A1 Adjectives 1 min read Fácil

Gendered Adjectives

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Grammar Rule in 30 Seconds

In Romanian, adjectives must match the gender and number of the noun they describe.

  • Masculine nouns take masculine adjectives: 'băiat bun' (good boy).
  • Feminine nouns take feminine adjectives: 'fată bună' (good girl).
  • Plural nouns take plural adjectives: 'băieți buni' (good boys).
Noun (Gender/Number) + Adjective (Matching Gender/Number)

Meanings

Adjectives in Romanian are not static; they change their ending to agree with the noun they modify.

1

Direct Modification

Placing an adjective directly after a noun to describe it.

“Cartea roșie”

“Omul fericit”

2

Predicate Adjectives

Using an adjective after a linking verb like 'a fi' (to be).

“Ea este frumoasă”

“Ei sunt înalți”

Adjective Agreement Table

Gender Singular Plural
Masculine bun buni
Feminine bună bune
Neuter bun bune

Reference Table

Reference table for Gendered Adjectives
Form Structure Example
Affirmative Noun + Adjective Băiat bun
Negative Nu + Verb + Adjective Nu este bun
Question Verb + Noun + Adjective? Este băiatul bun?
Plural Noun(pl) + Adjective(pl) Băieți buni
Feminine Noun(fem) + Adjective(fem) Fată bună
Neuter Noun(neut) + Adjective(neut) Scaun bun

Espectro de formalidad

Formal
Casa este mare.

Casa este mare. (Describing a house)

Neutral
Casa e mare.

Casa e mare. (Describing a house)

Informal
Casa-i mare.

Casa-i mare. (Describing a house)

Jerga
Casa-i uriașă.

Casa-i uriașă. (Describing a house)

Adjective Gender Map

Adjective

Masculine

  • bun good

Feminine

  • bună good

Gender Endings

Masculine
frumos handsome
Feminine
frumoasă beautiful

Agreement Decision Tree

1

Is the noun feminine?

YES
Use feminine ending
NO
Use masculine ending

Common Adjectives

📏

Size

  • • mare
  • • mic
  • • lung
⭐

Quality

  • • bun
  • • rău
  • • frumos
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Examples by Level

1

Băiatul este bun.

The boy is good.

2

Fata este bună.

The girl is good.

3

Cartea este mică.

The book is small.

4

Câinele este mare.

The dog is big.

1

Am o mașină nouă.

I have a new car.

2

Ei sunt prieteni buni.

They are good friends.

3

Ea poartă o rochie roșie.

She is wearing a red dress.

4

Avem nevoie de scaune noi.

We need new chairs.

1

Această decizie este extrem de dificilă.

This decision is extremely difficult.

2

Oamenii inteligenți citesc mult.

Intelligent people read a lot.

3

Am văzut niște filme interesante.

I saw some interesting movies.

4

Casa părintească este veche.

The parental house is old.

1

Rezultatele obținute sunt remarcabile.

The obtained results are remarkable.

2

Această abordare este mai eficientă.

This approach is more efficient.

3

Suntem recunoscători pentru ajutorul primit.

We are grateful for the help received.

4

Problemele nerezolvate sunt numeroase.

The unresolved problems are numerous.

1

O atitudine binevoitoare este esențială.

A benevolent attitude is essential.

2

Proiectele ambițioase necesită resurse considerabile.

Ambitious projects require considerable resources.

3

Ea a demonstrat o capacitate analitică deosebită.

She demonstrated a remarkable analytical capacity.

4

Discuțiile aprinse au dus la concluzii neașteptate.

Heated discussions led to unexpected conclusions.

1

O retorică persuasivă poate influența opinia publică.

Persuasive rhetoric can influence public opinion.

2

Această nuanță semantică este crucială pentru interpretare.

This semantic nuance is crucial for interpretation.

3

Suntem martorii unei transformări structurale profunde.

We are witnessing a profound structural transformation.

4

Eforturile susținute au generat rezultate excepționale.

Sustained efforts generated exceptional results.

Easily Confused

Gendered Adjectives vs Masculine vs. Neuter

Neuter nouns look masculine in the singular.

Gendered Adjectives vs Adjective position

Learners often put adjectives before the noun.

Gendered Adjectives vs Definite article suffix

Mixing up the article and the adjective ending.

Errores comunes

✗

fată bun

✓

fată bună

Feminine nouns need feminine adjectives.
✗

băieți bun

✓

băieți buni

Plural nouns need plural adjectives.
✗

masă mare

✓

masă mare

Wait, this is correct, but learners often try to add an 'ă' to 'mare' which is wrong.
✗

câine bună

✓

câine bun

Câine is masculine.
✗

fete bun

✓

fete bune

Plural feminine needs 'e'.
✗

scaune bun

✓

scaune bune

Neuter plural acts like feminine.
✗

oameni bun

✓

oameni buni

Plural agreement is mandatory.
✗

această om

✓

acest om

Demonstrative agreement.
✗

fete frumoși

✓

fete frumoase

Adjective must match feminine plural.
✗

băieți frumoase

✓

băieți frumoși

Adjective must match masculine plural.
✗

oameni mare

✓

oameni mari

Plural adjective required.
✗

femei inteligent

✓

femei inteligente

Plural agreement.
✗

bărbat inteligentă

✓

bărbat inteligent

Gender mismatch.

