Understanding noun genders and cases is a major milestone when you learn Romanian.

Romanian is the only Romance language that kept the case system from Latin.

It also features three distinct noun genders instead of just two.

This grammar structure might seem unfamiliar at first glance.

However, breaking it down into simple rules makes it very easy to master.

I’ll explain exactly how Romanian noun genders and cases work with clear examples.

The three Romanian noun genders

Romanian nouns are categorized into three genders.

These genders are masculine, feminine, and neuter.

The concept of masculine and feminine exists in Spanish, French, and Italian.

The neuter gender is a unique feature of Romanian.

A neuter noun acts like a masculine noun in its singular form.

When a neuter noun becomes plural, it acts exactly like a feminine noun.

This simply means you use masculine adjectives for one item and feminine adjectives for two or more items.

How to identify Romanian noun genders

You can usually tell a noun’s gender by looking at its final letter.

This is called the noun’s ending.

Let’s look at counting examples to see the neuter gender in action.

We count masculine nouns with the words “un” (one) and “doi” (two).

We count feminine nouns with the words “o” (one) and “două” (two).

We count neuter nouns with the words “un” (one) and “două” (two).

The five Romanian noun cases

Romanian has five grammatical cases.

A case simply shows the role of a noun in a sentence.

The case tells you if the noun is the subject, the direct object, or showing possession.

In Romanian, the noun changes its ending depending on its case.

The definite article is attached directly to the end of the noun in Romanian.

Because of this, the case changes are mostly seen at the very end of the word.

To make things easier, we group the five cases into three distinct categories.

Nominative and accusative share the exact same forms.

Genitive and dative also share the exact same forms.

The vocative case stands entirely alone.

Nominative and accusative cases

The nominative case is used for the subject of the sentence.

The subject is the person or thing performing the action.

The accusative case is used for the direct object of the sentence.

The direct object receives the action of the verb.

In Romanian, nouns don’t change their form between the nominative and accusative cases.

Notice how the word for “the boy” remains exactly the same in both sentences.

Genitive and dative cases

The genitive case shows possession or ownership.

It translates to “of the” or using an apostrophe ‘s’ in English.

The dative case shows the indirect object.

It translates to giving or showing something “to” someone.

Feminine nouns change their endings significantly in the genitive and dative cases.

For feminine nouns, the singular genitive and dative form looks exactly like the plural nominative form with an added “-i”.

Masculine and neuter singular nouns behave differently.

They take the ending “-ului” to show genitive or dative possession.

Proper names for men follow a separate rule.

Instead of changing the end of the noun, you place the word “lui” before the name.

Vocative case

The vocative case is used when you’re directly calling out to someone.

You use it specifically to get someone’s attention.

Masculine nouns usually take the ending “-ule” or “-e” in the vocative case.

Feminine nouns sometimes take the ending “-o”.

In modern, informal Romanian, many people drop the vocative endings entirely.

It’s very common to just use the basic nominative form when speaking to friends or family.

Using the specific vocative endings can sometimes sound rustic or overly dramatic depending on the region.

For everyday conversations, you’ll be perfectly understood without stressing over the vocative case.