How to say "Romanian" in Romanian

Not long ago, I was asked by an English speaker how to say "Romanian" in Romanian. To an English speaker, this sounds like a simple question because there's only one word (Romanian) in English. However, it's not so straightforward in Romanian. I wasn't sure if they were asking about the language (Romanian), a person (a Romanian), or an adjective (describing something Romanian). I had to ask for clarity to know which form to give them.

Here is a crash course on how to say the most common forms of the word "Romanian" in Romanian...and what not to confuse it with.


român
The noun used for a male Romanian person.
(My neighbor man is a Romanian.)

It can also be used as an adjective to describe a singular masculine object.
(The Romanian government includes a Parliament, Prime Minister, and President.)

română
The adjective used to describe feminine objects.
(The Romanian language is based on Latin.)

româncă
The noun used for a female Romanian.
(My neighbor lady is a Romanian.)

români
Noun for a group of Romanians including at least one male.
(Many Romanians have moved to Western Europe to find jobs.)

românce
Noun for a group of Romanian women.
(Her bridesmaids included an American, a German, and two Romanians.) 

românesc
Adjective used to describe a singular masculine object.
Romanian handwriting is sometimes hard to read.

românească
Adjective used to describe a singular feminine object
I like Romanian food.

românești
Adjective used to describe plural objects (either masculine or feminine)
Traditional Romanian costumes are still worn on special events in some parts of the country.

românește
Another way to refer to the Romanian language
(Do you speak Romanian?)


Now that you've learned the most important forms for "Romanian" (and yes, there are others...including but not limited to românii, românilor, române and românule), let's look at some similar words so you don't confuse them with "Romanian."

roman 
a novel
Don't confuse it with român, which is Romanian. Of course, this could get confusing when someone doesn't use the diacritical marks, thus writing "roman" when meaning "român" (but you can usually tell from the context if you're talking about a novel or about a Romanian man).

roman
a Roman (someone from Rome)
Yes, this is spelled exactly the same as the word for "novel," but at least the plural forms are different. (So if someone tells you about a TV documentary they watched, you'll be able to tell if it was about Romans [romani/romane] or about novels [romanuri].)

roman
Adjective used to describe something masculine that is Roman.
The Roman Empire

romană
Adjective used to describe something feminine that is Roman. (Don't confuse it with română.)
Piața Romană (Roman Square) is a major square in Bucharest, but Strada Română (Romanian Street) is in Sighișoara.

romani 
Romans (citizens of Rome)
Don't confuse "romani" with "români," especially when reading from the Bible. (Paul didn't write an epistle to the Romanians!)

rom
the alcoholic beverage rum (which is also a popular flavor to add to baked goods here)
When shopping, be sure not to buy the chocolate ice cream with rum flavoring by mistake.

Rom
Romania's national chocolate bar (which often has rum flavoring)

rom
a male person of the Roma (Gypsy) ethnicity
(Yes, it's spelled the same as the word for "rum", but you can tell from the context if you're talking about rum or a Gypsy man.)

Rom
A character on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. (Just checking to make sure you're still paying attention.)

When my friends posted this photo
on Facebook, I thought they wanted
to teach their daughter to love Gypsies
(but it was a souvenir from Rome!)

Roma 
Rome (the city in Italy)

romă 
a female Gypsy

roma 
the female Gypsy

romi 

Gypsies
(Since "Roma" and "Romanian" sound so similar, and Romanians don't want to be mistaken for Roma, most people just call them "țigani" (Gypsy) or spell this word "rromi" (with 2 Rs).

România
And finally, while we're at it, the name of the country is Romania. It was never spelled "Rumania" (except in other languages) because the roots of the Romanian people come from the Roman Empire (not the "Ruman" empire).

"RO" is the abbreviation for Romania that appears on license plates, but the 3-letter country code for Romania that appears on official documents like passports (and in the Olympics) is "ROU" (from the French "Roumanie"). It was changed from "ROM" in 2002.