cică

Colloquial Reported Cică

Level 5

Cică is the Romanian equivalent of "supposedly," "reportedly," or "they say." It is an informal way to tell someone that you heard a piece of information from someone else, rather than knowing it for a fact yourself.

How It Works

Cică is one of the most common particles in spoken Romanian. It is colloquial; neutral formal reporting usually uses an attribution such as se spune că or a reportative conditional. Quoted speech and deliberate irony can retain cică.

1. Syntax and Position
It is an invariable particle, meaning it never changes its form. It is highly mobile within a sentence:

  • Initial: Cică vine mâine. (They say he's coming tomorrow.)
  • Medial: El cică a plecat. (He supposedly left.)
  • Final: E deștept, cică. (He's smart, supposedly — often implies the speaker thinks he isn't.)

2. Nuance and Tone
While it can simply mean "I heard that...", it often carries a skeptical edge. If you say someone is „bolnav”, cică, you are likely implying they are faking it. To express reported information in a formal way, you should use the Reportative Conditional instead.

3. The "Cică că" Phenomenon
The ordinary pattern is cică + clause: Cică pleacă. Recognize colloquial repetitions without treating an etymology as a complete rule of modern syntax.

Examples (4)

  1. Cică se scumpesc biletele de tren.

    They say train tickets are getting more expensive.

    Word by Word: Supposedly themselves make-expensive tickets-the of train.

    A neutral use of cică to report a rumor or news the speaker heard elsewhere.

  2. Ea e „ocupată”, cică, dar stă pe Facebook toată ziua.

    She's "busy," supposedly, but she's on Facebook all day.

    Word by Word: She is busy, supposedly, but stays on Facebook all day-the.

    Here, cică is used ironically to show the speaker doubts the person is actually busy.

  3. Cică s-ar fi mutat în alt oraș.

    Word is he supposedly moved to another city.

    Word by Word: Supposedly himself-would be moved in another city.

    This combines cică with the reportative conditional for extra distancing from the claim.

  4. Cică vine și el la petrecere.

    Supposedly he's coming to the party too.

    Word by Word: Supposedly comes also he at party.

    A standard colloquial way to relay information about someone's plans.

Common Mistakes

  • Using hearsay when you mean your own uncertain memory.

    Cică am mai văzut filmul ăsta.
    Parcă am mai văzut filmul ăsta.

    Both are grammatical. For the intended meaning “I seem to remember seeing this film”, use parcă. Cică instead presents the claim as reported or distanced information.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

cicăLevel 5Colloquial Reported Cică

Learn This First

Recognize reported information before adding the colloquial hearsay marker cică.

Words in This Pattern

cică