Learn Romanian Basics
Romanian Alphabet
The Romanian Alphabet
Good news: if you know the English alphabet, you're already most of the way to knowing the Romanian one. Romanian uses a 31-letter version of the familiar Latin alphabet. The main difference lies in five special letters with diacritics, which are small marks that alter a letter's pronunciation.
Romanian uses the Latin alphabet with 31 letters, including five special characters: ă, â, î, ș, and ț.
Once you learn the sounds these letters make, you'll find Romanian pronunciation to be quite straightforward. Unlike English, Romanian is a highly phonetic language. This means words are generally pronounced exactly as they are spelled, which makes reading and speaking much easier.
Meet the Special Letters
Let's break down the five letters that are unique to Romanian. Mastering their sounds is the first big step toward speaking the language clearly.
| Letter | Pronunciation Guide |
|---|---|
| Ă / ă | Like the a in "sofa" or the u in "uh-oh." It's the most common vowel sound in Romanian. |
| Â / â | A sound that doesn't exist in English. It's a tight, throat-y sound, similar to the noise you might make when lifting something heavy. |
| Î / î | Makes the exact same sound as â. There are historical spelling rules for when to use each, but you don't need to worry about that now. Just remember: â = î. |
| Ș / ș | Like the sh in "shoe." |
| Ț / ț | Like the ts in "cats." |
Let's see these letters in action with a few examples.
apple
dog
in
fish
arm
Other Key Sounds
Besides the special letters, a few familiar letters and letter combinations have specific pronunciations in Romanian that differ from English. Getting these right will make you sound much more natural.
The letter J is always pronounced like the 's' in "measure" or the 'z' in "azure." Think of the French 'j' sound.
The letter R is always rolled or "trilled," similar to the Spanish 'r'.
The combinations 'ce', 'ci', 'ge', and 'gi' also follow consistent rules.
| Combination | Sound | English Example |
|---|---|---|
| ce | 'ch' | cheese |
| ci | 'ch' | chin |
| ge | 'j' | jem |
| gi | 'j' | jiant |
When these same consonants are followed by other vowels (a, o, u) or are at the end of a word, they have a "hard" sound, just like in English. For example, 'ca' is pronounced like in "car," and 'go' is pronounced like in "go."
That's the foundation of the Romanian alphabet. By practicing these key sounds, you're building the skills needed to read and pronounce any word you come across.