100 Essential Romanian Words for Beginners (with English Translations)

Greetings & basics

16 words

English	Romanian	Type
hello	bună ziua	interjection
goodbye	la revedere	interjection
yes	da	interjection
no	nu	interjection
please	vă rog	interjection
thank you	mulțumesc	interjection
sorry	îmi pare rău	interjection
and	și	conjunction
but	dar	conjunction
or	sau	conjunction
because	pentru că	conjunction
here	aici	adverb
there	acolo	adverb
always	mereu	adverb
never	niciodată	adverb
together	împreună	adverb

People & family

14 words

English	Romanian	Type
man	bărbat	noun
woman	femeie	noun
boy	băiat	noun
girl	fată	noun
friend	prieten	noun
mother	mamă	noun
father	tată	noun
brother	frate	noun
sister	soră	noun
son	fiu	noun
daughter	fiică	noun
child	copil	noun
husband	soț	noun
wife	soție	noun

Everyday verbs

16 words

English	Romanian	Type
to be	a fi	verb
to have	a avea	verb
to do	a face	verb
to go	a merge	verb
to come	a veni	verb
to eat	a mânca	verb
to drink	a bea	verb
to want	a vrea	verb
to need	a avea nevoie	verb
to know	a ști	verb
to speak	a vorbi	verb
to read	a citi	verb
to write	a scrie	verb
to listen	a asculta	verb
to work	a lucra	verb
to buy	a cumpăra	verb

Describing words

10 words

English	Romanian	Type
good	bun	adjective
bad	rău	adjective
new	nou	adjective
old	bătrân	adjective
young	tânăr	adjective
tall	înalt	adjective
short	scund	adjective
nice	drăguț	adjective
kind	amabil	adjective
shy	timid	adjective

Colors

8 words

English	Romanian	Type
red	roșu	adjective
blue	albastru	adjective
green	verde	adjective
yellow	galben	adjective
black	negru	adjective
white	alb	adjective
orange	portocaliu	adjective
purple	mov	adjective

Numbers

12 words

English	Romanian	Type
one	unu	number
two	doi	number
three	trei	number
four	patru	number
five	cinci	number
six	șase	number
seven	șapte	number
eight	opt	number
nine	nouă	number
ten	zece	number
zero	zero	number
twenty	douăzeci	number

Time

10 words

English	Romanian	Type
today	azi	adverb
tomorrow	mâine	adverb
yesterday	ieri	adverb
morning	dimineață	noun
afternoon	după-amiază	noun
evening	seară	noun
night	noapte	noun
day	zi	noun
week	săptămână	noun
month	lună	noun

Food & drink

10 words

English	Romanian	Type
water	apă	noun
coffee	cafea	noun
tea	ceai	noun
milk	lapte	noun
bread	pâine	noun
cheese	brânză	noun
fruit	fructe	noun
apple	măr	noun
egg	ou	noun
rice	orez	noun

Home

4 words

English	Romanian	Type
house	casă	noun
door	ușă	noun
window	fereastră	noun
bed	pat	noun

Emoji: Twemoji, CC-BY 4.0

Learn these Romanian words for good

Watch Your LanguageVocabulary widgets for iPhone & Apple Watch

A list is where learning starts, not where it ends. Watch Your Language puts Romanian words like these on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, so you see a few every time you check the time, and it schedules the repeats so the words you keep forgetting come back more often.

You can add your own words too, from a photo, a page of notes or a spreadsheet.

Keep going with Romanian

Romanian vocabulary by topicLonger word lists, one topic at a time

Romanian for beginners questions

What are the first Romanian words to learn?

Start with the words you use every day: greetings, numbers, the days and times, food, family and a handful of verbs. For Romanian that means words like bună ziua (hello), mulțumesc (thank you), apă (water) and a mânca (to eat). The list above groups 100 of them by topic.

How is Romanian written?

Romanian uses the Latin alphabet, so you can read the words above without learning a new script. 43 of the 100 words contain a letter or mark outside plain a–z, so learn those alongside the spelling.

Is 100 words enough to speak Romanian?

No. This is a starting set: enough to greet people, count, talk about time, name food and family, and say what you want or need. Conversation needs more words, and above all hearing and using them. Treat the list as the first step, then add words from topics you care about.

How do I remember these Romanian words?

Read a few at a time, say them out loud, and come back to them on a schedule rather than once. Watch Your Language puts words like these in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and brings back the ones you keep forgetting more often.