Basic Prepositions in Romanian

Overview

Prepositions are the small but essential words that express relationships of place, direction, time, and manner. At the A1 level, a core set of Romanian prepositions will unlock your ability to describe where things are, where you are going, who you are with, and what things are made of. These words appear in nearly every sentence and are among the most frequently used items in the language.

Romanian prepositions largely descend from Latin, and many will feel familiar if you know other Romance languages. However, Romanian has its own patterns for which preposition to use in which context, and direct translation from English often leads to errors. The preposition la, for example, covers meanings handled by "at," "to," and sometimes "in" in English, while în and pe divide spatial meanings differently than their English counterparts.

One distinctive feature of Romanian is that certain prepositions trigger specific grammatical cases on the nouns that follow them. At the A1 level, this mostly means that feminine nouns may change their ending after some prepositions (taking the genitive-dative form). While full case awareness develops at A2 and beyond, being aware of this interaction early will help you understand why noun forms sometimes change after prepositions.

How It Works

Core Prepositions

Preposition	Primary Meaning	Example
în	in, into	în casă (in the house)
la	at, to	la școală (at school)
pe	on, onto	pe masă (on the table)
cu	with	cu prietenii (with friends)
de	of, from, about	de la București (from Bucharest)
pentru	for	pentru tine (for you)
din	from, out of	din România (from Romania)
spre	towards	spre centru (towards downtown)
fără	without	fără zahăr (without sugar)
între	between	între noi (between us)
lângă	next to, near	lângă parc (next to the park)

În vs. La

This is one of the trickiest distinctions for beginners:

Context	Use în	Use la
Inside a space	în cameră (in the room)	—
At an institution	—	la școală (at school)
In a country	în România (in Romania)	—
In a city	—	la București (in/at Bucharest)
At someone's place	—	la Maria (at Maria's)
Into (direction)	în parc (into the park)	la magazin (to the store)

De and Din

De and din both relate to origin and source, but they function differently:

Form	Meaning	Example
de	of, from (general)	o carte de povești (a storybook)
din	from, out of (specific origin)	din România (from Romania)
de la	from (a place/person)	de la Maria (from Maria)

Din is a contraction of de + în and implies coming out of or originating from a specific place.

Prepositions with Definite vs. Indefinite Nouns

Prepositions can be followed by either definite or indefinite nouns:

• în casă — in a/the house (indefinite or generic)
• în casa mea — in my house (definite, articulated)
• pe masă — on the table
• pe o masă — on a table

Examples in Context

Romanian	English	Note
Sunt în casă.	I am in the house.	Location with în
Merg la școală.	I go to school.	Direction with la
Cartea este pe masă.	The book is on the table.	Surface with pe
Vin cu tine.	I come with you.	Accompaniment with cu
Sunt din Cluj.	I am from Cluj.	Origin with din
Aceasta este pentru mama.	This is for mom.	Purpose with pentru
Mergem spre mare.	We are going towards the sea.	Direction with spre
Cafea fără zahăr, vă rog.	Coffee without sugar, please.	Absence with fără
Locuiesc lângă parc.	I live near the park.	Proximity with lângă
Stau între Ana și Maria.	I sit between Ana and Maria.	Position with între
Am venit de la serviciu.	I came from work.	Origin with de la
O carte de bucate.	A cookbook.	Type/category with de

Common Mistakes

Confusing în and la for locations.

• Wrong: Sunt la casă. (intending "I am in the house.")
• Right: Sunt în casă.
• Why: În is used for being physically inside a space. La is for institutions, people's places, and cities. Learn the specific conventions for each context.

Using de when din is needed for origin.

• Wrong: Sunt de România.
• Right: Sunt din România.
• Why: Coming from a country or specific place requires din (from out of). De alone does not convey geographic origin.

Translating English "in" always as în.

• Wrong: în București (for "in Bucharest")
• Right: la București
• Why: Romanian uses la with city names, not în. This is a fixed convention that must be memorized.

Forgetting pe for "on" surfaces.

• Wrong: Telefonul este la masă. (intending "on the table")
• Right: Telefonul este pe masă.
• Why: Pe is the preposition for physical surfaces. La masă means "at the table" (seated at it), which is a different meaning.

Omitting the preposition entirely.

• Wrong: Merg școală.
• Right: Merg la școală.
• Why: Unlike some languages that allow bare directional nouns, Romanian requires the preposition in these constructions.

Usage Notes

Preposition usage is consistent across all registers of Romanian, from casual conversation to formal writing. There are no significant regional variations in the core prepositions at this level.

The combination de la functions as a compound preposition meaning "from" (a specific source): de la magazin (from the store), de la ora trei (from three o'clock). Similarly, până la means "until" or "up to": până la gară (up to the station).

Some prepositions trigger the dative/genitive case on feminine nouns. For instance, after cu (with), a feminine definite noun may change: cu mașina (with the car) — the -a ending here is the accusative/dative form. This interaction becomes more systematic at A2 but is worth noting as you encounter it.

Practice Tips

• Describe the location of objects in your room using în, pe, lângă, and între. This builds spatial preposition fluency with real-world practice.
• Learn the fixed combinations for common destinations: la școală (to school), la serviciu (to work), la magazin (to the store), în parc (in the park). These are high-frequency phrases that will serve you daily.
• When you encounter a new noun, practice using it with three or four different prepositions to build flexibility and see how meaning changes.

Related Concepts

• Next steps: Places in Town — vocabulary that pairs naturally with prepositions of location
• Next steps: At Home — domestic vocabulary using în, pe, and lângă
• Next steps: Transportation — travel vocabulary using cu, la, spre, and din