în
/ɨn/
The Romanian word în means 'in'.
în is a preposition used to express that something is contained by something else.
Meaning: contained by (prep)
How does it change in a sentence?
When în precedes a word starting with a vowel, it is often pronounced with a slight glide or more clearly to avoid elision, though it does not contract like 'into' in English.
How do you pronounce it?
/ɨn/
Did you know?
- Romanian uses în for 'in' but switches to la when talking about being 'at' a place, even if the person is physically inside the building. For example, one says la cinema for 'at the cinema' regardless of whether they are in the lobby or the theater.
- When expressing 'in the' in Romanian, în combines with a definite article that is attached to the end of the noun rather than appearing as a separate word before it.
- While în means 'in', the phrase în curte is used to mean 'in the yard', but în casă specifically means 'indoors'. If a Romanian says they are în casă, they are emphasizing that they are inside the structure and not just on the property.
Examples in context
- Tu în ce crezi?What do you believe in?Tatoeba #4989219 by fathe, translation #3395892 by CK
- A nins în Osaka.It snowed in Osaka.Tatoeba #7726511 by CataG, translation #275680 by shekitten
- Am fost în munți.I was in the mountains.Tatoeba #2536070 by ijikure, translation #1290 by CK
- Eu stau în RomâniaI live in Romania
- Cărțile sunt în bibliotecăThe books are in the library
- Trenul este în garăThe train is at the station
- Mergem în vacanță în vara astaWe're going on vacation this summer
- Am rezervat biletele în avansI booked the tickets in advance
- Putem comunica în limba englezăWe can communicate in English
- 1911 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Stefan and Ioana are looking for the car keys.
- StefanSunt cheile în geantă?Are the keys in the bag?
- IoanaNu, nu sunt în geantă.No, they are not in the bag.
- StefanUite, sunt în buzunarul tău!Look, they are in your pocket!
- IoanaAh, chiar erau în buzunar.Ah, they really were in the pocket.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “in” translations and entries în, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
