The Imperfect

Level 2

The Romanian Imperfect (Imperfectul) is the 'camera rolling' of the past. It describes what was happening, what used to happen, or what the scene looked like, without focusing on the beginning or end of the action.

How It Works

The Imperfect is formed by adding a theme vowel and a set of universal endings to the verb stem.

1. Theme Vowels:

  • -a- for Class I verbs (infinitive in -a) and Class IV verbs ending in -î: a cânta → cântam; a coborî → coboram.
  • -ea- for Classes II, III, and Class IV verbs ending in -i with a consonant stem: a vedea → vedeam; a merge → mergeam; a citi → citeam.
  • -ia- for Class IV verbs (infinitive in -i) with a vowel stem: a locui → locuiam; a bănui → bănuiam.

2. Universal Endings:
The endings are consistent across all verb classes:

  • -m: 1st person singular (I) & 1st person plural (We)
  • -i: 2nd person singular (You)
  • (null): 3rd person singular (He/She/It) — the form simply ends in the theme vowel -a or -ea/-ia.
  • -ți: 2nd person plural (You all)
  • -u: 3rd person plural (They)

3. Primary Uses:

  • Progressive: An action in progress when something else happened (Citeam când ai sunat - I was reading when you called).
  • Habitual: Past routines or habits (Mergeam la mare în fiecare vară - I used to go to the sea every summer).
  • Descriptive: Setting the scene, weather, or states (Era frig - It was cold).

4. Irregularities:
While the imperfect is highly regular, a few verbs use irregular stems:

  • a fi (to be) uses the stem er-: eram, erai, era, eram, erați, erau.
  • a da (to give) and a sta (to stay) use the stems dăd- and stăt-: dădeam, stăteam.
  • For wanting, the common imperfect forms voiam, voiai, voia belong to a voi and also serve in everyday use alongside a vrea. The standard imperfect of a vrea is vream, vreai, vrea.

Examples (4)

  1. În copilărie, mergeam des la bunici.

    In my childhood, I used to go often to my grandparents.

    Word by Word: In childhood, [I] was going often to grandparents.

    This shows a habitual action (a routine) in the past.

  2. Afară ploua torențial, așa că am rămas în casă.

    Outside it was raining heavily, so I stayed indoors.

    Word by Word: Outside [it] was raining torrentially, so [I] have remained in house.

    The imperfect 'ploua' sets the background scene for the completed action 'am rămas'.

  3. Ce făceai când te-am strigat?

    What were you doing when I called you?

    Word by Word: What [you] were doing when [I] you have called?

    This uses the imperfect to ask about an action that was in progress at a specific moment.

  4. Eram foarte obosit ieri.

    I was very tired yesterday.

    Word by Word: [I] was very tired yesterday.

    Uses the irregular imperfect of 'a fi' to describe a past state.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'vroiam' instead of 'voiam'.

    Eu vroiam să plec.
    Eu voiam să plec.

    Vroiam is a common colloquial hybrid that the current standard does not accept. Use voiam, the imperfect of a voi, or the rarer vream, the imperfect of a vrea.

  • Using the third-person singular ending with noi.

    Noi mergea la școală.
    Noi mergeam la școală.

    Both 'Eu' (I) and 'Noi' (We) use the ending -m (mergeam). You must use context or pronouns to distinguish them, but you cannot use the 3rd person ending -a for 'we'.

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The ImperfectLevel 2

Learn This First

To understand the Imperfect, you need a solid grasp of how Romanian verb stems work from the present tense, familiarity with subject pronouns for conjugation, and an understanding of the basic past tense (Compound Perfect) to distinguish when to use the Imperfect for ongoing or repeated actions.

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