The past tense is undoubtedly one of the most useful in any language. In Romanian the standard past tense form is “Perfectul Compus”, made up of an auxiliary and the main verb’s past participle. While the auxiliaries are easy to learn, the participles can be tricky, since there are as many exceptions as rules for them... Our suggestion? Take them one by one, learning first the most common simple forms. And then, as you become more advanced, also pay attention to the word order in structures with past tense verbs and object pronouns.
Before getting to practice all that, first watch this video.
Done? Now do the following 10 exercises, graded from easier to harder. Ready? Steady? Go! (Answer key at the end.)
1. Which of the two options in italics is correct?
„Noi nu avem / am ştiut că astăzi este şedinţă.”
2. Choose the right answer option to complete the sentence.
„Am …… foarte obosită aseară!”
A. fiut
B. fost
C. sunt
D. fostă
3. Complete the time adverb in this question with the missing letters.
“Cine ţi-a telefonat _ _ r _ după-amiază pe la 7?”
4. Correct the mistake in this sentence.
“Voi aveţi mers la Braşov weekendul trecut?”
5. Which auxiliary is missing from the sentence?
„Laura şi Matei …… dat o petrecere grozavă aseară.”
6. Put the words in the right order to get a question.
o | fericită | avut | copilărie | ai | ?
7. Which word should be crossed out in this question?
„Lui Nelu nu i-am explicat le cum ajunge la noi.”
8. What are the participle forms of these verbs: a şti, a merge, a spune, a vrea?
9. Which object pronoun is missing?
„Acum două ore am anunţat-…… pe Maria că am rezervat biletele.”
10. Which answer option best completes the sentence?
“Nouă doctorul nu ...... că trebuie să ţinem regim.”
A. ni-a spus
B. spus noi
C. ne-a spus
D. spusu-ne
International House Bucharest, through its Romanian Language Department, runs online and face-to-face Romanian courses and cultural integration workshops for foreigners living in Romania or interested in the country’s culture, language or history. For more information, click here. To enrol, contact romanian@ih.ro. You can also listen to our podcasts “Ascultă româneşte” and subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch our video series “Your Romanian class”.
Answer key
1 am; 2 B; 3 ieri; 4 aveţi aţi; 5 au; 6 “Ai avut o copilărie fericită?”; 7 le; 8 ştiut, mers, spus, vrut; 9 o; 10 C.
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