Romani grammar basics
A short overview of North Central Romani (Slovak Romani) grammar, taken from the grammar tips of the Čiriklo course, with example sentences.
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The verb “to be”
| Romani | English |
|---|---|
| me | I |
| tu | you (one person, informal) |
| jov | he |
| joj | she |
| som | I am |
| sal | you are (one person, informal) |
| hino | is (masculine)The masculine form of the verb “to be”: jov hino – he is. |
| hiňi | is (feminine)The feminine form: joj hiňi – she is. |
| Example | English |
|---|---|
| Me som Rom. | I am a Rom. |
| Tu sal Romňi. | You are a Romani woman. |
| Jov hino gadžo. | He is a non-Rom. |
| Joj hiňi Romňi. | She is a Romani woman. |
The verb “to be”
me som – I am, tu sal – you are (one person), jov hino – he is, joj hiňi – she is, amen sam – we are, tumen san – you are (several people, or formal), jon hine – they are. The form hin (is) is used when gender does not matter: Oda hin kher. – That is a house.
I was
The past tense of “to be”: somas (I was), salas (you were), has (he/she/it was). These forms are the same for men and women.
Articles and gender: o and e
| Example | English |
|---|---|
| Me som e Jana. | I am Jana. |
| Me som o Martin. | I am Martin. |
| E baba hiňi khere. | Grandma is at home. |
| O čhavore hine khere. | The children are at home. |
Names with an article
In Romani, names are often preceded by an article: o for men, e for women. Me som o Martin. – I am Martin. Me som e Jana. – I am Jana.
Masculine and feminine
Romani nouns are either masculine or feminine. The article o goes before masculine nouns (o dad), e before feminine ones (e daj). In the plural it is o (o čhave).
Adjectives: -o, -i, -e
| Example | English |
|---|---|
| O kher hino baro. | The house is big. |
| E čhaj hiňi cikňi. | The girl is small. |
| Mire phrala hine terne. | My brothers are young. |
| Tiri pheň hiňi šukar. | Your sister is pretty. |
Endings -o, -i, -e
Adjectives end in -o in the masculine (baro kher – big house), in -i in the feminine (bari fameľija – big family) and in -e in the plural (bare čhave – big boys).
Softening
In the feminine, d, t, n and l before -i become soft (palatal – think of the ny sound in canyon): cikno → cikňi, kalo → kaľi, lolo → loľi, terno → terňi.
Šukar never changes
Some adjectives have only one form: šukar čhavo (a good-looking boy), šukar čhaj (a good-looking girl).
Borrowed colours
The colours belavo (blue), šargo (yellow) and žeľeno (green) end in -o in both genders: šargo phabaj – a yellow apple, even though phabaj is feminine. In the plural they end in -a.
My, your, our
| Example | English |
|---|---|
| Miri daj hiňi khere. | My mum is at home. |
| Kaj hino tiro dad? | Where is your dad? |
| Amaro kher hino baro. | Our house is big. |
Saying “my”
Possessives change their ending to match the noun: miro dad (my dad), miri daj (my mum), mire phrala (my brothers). The same goes for tiro/tiri/tire (your), amaro/amari/amare (our), leskero (his), lakero (her).
How to say “have”: hin man
| Example | English |
|---|---|
| Hin man phral. | I have a brother. |
| Nane man pheň. | I don’t have a sister. |
| Hin tut rikono? | Do you have a dog? |
| Nane man love. | I don’t have any money. |
Saying “I have”
Romani has no verb “to have”. Instead you say Hin man phral. – literally “is me a brother”, meaning I have a brother. Hin tut? – Do you have one? Nane man. – I don’t have one.
Having a pet
It works the same way as with family: Hin man rikono. – I have a dog. Nane man mačka. – I don’t have a cat.
The present tense
| Example | English |
|---|---|
| Me chav maro the pijav thud. | I eat bread and drink milk. |
| Chas phabaj? | Are you eating an apple? |
| O čhavo chal jandro. | The boy is eating an egg. |
| So keres? Kerav buťi. | What are you doing? I am working. |
Present tense
Verbs take endings according to the person: kerav (I do), keres (you do), kerel (he/she does), keras (we do), keren (you do – plural; they do). In the same way chav, chas, chal (I eat, you eat, he/she eats) and pijav, pijes, pijel (I drink, you drink, he/she drinks).
