Expressing Necessity with 'trebuie' — Romanian Grammar

means "must / have to / need to". It is the main way to express obligation, and it has one feature that makes it easy: in the present it is impersonal - it stays as for every subject. You do not change it for "I", "you", "we" and so on.

'trebuie să' + Verb

The usual pattern is followed by a -clause (the subjunctive). The person is shown on the second verb, not on :

Trebuie să plec.
I have to leave.
Trebuie să plecăm.
We have to leave.
Trebuie să mergi la doctor.
You have to go to the doctor.

Notice never changes - only / / tells you who.

Saying 'must not'

Negate with in front:

Nu trebuie să mănânci asta.
You mustn't eat that.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Romanian course

20 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 8. A few of them, with the words “Expressing Necessity with 'trebuie'” is about in bold:

Trebuie să merg cu bicicleta până îmi cumpăr o mașină nouă.
I have to ride my bike until I get a new car.
Lesson 301
Trebuie să curăț toaleta. Este prea murdară.
I need to clean the toilet. It is too dirty.
Lesson 469

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