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Acordul

The adjective copies its noun — U04, part 1. Four form-classes, complete. Plus 12 words for family and describing people, each tied to something you already hold.

e the ending that changes oa a change inside the stem m masculine f feminine n neuter

① Where this sits

Field	This block
Topic	Adjectives and comparison — 2 aspects
This section	Adjective agreement: complete — all four form-classes
Coverage of the topic	1 of 2
Deferred	comparative and superlative (mai mare, cel mai mare) → U17
Serves	R · W

Why complete is safe here: an adjective has exactly four slots to fill — masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, feminine plural. So it can have 4, 3, 2 or 1 distinct forms and nothing else. The list below is the whole space, not a selection from it.

② The whole system

A. The grid is four cells, not six

Romanian has three genders but only two agreement patterns. A neuter noun has no adjective form of its own: it borrows the masculine in the singular and the feminine in the plural — which is the same sentence you already know as the definition of neuter, now visible on the adjective.

	singular	plural
m un frate…	bun	buni
f o soră…	bună	bune
n un scaun…	bun — the masculine cell	bune — the feminine cell

un frate bun, doi frați buni. o soră bună, două surori bune. un scaun bun, două scaune bune.

a good brother, two good brothers. a good sister, two good sisters. a good chair, two good chairs.

B. The four form-classes

Every adjective in the language belongs to one of these four, counted by how many different words appear in its four slots.

Class	m. sg	f. sg	m. pl	f. pl	Recognise it by
4 forms most adjectives	bun	bună	buni	bune	the default — assume this unless something below applies
3 forms the two plurals merge	mic	mică	mici	mici	short native stems in c or g: mic, lung, drag, larg. Also stems in -u: nou → nouă, noi, noi
2 forms gender does nothing	mare	mare	mari	mari	the masculine singular ends in -e: mare, verde, dulce, tare
1 form never moves	maro	maro	maro	maro	borrowed colour words: maro, roz, gri, bej

The one that will catch you. The -ic ending of a borrowed word is not the short c-stem above. simpatic ("nice, likeable") has all four forms — simpatic, simpatică, simpatici, simpatice — while mic has three. Check a word ending in -c rather than betting on it.

③ What you actually have to store

One fact per adjective: its masculine singular form. The class usually falls out of that form's own ending, and the three endings never vary.

The endings are fixed. You already drilled them on nouns:

f singular	add -ă
m plural	add -i
f plural	add -e

And here the adjective is easier than the noun. The noun plural makes you choose between -e and -i with nothing to decide it — that is the coin flip you have been losing. The adjective has no such choice: feminine plural is -e, masculine plural is -i, every time. There is no -uri on an adjective anywhere in the language.

Stem changes still run, and they are the ones you already have. An ending in -ă or -e reaches back and opens o into oa: frumos → frumoasă. Same table as the plurals — nothing new to learn.

frumos, frumoasă, frumoși, frumoase.

beautiful — the four forms

④ What is different from Ukrainian

The concept maps directly. Ukrainian already does this: добрий / добра / добре / добрі. You do not have to learn the idea that an adjective moves with its noun — only three specific differences.

1. The adjective comes after the noun

This is the difference that will cost you marks, because all three of your languages put it in front.

Ukrainian	English	Romanian
велика хата	a big house	o casă mare — literally "a house big"
добрий брат	a good brother	un frate bun

o casă mare. un frate bun. o floare frumoasă.

a big house. a good brother. a beautiful flower.

2. There is no third form for the neuter

Ukrainian gives the neuter its own adjective — добре. Romanian does not. un scaun bun uses the masculine word, două scaune bune uses the feminine word, and there is no third one to look for.

3. Not every adjective has four forms

Ukrainian adjectives all carry a full set, so a Romanian adjective that refuses to move feels broken. It is not. o casă mare is correct; there is no such word as mară. Expect your hand to want to add the -ă and stop it.

⑤ Worked examples

un frate bun → doi frați buni

brother, masculine. Plural noun takes -i, so the adjective takes -i too. The noun's own stem changes as well: frate → frați, t → ț.

o soră bună → două surori bune

sister, feminine. Feminine singular -ă, feminine plural -e. The noun is irregular — soră → surori — but the adjective is not. The adjective never inherits the noun's irregularity.

un scaun mare → două scaune mari

chair, neuter, with a 2-form adjective. Singular: masculine cell, so mare unchanged. Plural: feminine cell — but mare has only one plural form, mari, for both genders. Two rules stacked, one word out.

o mamă frumoasă → două mame frumoase

The -ă and the -e both open o to oa, so the stem looks the same in three of the four forms. Only the masculine singular frumos keeps the plain o.

un frate bun, doi frați buni. o soră bună, două surori bune. un scaun mare, două scaune mari. o mamă frumoasă, două mame frumoase.

the four worked examples, singular then plural

⑥ Named here, taught later

What	Arrives in
al / a / ai / ale — the possessive article	U04, part 2 — the next session
meu / mea / mei / mele — "my", and the rest of the possessives	U04, part 2
Diphthongs as a sound topic — ea, ia, oa, ua and the semivowels	U04, part 2
The definite article landing on the adjective — frumosul oraș	U05
mai mare, cel mai mare — comparative and superlative	U17
acest / acel — this and that	U17
Putting the adjective before the noun for emphasis	a style choice, not A1 — ignore it for now

⑦ Try it — every adjective here is new

Six items. None of these six adjectives appears anywhere else on this page, so the answer cannot be read off a table above. Say the whole phrase, then reveal.

