Appendix:Romanian nouns/Neuter

Neuter nouns function as if they were masculine in the singular, and feminine in the plural.

Take, for example, the noun "lucru" and the adjective "bun".

  • a good thing – un lucru bun (masculine singular adjective)
  • some good things – niște lucruri bune (feminine plural adjective)

Nominative/Accusative case edit

Indefinite/Base forms edit

Singular edit

Neuter nouns generally end in consonants, -u, -e or -i. Masculine can also end in all of these, so to differentiate, see the following.

Neuter nouns ending in consonants will usually end in:

  • m (-ism),
  • t (-ment, -mânt, -ut) or
  • j (-aj)

Masculine nouns ending in consonants will generally end in:

  • r (-or, -tor, -ar, -er)
  • c (-ic),
  • t (-ist),
  • n (-an, -ean, -ân) or
  • z (-ez)

Plurals edit

Neuter nouns are not as easy to form into plurals as masculine nouns. The only two endings whose plural forms are always the same are -iu and -e, although there are a few -iu nouns with the irregular plural ending -ie.

singular plural
-consonant + -uri
un loc_ două locuri
un pat_ două paturi
-consonant + -e
un apartament_ două apartamente
un spirit_ două spirite
-u + -ri
un lucru_ două lucruri
un birou_ două birouri
-u changes to -e
un muzeu două muzee
un teatru două teatre
-iu changes to -ii
un fotoliu două fotolii
un mileniu două milenii
-i + -e
un tramvai_ două tramvaie
-i + -uri
un taxi_ două taxiuri
-e has no change
un nume două nume
un spate două spate

A few exceptions:

With the definite article edit

Singular edit

singular indefinite singular definite
If the noun ends in a consonant or i, add -ul
dicționar_ dicționarul
tramvai_ tramvaiul
If the noun ends in a u, add -l
lucru_ lucrul
teatru_ teatrul
If the noun ends in e, add -le
nume_ numele
spate_ spatele

Plural edit

Forming the definite article for neuter nouns in the plural is very simple, and identical to the rule for feminine nouns. Simply take the plural form of the noun and add -le

indefinite plural definite plural
lucruri_ lucrurile
paturi_ paturile
teatre_ teatrele
nume_ numele

Genitive/Dative case edit

With the indefinite article edit

Singular edit

With the indefinite article in the singular, "un" simply changes to "unui". There is no change in the noun itself.

indefinite nom/acc singular indefinite gen/dat singular
un lucru unui lucru

Plural edit

As with the singular, "niște" (some) changes to "unor". Again, the noun takes no change in form.

indefinite nom/acc plural indefinite gen/dat plural
niște lucruri unor lucruri

With the definite article edit

Singular edit

definite nom/acc singular definite gen/dat singular
For most nouns, you simply add ui to the definite nom/acc singular
lucrul_ lucrului
dicționarul_ dicționarului
If the noun ends in e, the e is replaced by ui
numele_ numelui

Plural edit

To form the genitive/dative plural of neuter nouns, simply add -lor to the plural form of the word.

definite nom/acc plural definite gen/dat plural
lucruri_ lucrurilor
numele_ numelor

Examples edit

lucru - thing edit

singular plural
gender n indefinite article definite article indefinite article definite article
Nom/Acc un lucru lucrul niște lucruri lucrurile
Gen/Dat unui lucru lucrului unor lucruri lucrurilor

nume - name edit

singular plural
gender n indefinite article definite article indefinite article definite article
Nom/Acc un nume numele niște nume numele
Gen/Dat unui nume numelui unor nume numelor

substantiv - noun edit

singular plural
gender n indefinite article definite article indefinite article definite article
Nom/Acc un substantiv substantivul niște substantive substantivele
Gen/Dat unui substantiv substantivului unor substantive substantivelor