Two Forms of 'is': 'e' and 'este' — Romanian Grammar

Romanian says is in two ways, and . They are one word, not two: the third person singular of , "to be". Any sentence built on one of them is equally correct with the other.

Full Form and Short Form

is the full form, and it is what writing and careful speech use. is the short one, and it dominates ordinary conversation, where it saves a syllable. Neither is wrong where the other stands, so a learner who says every time is always right.

Ea este profesoară.
She is a teacher.
Ea e profesoară.
She is a teacher.

Joined to a Pronoun

Hunger, thirst and cold are expressed as "to me is …", and there the short form pulls the pronoun onto itself, the two written as one unit joined by a hyphen. and are the same sentence: the pronoun drops its î and shrinks to . The joined one is what people say.

Mi-e foame.
I am hungry.

Reduced Once More

After a short word ending in a vowel, can shrink further, to -i hanging on the end of that word. This belongs to speech and to casual writing; formal writing keeps .

Nu-i nimic.
It is nothing.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Romanian course

132 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 2. A few of them, with the words “Two Forms of 'is': 'e' and 'este'” is about in bold:

Ea este prietena mea, Anna. Este studentă.
This is my friend, Anna. She is a student.
Lesson 2
Apa aceasta este rece. Apa aceea este caldă.
This water is cold. That water is hot.
Lesson 68
Unde este fiica noastră? - Este la școală.
Where is our daughter? - She's at school.
Lesson 242

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