Learn the Romanian Alphabet

Alfabetul limbii române

Learn to read the Romanian Alphabet (Alfabetul limbii române): all 31 letters with names, sounds and audio, plus flashcards, listening, typing and matching practice.

Letter	Name	Latin letters	Sound
A a	A	a	a as in father (casă)
Ă ă	Ă	ă	a relaxed 'uh', like the a in sofa (mă, casă)
Â â	Â	â	a deep 'ih' made with the tongue pulled back, as if saying 'ee' with a frown; same sound as î, written inside words (român)
B b	Be	b	b as in bed
C c	Ce	c	k as in kite (cal); ch as in church before e and i (cer); che and chi are hard 'ke', 'ki' (chec)
D d	De	d	d as in dog
E e	E	e	e as in bed (verde); 'ye' at the start of some words (el, este)
F f	Fe	f	f as in fish
G g	Ge	g	hard g as in go (gură); j as in jam before e and i (ger); ghe and ghi are hard (ghid)
H h	Haș	h	h as in hat, a bit raspier (haină)
I i	I	i	ee as in see (fin); at the end of a word, often just softens the consonant before it (lupi)
Î î	Î	î	a deep 'ih' made with the tongue pulled back, like â; written at the start or end of a word (înger)
J j	Je	j	the s in measure, like French j (joc)
K k	Ca	k	k as in kite; only in loanwords (kilogram)
L l	Le	l	l as in lamp
M m	Me	m	m as in man
N n	Ne	n	n as in no
O o	O	o	a pure 'oh' (om); oa together glides like 'wa' (floare)
P p	Pe	p	p as in spin, without a puff of air
Q q	Chiu	q	k as in kite; only in foreign words
R r	Re	r	a tapped or rolled r (roșu)
S s	Se	s	s as in sun, never buzzing
Ș ș	Șe	ș	sh as in ship (școală)
T t	Te	t	t as in stop, without a puff of air
Ț ț	Țe	ț	ts as in cats (țară)
U u	U	u	oo as in moon (unu)
V v	Ve	v	v as in van
W w	Dublu ve	w	w or v, as in the original language; only in loanwords (web, watt)
X x	Ics	x	ks as in box (taxi); sometimes gz as in exam (exemplu)
Y y	I grec	y	like i or y; only in loanwords and names (yoga)
Z z	Zet	z	z as in zoo (zi)

Learn the Romanian Alphabet

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