Pronunciation (for the English speaker)
| a | a in father |
| q | e in brother |
| â | u in cur (replaced by î in current usage) |
| b | |
| c | c in country, but before e and i as ch in chin, and before h like k in king |
| d | |
| e | e in hen |
| f | |
| g | g in gate, but before e and i as g in gem, before h as g in get |
| h | almost kh |
| i | i in machine; as a suffix, unsounded |
| î | o in lesson, but more stressed |
| j | s in measure |
| l | |
| m | |
| n | |
| o | o in soft |
| p | |
| r | as the Scottish r in farm |
| s | s in six |
| w | sh in shelf |
| t | t in ten |
| y | ts in hats |
| u | oo in wood |
| v | |
| z | z in maze |
Compound vowels
| ai | y in by |
| ea | ya in yarn |
| ei | ay in day |
| eu | eh-oo |
| oi | oy in boy |
| au | ow in how |
| qu | o in go |
| iu | you |
| ia | ya in yap |
| ie | ye in yesterday |
| oa,ua | wa in waft |
| ii |
The following appear only in foreign words and a few proper or family names -
k, q, w, x, y
| Unfinished part - under construction Obsolete letters - (most changes occurred in 1904)
|
Gender
Masculine, feminine, neuter. Generally, neuter singular agrees with masculine, neuter plural agrees with feminine. Pronouns and adjectives agree with nouns in gender and quantity; adjectives are usually placed after the noun.
Articles
definite (the)
| singular | plural (noun suffix) | |
| masculine | -l, -le, -ul | -i |
| feminine | -a | -le |
indefinite
| singular | plural (before the noun) | |
| masculine | un (a) | niwte (some) |
| feminine | o | niwte |
demonstrative
| singular | plural | |
| masculine | acesta (this) | acewtia (these) |
| feminine | aceasta | acestea |
| masculine | acela (that) | aceia (those) |
| feminine | aceea | acelea |
Possessives placed after the noun, which also takes a definite article
| singular masc. | singular fem. | plural masc. | plural fem. | |
| my | meu | mea | mei | mele |
| your | tqu | ta | tqi | tale |
| his/hers/its | squ | sa | sqi | sale |
| our | nostru | noastrq | nowtri | noastre |
| your | vostru | voastrq | vowtri | voastre |
| their | lor | lor | lor | lor |
Plurals (word endings)
| masculine singular |
masculine plural |
feminine singular |
feminine plural |
neuter singular |
neuter plural |
| consonant | -i | -q | -e | consonant | -e, -i |
| -q | -i | -e | -i | -i | -uri |
| -e | -i | -ie | -i | -u | -e |
| -i | -i | -ea | -le | -e | (no pl.) |
| -u | -i | -a | -le | ||
| -i | -le |
Verb infinitive: a ajuta, to help
yes da
no nu
Connectives, prepositions, etc.
| al, a | of, of the (masc., fem.) |
| alt | other |
| altfel | otherwise |
| apoi | then, afterwards |
| aproape | almost, near |
| astfel | thus |
| cqtre | to, about |
| cel, cea | the (masc., fem.) |
| cu | with, by |
| dar | but |
| de | of |
| de pe | off |
| din, de la | from, out, of |
| dinspre | from |
| dintre | among, from, between |
| fqrq | without |
| în | in, into |
| însq | but, however |
| între | between |
| la | at |
| lîngq | near, by |
| niwte | some |
| pe | on |
| pentru | for |
| peste | over |
| pînq | until |
| prin | through |
| printre | among |
| wi | and |
| sau | or |
| spre | towards |
| sub | under |
| un, o | a (masc., fem.) |
| -lui (suffix) | of |
| -ul | the |
| -ului | of the, to the (plural, -ilor) |