Sentence Patterns

___ este ___.

Am o ___ ___.

Ei sunt ___ ___.

Această ___ este ___.

Real World Usage

Social Media constant

O zi minunată!

Texting constant

Ești bun?

Job Interview common

Sunt o persoană responsabilă.

Ordering Food very common

O cafea neagră, vă rog.

Travel common

Hotelul este mare.

Food Delivery App common

Pizza delicioasă.

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💡

Check the Noun

Always look at the noun first. Its gender dictates the adjective.
⚠️

Don't Forget Plurals

Plural nouns need plural adjectives. It's a common trap.
🎯

Listen to Natives

Pay attention to how they link adjectives to nouns in speech.
💬

Be Polite

Using the correct form shows you care about the language.

Smart Tips

Check the last letter of the noun before picking an adjective.

fată bun → fată bună

Always check if the adjective is also in plural form.

fete bună → fete bune

Treat it as masculine in singular and feminine in plural.

scaune buni → scaune bune

Double-check every adjective-noun pair for agreement.

oameni inteligent → oameni inteligenți

Pronunciación

bună [bu-nuh]

Final -ă

Pronounced like the 'a' in 'about'.

buni [bu-ny]

Final -i

Often a soft 'i' sound, almost silent.

Declarative

Casa este mare. ↘

Falling intonation for statements.

Memorize It

Mnemonic

Remember: 'A' for feminine (fată bună), 'I' for masculine plural (băieți buni).

Visual Association

Imagine a girl wearing a dress with an 'A' on it, and a group of boys wearing shirts with an 'I' on them.

Rhyme

For the girl, add an 'ă', for the boys, add an 'i', keep it simple, don't be shy!

Story

Maria is a 'fată bună'. Her brothers are 'băieți buni'. They all live in a 'casă mare'.

Word Web

bunmaremicfrumosnouvechi

Desafío

Look around your room and name 5 objects with their adjectives (e.g., 'masa este mare').

Notas culturales

Romanians value descriptive language. Using the correct adjective shows respect for the language.

Romanian adjectives evolved from Latin, keeping the gender system intact.

Conversation Starters

“

Cum este vremea?

“

Cum este prietenul tău?

“

Ce părere ai despre acest film?

“

Cum descrii orașul tău?

Journal Prompts

Describe your best friend.
Describe your favorite food.
Write about a beautiful day you had.
Describe your dream house.
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Test Yourself

Fill in the correct adjective form.

Fata este ___ (bun).

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: bună
Fata is feminine singular.
Choose the correct sentence. Opción múltiple

Which is correct?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Băiat bun
Băiat is masculine singular.
Fix the error. Error Correction

Find and fix the mistake:

Fete bun.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Fete bune
Fete is feminine plural.
Make plural. Sentence Transformation

Băiatul este bun. ->

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Băieții sunt buni
Pluralize both noun and adjective.
Match noun to adjective. Match Pairs

Match each item on the left with its pair on the right:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: bună
Fată is feminine.
Select the correct adjective. Opción múltiple

Mașini ___ (nou).

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: noi
Mașini is feminine plural.
Fill in the blank.

Scaun ___ (mare).

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: mare
Mare is invariant in singular.
Build the sentence. Sentence Building

este / frumoasă / fata

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Fata este frumoasă
Standard SVO order.

Score: /8

Ejercicios de practica

8 exercises
Fill in the correct adjective form.

Fata este ___ (bun).

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: bună
Fata is feminine singular.
Choose the correct sentence. Opción múltiple

Which is correct?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Băiat bun
Băiat is masculine singular.
Fix the error. Error Correction

Find and fix the mistake:

Fete bun.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Fete bune
Fete is feminine plural.
Make plural. Sentence Transformation

Băiatul este bun. ->

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Băieții sunt buni
Pluralize both noun and adjective.
Match noun to adjective. Match Pairs

Match: Fată - ?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: bună
Fată is feminine.
Select the correct adjective. Opción múltiple

Mașini ___ (nou).

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: noi
Mașini is feminine plural.
Fill in the blank.

Scaun ___ (mare).

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: mare
Mare is invariant in singular.
Build the sentence. Sentence Building

este / frumoasă / fata

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Fata este frumoasă
Standard SVO order.

Score: /8

Preguntas frecuentes (8)

Most do, but some like 'mare' (big) are the same for masculine and feminine singular.

It's a mix. Singular neuter acts like masculine, plural neuter acts like feminine.

Usually after the noun. 'Băiat bun', not 'bun băiat'.

Because 'băieți' is plural masculine, so the adjective must also be plural masculine.

It takes practice, but the rules are very consistent.

No, that will sound very incorrect to native speakers.

A few, but focus on the main patterns first.

Look at the ending. Consonants are usually masculine, -ă/-a are feminine.

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In Other Languages

Spanish high

Adjective agreement

Romanian has a neuter gender.

French moderate

Adjective agreement

Romanian endings are almost always pronounced.

German partial

Adjective declension

German adjectives change based on case, not just gender.

Japanese none

None

Japanese is not an Indo-European language.

Arabic moderate

Gender agreement

Arabic has a dual number.

Chinese none

None

Chinese is an isolating language.

Previous
Adjective Agreement

Related Grammar Rules

A1

Adjective Placement
A1

Adjective Agreement Rules
A1

Descriptive Phrases
A1

Adjective Agreement
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