Romanian 101
Alfabetul
(The Alphabet)
Letter Romanian English Sound Sounds like Romanian Words
Name
A a
a
/a/
“a” in father
albină (bee); alb (white); avion (airplane)
Ă ă
ă
/ə/
“a” in about
băiat (boy); fată (girl); masă (table)
 â
â (â din a)
/ɨ/
no equivalent sound
in English phonetics
cântec (song); mână (hand); mâncare (food)
B b
bî/be
/b/
“b” in ball
barcă (boat); bine (good); bar (bar)
C c
cî/ce
/k/
“c” in class
cal (horse); casă (house); cutie (box)
D d
dî/de
/d/
“d” in door
doctor (doctor); da (yes); dinte (tooth)
E e
e
/e/ “e” in merry
/je/ “ye” in yes
elefant (elephant)
el (he); ea (she)
F f
fî/ef/fe /f/ “f” in far
farfurie (plate); floare (flower); femeie (woman)
G g
gî/ge /ɡ/ “g” in goat
garaj (garage); grădină (garden); greutate (weight)
H h
/hî/haș /h/ “h” in house
haină (coat); hartă (map); hârtie (paper)
I i
i /i/ “i” in machine
ieri (yesterday); iarnă (winter); idee (idea)
Î î
î (î din i) /ɨ/ no equivalent sound
in English phonetics
început (beginning); întuneric (dark); în (in)
J j
jî/je /ʒ/ “s” in pleasure
jucărie (toy); jurnal (journal); jos (down)
K k
capa /k/ “k” in like
kilogram (kilogram)
L l
lî/el/le /l/ “l” in lamp
lampă (lamp); lac (lake); lumină (light)
M m
mî/em/me /m/ “m” in mouth
mare (big); mic (small); măr (apple)
N n
nî/en/ne /n/ “n” in north
nas (nose); nor (cloud); nucă (walnut)
O o
o /o/ “o” in floor
ou (egg); om (man); oaie (sheep)
P p
pî/pe /p/ “p” in pot
pasăre (bird); părinte (parent); pe (on)
Q q
chiu
in foreign words only*
R r
rî/er/re /r/ “r” in Roma
război (war); radio (radio); râu (river)
S s
sî/se /s/ “s” in song
soare (sun); scurt (short); sare (salt)
Ș ș
șî/şe /ʃ/ “s” in sugar
şi (and); şase (six); şapte (seven)
T t
tî/te /t/ “t” in tip
tată (father), trandafir (rose); tablou (painting)
Ț ț
ţî/țe /ts/ “zz” in pizza
ţară (country), ţelină (celery); cuţit (knife)
U u
u /u/ “u” in push
urs (bear); unt (butter); urât (ugly)
V v
vî/ve /v/ “v” in vision
vulpe (fox); vioară (violin); verde (green)
W w
dublu vî/dublu ve
in foreign words only*
X x
ics /ks/ “x” in six
/gz/ “x” in exhausted
extraordinar (extraordinary)
exemplu (example)
Yy
igrec
in foreign words only*
Z z
zî/ze /z/ “z” in zipper
zero (zero); zâmbet (smile); zar (dice)
*Words of foreign origin: quasar; watt; web; yoga; yacht, etc
- The letters “î” and “â” are phonetically identical, but “â” is only used inside the words.
- The position of stress in a word can fall on any sylables in Romanian.
Examples: pasăre (bird); femeie (woman); dormitor (bedroom).