — “Which film do you like?”

Use cât for amount, price, duration, and degree. Before a noun, it agrees with that noun in gender and number:

Form	Use	Example
cât	masculine/neuter singular; general amount	Cât timp ai? — How much time do you have?
câtă	feminine singular	Câtă apă vrei? — How much water do you want?
câți	masculine plural	Câți studenți sunt? — How many students are there?
câte	feminine/neuter plural	Câte zile stai? — How many days are you staying?

Useful fixed questions include Cât e ceasul? “What time is it?”, Cât durează? “How long does it take?”, and Cât de departe este? “How far is it?”

Pronouns and reflexive words remain attached to the verb pattern

Small unstressed pronouns keep their normal place before a simple verb. In Cum te numești?, te means “yourself” and belongs with a se numi “to be called.” In Ce îți place?, îți roughly marks “to you.” Do not move these words ahead of the interrogative:

• Cum te numești? — “What’s your name?” (literally, “How do you call yourself?”)
• Ce îți place? — “What do you like?”
• De ce mă întrebi? — “Why are you asking me?”

Examples in Context

Romanian	English	Note
Vorbești română?	Do you speak Romanian?	Yes/no question; no equivalent of do
Este liber locul acesta?	Is this seat free?	A useful polite check
Nu vii la cină?	Aren’t you coming to dinner?	Negative question, often showing expectation
Unde locuiești?	Where do you live?	Place
De unde sunteți?	Where are you from?	Polite/plural form; origin
Ce faci după serviciu?	What are you doing after work?	Activity
Cine are cheia?	Who has the key?	cine is the subject
Pe cine aștepți?	Who are you waiting for?	A person as direct object
Când pleacă următorul tren?	When does the next train leave?	Time
Cum te numești?	What’s your name?	Fixed Romanian phrasing with cum
De ce este magazinul închis?	Why is the shop closed?	Reason
Care masă este rezervată?	Which table is reserved?	Choice from a set
Cât costă biletul?	How much does the ticket cost?	Price
Câte nopți rămâneți?	How many nights are you staying?	Feminine plural câte
Cu cine mergi la concert?	Who are you going to the concert with?	Preposition before cine

Common Mistakes

Adding English do to a Romanian question

• Wrong: Faci tu vorbești română?
• Right: Vorbești română?
• Why: Romanian does not translate auxiliary do/does into basic questions. Use the conjugated Romanian verb and question intonation.

Forcing English subject–verb inversion

• Wrong: Unde locuiește ea? is not grammatically wrong, but using an explicit pronoun in every question can sound needlessly emphatic.
• More neutral: Unde locuiește?
• Why: Romanian verb endings often make the subject clear. Keep ea when you need to contrast “she” with someone else or remove ambiguity.

Confusing cine and pe cine

• Wrong: Cine aștepți?
• Right: Pe cine aștepți?
• Why: The awaited person is the direct object, so Romanian normally uses pe cine. Compare Cine te așteaptă? “Who is waiting for you?”, where cine performs the action.

Leaving a preposition at the end

• Wrong: Cine mergi cu?
• Right: Cu cine mergi?
• Why: Romanian puts the preposition before its question word: cu cine, despre ce, pentru cine.

Using ce for every kind of “which”

• Less suitable: Ce este al tău? when choosing one item from several.
• Right: Care este al tău? — “Which one is yours?”
• Why: Care identifies one or more members of a set. Ce usually asks more openly what something is or what kind of thing is meant.

Forgetting agreement with cât

• Wrong: Cât zile stai?
• Right: Câte zile stai?
• Why: Before a plural noun, use câți with masculine nouns and câte with feminine or neuter nouns.

Usage Notes

Intonation matters in speech

A written question mark cannot help your listener, so intonation and context carry the distinction in conversation. A yes/no question often has a rising or otherwise clearly questioning contour. The exact melody varies with emphasis and region; the practical goal is not to imitate one rigid tune, but to make the question audible and natural.

