The Romanian Alphabet

The Romanian alphabet has 31 letters: the 26 of English plus ă, â, î, ș and ț. K, q, w and y appear only in foreign words and names. Tap any letter to hear its name in Romanian.

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All 31 letters

Tap any letter to hear its name in Romanian.

a say “ah” a as in “father”
ă say “uh” a weak “uh”, as the a in “about”
â din a say “uh deen ah” a deep, tense “uh” made further back than ă (no English equivalent); â and î are the same sound
be say “beh” b as in “bed”
ce say “cheh” k as in “kit”; ch as in “church” before e and i (che, chi = k)
de say “deh” d as in “dog”
e say “eh” e as in “bed”
ef f as in “fun”
ge say “jeh” g as in “go”; j as in “jam” before e and i (ghe, ghi = g)
haș say “hahsh” h as in “hat”
i say “ee” ee as in “see”; at the end of a word after a consonant, barely heard
î din i say “uh deen ee” a deep, tense “uh” made further back than ă (no English equivalent); â and î are the same sound
ji say “zhee” s as in “pleasure”
ca say “kah” k as in “skip” (no puff of air)
el l as in “let”
em m as in “man”
en n as in “no”
o say “oh” a short, pure o (no “oh-oo” glide)
pe say “peh” p as in “spin” (no puff of air)
chiu say “kyoo” k (only in foreign words)
er say “air” r: one quick tap of the tongue, like the tt in American “butter”
es s as in “sun”
șe say “sheh” sh as in “shop”
te say “teh” t as in “stop” (no puff of air)
Ț ț țe say “tseh” ts as in “cats”
u say “oo” oo as in “food”
ve say “veh” v as in “van”
dublu ve say “DOO-bloo veh” v or w (only in foreign words)
ics say “iks” ks as in “box”; gz in some words, as in “exam”
i grec say “ee grek” y as in “yes” or ee (only in foreign words)
zet z as in “zoo”

7 letters that sound different for English speakers

Not an a: a weak “uh”, as in “about” bărbat · man
A deep “uh” with no English equivalent lână · wool
The comma makes it sh, as in “shop” șase · six
The comma makes it ts, as in “cats” marți · Tuesday
Before e and i it is ch, as in “church” cinci · five
Before e and i it is j, as in “jam” fulger · lightning
Not the English j: the s of “pleasure” joi · Thursday

ce, ci, che, ghi and other letter groups

Letters	Example	Sound
ce · ci		ch as in “church”: ce = “cheh”, ci = “chee”
che · chi		The h keeps the c hard: k as in “kit”
ge · gi		j as in “jam”: ge = “jeh”, gi = “jee”
ghe · ghi		The h keeps the g hard: g as in “get”
â · î		The same sound: î at the start or end of a word, â inside it
-i		A final unstressed i after a consonant is barely heard (luni ≈ “loon’”)

A word for every letter

Each letter below has its name and a real word from the Flashcardly course (starting with the letter where one exists), with a picture and native audio.