The Compound Perfect

Level 2

The Compound Perfect (Perfectul Compus) is the most common way to talk about the past in Romanian. It translates to both the English Simple Past ('I ate') and Present Perfect ('I have eaten').

How It Works

The Compound Perfect is the 'workhorse' of the Romanian past tense system. Unlike English, which distinguishes between 'I went' and 'I have gone', Romanian uses this single tense for both scenarios.

1. The Auxiliary (The 'Helper' Verb)
The auxiliary is a reduced version of the present tense of a avea:

  • am (I)
  • ai (you)
  • a (he/she/it)
  • am (we)
  • ați (you all)
  • au (they)

Note that for 'he/she', we use a instead of the full verb are.

2. The Past Participle
The past participle is invariable. This means it does not change based on who is doing the action. Whether it is 'he went' or 'they went', the participle remains the same (a venit / au venit).

3. Word Order and Clitics
In a standard sentence, the order is Subject + Auxiliary + Participle. However, if you use object pronouns, they usually attach to the front of the auxiliary with a hyphen (e.g., te-am văzut - I saw you). The only exception is the feminine singular 'o', which attaches to the end of the participle (e.g., am văzut-o - I saw her).

Examples (5)

  1. Am mâncat un măr.

    I ate an apple / I have eaten an apple.

    Word by Word: I-have eaten an apple.

    Uses the 1st person singular auxiliary 'am' + the participle 'mâncat'.

  2. Ea a venit ieri la noi.

    She came to us yesterday.

    Word by Word: She has come yesterday to us.

    Note the auxiliary 'a' for the third person singular.

  3. Ați văzut filmul?

    Did you (plural) see the movie?

    Word by Word: Have-you seen the-movie?

    Uses the 2nd person plural auxiliary 'ați'.

  4. Ei au lucrat mult astăzi.

    They worked a lot today.

    Word by Word: They have worked much today.

    Uses the 3rd person plural auxiliary 'au'.

  5. L-am sunat pe Andrei.

    I called Andrei.

    Word by Word: Him-I-have called on Andrei.

    Shows how a masculine clitic (l-) attaches to the auxiliary with a hyphen.

Common Mistakes

  • Making the participle agree with the subject's gender or number.

    Ele au venite.
    Ele au venit.

    In the Compound Perfect, the participle is always invariable. It does not change for feminine or plural subjects.

  • Using 'to be' (a fi) as the auxiliary for verbs of motion.

    Sunt venit.
    Am venit.

    The compound perfect of a veni is am venit. Sunt venit can be used as a state description in some contexts, but it is not the compound perfect; this tense uses the a avea auxiliary.

  • Placing the feminine clitic 'o' before the auxiliary.

    O am văzut.
    Am văzut-o.

    The feminine singular pronoun 'o' (her/it) is unique; it must follow the participle and be attached with a hyphen.

How It Connects

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The Compound PerfectLevel 2

Learn This First

Recognize a avea and the six person-and-number positions, then learn the compound-perfect auxiliary set am, ai, a, am, ați, au and its participle.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

aiau