Information questions do not always end with the same strong rise as yes/no questions. Listen to complete phrases rather than assuming every Romanian question must rise sharply at the end.

Polite and informal “you”

The grammar of the question must match the form of address. Use second-person singular forms with informal tu: Unde locuiești? Use dumneavoastră and a second-person plural verb in polite situations: Unde locuiți? The pronoun itself is often omitted because the verb ending already signals the distinction.

A polite request may be phrased as a question with puteți “can you”:

• Puteți să mă ajutați? — “Can you help me?”
• Îmi puteți spune unde este gara? — “Can you tell me where the station is?”

Short conversational questions

Romanian conversation often uses shortened questions when the missing material is obvious:

• Și tu? — “And you?”
• De ce? — “Why?”
• Cu cine? — “With whom?” / “Who with?”
• Cât? — “How much?”

These are complete conversational turns, not careless fragments. Informal speech may also contract ce este to ce-i: Ce-i asta? “What’s this?” Recognize this early, but use full forms while you are building confidence.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following details at A1, but they explain forms you will meet later.

Oare marks wondering or uncertainty

Oare can introduce or sit inside a question and suggests “I wonder” or genuine uncertainty:

• Oare vine mâine? — “I wonder whether he/she is coming tomorrow.”
• Unde oare este? — “Where could he/she be, I wonder?”

It is optional and is not the standard mechanical way to form every question.

Echo questions and focused word order

Although a neutral question normally puts the question phrase near the front, Romanian word order is flexible. A speaker can leave the questioned element later as an echo question—a question that repeats surprising or unheard information:

• Ai cumpărat ce? — “You bought what?”
• Vine când? — “He/She is coming when?”

This order is marked by surprise, disbelief, or a request to repeat. Beginners should use Ce ai cumpărat? and Când vine? for neutral questions.

Indirect questions do not take question intonation inside the clause

An indirect question embeds the requested information inside a larger sentence:

• Nu știu unde locuiește. — “I don’t know where he/she lives.”
• Spune-mi când ajunge trenul. — “Tell me when the train arrives.”
• Mă întreb dacă vine. — “I wonder whether he/she is coming.”

The interrogative word remains, but the embedded clause is not independently asked. Dacă can mean “if/whether” in an embedded yes/no question. In writing, the whole sentence takes a question mark only if the main clause is itself a question: Știi unde locuiește? “Do you know where he/she lives?”

Additional case forms for people

Romanian case marks the role a noun or pronoun has in the sentence. Beyond basic cine and pe cine, you will encounter cui for “to whom/whose”:

• Cui îi scrii? — “Who are you writing to?”
• A cui este cartea? — “Whose book is it?” (with the appropriate al/a/ai/ale form)

The full possession pattern belongs to a later stage, but recognizing cui prevents confusion when it appears in real conversation.

Confirmation questions

Speakers can add a short check such as nu? or așa-i? to seek agreement:

• Vii mâine, nu? — “You’re coming tomorrow, right?”
• E frumos, așa-i? — “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

These do not match English tag questions word for word. Romanian often relies on one reusable confirmation expression rather than changing the tag for every subject and auxiliary.

Practice Tips

1. Turn five statements into questions aloud. Say Lucrezi aici. and then Lucrezi aici? Keep the words the same and make the second version clearly interrogative. Record yourself if possible.
2. Build question families around one answer. For Merg la București mâine cu Ana, ask Unde mergi?, Când mergi?, and Cu cine mergi? This trains meaning and word order together.
3. Learn question phrases as chunks. Put pe cine, cu cine, de unde, de ce, cât costă, and cum te numești on cards as complete units. Then listen for omitted subjects and the difference between informal -ești and polite -eți/-iți verb forms in everyday Romanian.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Basic Word Order — provides the ordinary sentence pattern that Romanian questions usually keep.