1. o stradă + curat — "clean" (4 forms)

o stradă curată — a clean street. Feminine singular, so -ă. And it goes after the noun.

2. doi prieteni + înalt — "tall" (4 forms)

doi prieteni înalți — two tall friends. Masculine plural -i, and the -i reaches back: t → ț, exactly as in frate → frați.

3. două ferestre + deschis — "open" (4 forms)

două ferestre deschise — two open windows. Feminine plural -e.

4. un telefon + scump — "expensive" (4 forms)

un telefon scump — an expensive telephone. Neuter singular takes the masculine cell, and the masculine singular is the bare form. Nothing is added. Careful: scump looks like Ukrainian скупий but does not mean "stingy" — it means expensive, or dear.

5. două scaune + murdar — "dirty" (4 forms)

două scaune murdare — two dirty chairs. Neuter plural takes the feminine cell, so -e.

6. două uși + roșu — "red" (3 forms: roșu, roșie, roșii, roșii)

două uși roșii — two red doors. A 3-form adjective: both plurals are roșii, so you do not have to decide which gender you are in once you know it is plural.

⑧ Carry this away

The adjective goes after the noun and copies it: -ă feminine singular · -i masculine plural · -e feminine plural. A neuter noun takes the masculine form in the singular and the feminine form in the plural.

⑨ The 12 new words

Six family words and six adjectives. Every one carries an anchor — this is the session that tests whether an anchor is what makes a word survive. Switch mode to hide one side, then click a row to reveal it.

Family

	Romanian	English	Gender + plural	Anchor
o familie family o familie, două familii family — singular, then plural	familie···	family···	f familii···	EN family. Careful: UA фамілія means surname — the UA word for family is сім'я.···
o mamă mother o mamă, două mame mother — singular, then plural	mamă···	mother···	f mame···	UA мама — the same word.···
un tată father un tată, doi tați father — singular, then plural	tată···	father···	m tați···	UA тато. Masculine although it ends in -ă — for a person, sex outranks the ending, and gate 1 does not run.···
un frate brother un frate, doi frați brother — singular, then plural	frate···	brother···	m frați···	EN fraternal, fraternity — Latin frater. Ends in -e and is alive, so gate 2 makes it masculine.···
o soră sister o soră, două surori sister — singular, then plural	soră···	sister···	f surori···	EN sorority — Latin soror. The plural is irregular twice over: o → u and an extra syllable.···
un bunic, o bunică grandfather, grandmother un bunic, doi bunici. o bunică, două bunici. grandfather and grandmother — singular, then plural	bunic · bunică···	grandfather · grandmother···	m bunici · f bunici···	Sits on bun, "good" — one of today's adjectives. Both plurals are the same word.···

Adjectives

	Romanian (m. sg)	English	f. sg · m. pl · f. pl	Anchor
bun good bun, bună, buni, bune good — the four forms	bun···	good···	bună · buni · bune···	EN bonus, bounty — Latin bonus. You already say it every day: bună ziua.···
frumos beautiful frumos, frumoasă, frumoși, frumoase beautiful — the four forms	frumos···	beautiful, handsome···	frumoasă · frumoși · frumoase···	Latin forma — "well-formed". The o opens to oa before -ă and -e, the rule you already run on plurals.···
mic small mic, mică, mici, mici small — the three forms	mic···	small, little···	mică · mici · mici (3 forms)···	EN micro. A short c-stem, so both plurals merge into mici.···
mare big mare, mare, mari, mari big — the two forms	mare···	big, large···	mare · mari · mari (2 forms)···	Ends in -e, so gender does nothing. Watch out: marea is also a feminine noun meaning "the sea".···
verde green verde, verde, verzi, verzi green — the two forms	verde···	green···	verde · verzi · verzi (2 forms)···	EN verdant. Another -e adjective. The -i reaches back: d → z, same as oglindă → oglinzi.···
maro brown ochi maro, o casă maro, doi ochi maro brown eyes, a brown house, two brown eyes — the word never changes	maro···	brown···	maro · maro · maro (1 form)···	EN maroon, French marron, a chestnut. Borrowed, so it never takes an ending.···

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