The verb “to go”
Te džal (to go): džav (I go), džas (you go / we go), džal (he/she goes), džan (you go – plural / they go).
Want and like: kamav and rado
| Example | English |
|---|---|
| Kamav zumin. | I want some soup. |
| Kames te chal? | Do you want to eat? |
| Rado giľavav. | I like singing. |
| Kamav o ňilaj. | I like summer. |
Want + verb
Kamav means both I want and I like. It is linked to another verb with the word te: Kamav te chal. – I want to eat.
Saying what you like
The word rado goes before the verb: Rado khelav. – I like dancing. Rado genav. – I like reading.
The future and the past
| Example | English |
|---|---|
| Tajsa avava. | I will come tomorrow. |
| So kereha tajsa? | What will you do tomorrow? |
| Idž somas khere. | Yesterday I was at home. |
Future tense
The future tense is formed by adding -a: džav (I go) → džava (I will go), avav (I come) → avava (I will come), kerav (I do) → kerava (I will do). In the second person, -s changes to -h: aves → aveha (you will come).
I was
The past tense of “to be”: somas (I was), salas (you were), has (he/she/it was). These forms are the same for men and women.
Commands and “don’t”
| Example | English |
|---|---|
| Av andre, beš tele! | Come in, sit down! |
| Šun, so phenav! | Listen to what I am saying! |
| Ma dara, av adaj! | Don’t be afraid, come here! |
Commands
The imperative is often just the verb stem: Av! (Come!), Dža! (Go!), Dikh! (Look!), Šun! (Listen!). To forbid something, use ma: Ma dara! – Don’t be afraid!
In, into, on – and case endings
| Example | English |
|---|---|
| Andro veš hin ruv. | There is a wolf in the forest. |
| O čhavore džan andre škola. | The children are going to school. |
| Pro skamind hin maro. | There is bread on the table. |
| Bešav Prahate. | I live in Prague. |
In and into
Andro (in, into) goes with masculine words: andro foros – in the city and into the city. Andre goes with feminine ones: andre škola – at school and to school.
On the table
Pro means on: pro skamind – on the table and onto the table.
From Prague, in Prague
Names of towns and cities take case endings: Prahate – in Prague, Prahatar – from Prague.
Plural nouns
| Example | English |
|---|---|
| Hin la šukar jakha. | She has beautiful eyes. |
| Dukhan man o pindre. | My legs hurt. |
Eyes, ears, hands
Plurals: jakh → jakha (eyes), kan → kana (ears), vast → vasta (hands), bal → bala (hair), pindro → pindre (legs).
It hurts
Dukhal man o šero. – My head hurts (literally “the head hurts me”). When more than one thing hurts, the verb is in the plural: Dukhan man o pindre. – My legs hurt.
People and animals as objects
| Example | English |
|---|---|
| Dikhav o kher. | I see the house. |
| Dikhav la čha. | I see the girl. |
| Šunav le dades. | I am listening to Dad. |
I see you
When the object of a sentence is a person or an animal, it changes its form: Dikhav la čha. – I see the girl. With things the form stays the same: Dikhav o kher. – I see the house.
Diminutives
Diminutives
The suffix -oro/-ori makes words smaller and more affectionate: čiriklo → čirikloro (little bird), čhaj → čhajori (little girl).
This is only an overview, and grammar differs between Romani dialects. To go further, see How to learn Romani.
More about Romani
- Romani greetings: hello, thank you, I love you
- Numbers in Romani
- Family words in Romani
- Romani alphabet and pronunciation
- 73 Romani phrases for beginners
- How to learn Romani
- Romani dialects
Learn it with Čiriklo
The free app Čiriklo teaches North Central Romani in short, game-like lessons: you hear every word and sentence, also slowed down, and practise it until it sticks. The app’s explanations are in Czech.
Free · iPhone with iOS 17.0 or later
Android: in testing on Google Play, coming soon
Thanks! We will e-mail you when Čiriklo is on Google Play.
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