The 100 Most Common Romanian Words
These are the 100 most common Romanian words, ranked by how often they appear in real Romanian text and speech, drawn from published word-frequency research. Frequency-first learning works: a small core of high-frequency words does most of the work in everyday sentences, so mastering this list with spaced repetition gives you the fastest possible start.
| # | Word | Pronunciation | English meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | fi | fee | be |
| 2 | de | deh | of |
| 3 | și | shee | and |
| 4 | la | lah | at |
| 5 | în | uhn | in |
| 6 | un | oon | one |
| 7 | avea | ah-VYAH | have |
| 8 | că | kuh | that (conjunction) |
| 9 | nu | noo | no |
| 10 | cu | koo | with |
| 11 | pe | peh | on |
| 12 | el | yel | he |
| 13 | se | seh | self |
| 14 | care | KAH-reh | which |
| 15 | ce | cheh | what |
| 16 | mai | mahy | more |
| 17 | dar | dar | but |
| 18 | din | deen | from |
| 19 | ea | yah | she |
| 20 | eu | yeh-oo | I |
| 21 | tu | too | you (singular, informal) |
| 22 | noi | noy | we |
| 23 | voi | voy | you (plural) |
| 24 | acest | ah-CHEST | this |
| 25 | tot | toht | all |
| 26 | putea | poo-TYAH | can |
| 27 | spune | SPOO-neh | say |
| 28 | face | FAH-cheh | make |
| 29 | merge | MEHR-jeh | go |
| 30 | vedea | veh-DYAH | see |
| 31 | da | dah | give |
| 32 | an | ahn | year |
| 33 | timp | teemp | time |
| 34 | zi | zee | day |
| 35 | bun | boon | good |
| 36 | mare | MAH-reh | large |
| 37 | om | ohm | man |
| 38 | ști | shtee | know |
| 39 | vrea | vryah | want |
| 40 | unde | OON-deh | where |
| 41 | pentru | PEN-troo | for |
| 42 | atunci | ah-TOONCH | then (at that time; in that case) |
| 43 | acolo | ah-KOH-loh | there |
| 44 | dacă | DAH-kuh | if |
| 45 | când | kuhnd | when |
| 46 | acum | ah-KOOM | now |
| 47 | nou | noh | new |
| 48 | lucru | LOO-kroo | thing |
| 49 | viață | VYAH-tsuh | life |
| 50 | foarte | FWAR-teh | very |
| 51 | să | suh | to (subjunctive marker) |
| 52 | trebui | treh-BOOY | must |
| 53 | alt | ahlt | other |
| 54 | cine | CHEE-neh | who |
| 55 | bine | BEE-neh | well |
| 56 | mult | moolt | much |
| 57 | după | DOO-puh | after |
| 58 | până | PUH-nuh | until |
| 59 | prin | preen | through |
| 60 | fără | FUH-ruh | without |
| 61 | între | UHN-treh | between |
| 62 | sub | soob | under |
| 63 | peste | PES-teh | over |
| 64 | aici | ah-EECH | here |
| 65 | așa | ah-SHAH | like this |
| 66 | apoi | ah-POY | then (afterwards) |
| 67 | încă | UHN-kuh | still |
| 68 | doar | dwar | only |
| 69 | doi | doy | two |
| 70 | prim | preem | first |
| 71 | veni | veh-NEE | come |
| 72 | lua | loo-AH | take |
| 73 | ajunge | ah-ZHOON-jeh | arrive |
| 74 | crede | KREH-deh | believe |
| 75 | vorbi | vor-BEE | speak |
| 76 | începe | uhn-CHEH-peh | begin |
| 77 | rămâne | ruh-MUH-neh | stay (remain) |
| 78 | găsi | guh-SEE | find |
| 79 | pleca | pleh-KAH | leave (depart) |
| 80 | înțelege | uhn-tseh-LEH-jeh | understand |
| 81 | aștepta | ash-tep-TAH | wait |
| 82 | întreba | uhn-treh-BAH | ask |
| 83 | gândi | guhn-DEE | think |
| 84 | simți | seem-TSEE | feel |
| 85 | casă | KAH-suh | house |
| 86 | loc | lohk | place |
| 87 | parte | PAR-teh | part |
| 88 | lume | LOO-meh | world (people) |
| 89 | țară | TSAH-ruh | country |
| 90 | fel | fel | way (kind) |
| 91 | femeie | feh-MEH-yeh | woman |
| 92 | copil | koh-PEEL | child |
| 93 | mână | MUH-nuh | hand |
| 94 | cuvânt | koo-VUHNT | word |
| 95 | nimic | nee-MEEK | nothing |
| 96 | ceva | cheh-VAH | something |
| 97 | azi | ahz | today |
| 98 | noapte | NWAHP-teh | night |
| 99 | da | dah | yes |
| 100 | mereu | meh-REH-oo | always |
Ranked by lemma frequency in published Romanian corpus research; proper nouns, numbers, and duplicates removed. Pronunciation is a respelling guide, not phonetic notation.
Romanian belongs to the Indo-European (Romance) family - if you enjoy it, a natural next step is Italian, French or Spanish.
Useful phrases in Romanian
- Bună ziua · BOO-nuh ZEE-wah · Hello / Good day
- Ce mai faci? · cheh migh FAHCH · How are you?
- Mulțumesc · mool-tsoo-MESK · Thank you
- Vă rog · vuh ROHG · Please
- Mă numesc... · muh noo-MESK · My name is...
- Unde este...? · OON-deh YES-teh · Where is...?
- La revedere · lah reh-veh-DEH-reh · Goodbye
- Scuzați-mă · skoo-ZAHTS-mah · Excuse me
- Nu înțeleg · noo un-tse-LEG · I don't understand
- Mă puteți ajuta? · mah poo-TETS ah-zhoo-TAH · Can you help me?
- Cât costă? · kut KOS-tah · How much is it?
- Pe mâine! · peh MUY-neh · See you tomorrow!
Frequently asked questions about Romanian words
How many Romanian words do you need for a basic conversation?
Frequency research shows the 1,000 most common words cover roughly 85 percent of everyday speech, and the top 100 alone appear in almost every sentence. You can manage simple exchanges with a few hundred words; this list is the foundation to build on.
What is the fastest way to memorize these 100 words?
Spaced repetition: review each word just before you would forget it, at growing intervals. It moves vocabulary into long-term memory far faster than rereading a list. Turn the 100 words into flashcards and review a small batch daily; the whole list fits into two to three weeks.
Are 100 words enough to speak Romanian?
No. One hundred words let you recognize the skeleton of most sentences, but not hold a real conversation. They are the right starting point: after this list, grow toward the most common 1,000 words and start speaking practice early, even with simple phrases.
Where does this Romanian word list come from?
From published Romanian word-frequency research: lemma-ranked corpus lists cleaned for learners, with proper nouns, numbers, and duplicates removed. Rankings are approximate, since real usage varies by region and register, but the core is stable across corpora.