Focused learning guide
Romanian alphabet and diacritics: ă, â, î, ș and ț
Learn the Romanian alphabet, type the five special letters correctly and connect each spelling pattern to a reliable sound target.
Modern Romanian uses the Latin alphabet plus five letters essential to standard spelling: ă, â, î, ș and ț. They are letters, not optional decoration.
Five letters that carry meaning
Ă and â/î represent central vowels; ș is a “sh”-like sound and ț a “ts”-like sound. Standard digital text uses comma-below ș and ț. Older cedilla forms may appear because of legacy encoding.
Why â and î share a sound
In the standard language, â and î represent the same phoneme. Orthographic convention normally uses î at the beginning and end of a word and â internally, with additional rules for compounds and derived forms. Learn spellings with word families.
Make correct typing automatic
Install a Romanian keyboard or text shortcut on every device. Practise names, addresses and minimal contrasts by hearing, typing and reading them aloud. Search queries without diacritics may work, but carefully edited learning material should model the standard.
Questions learners ask
Frequently asked questions
Are ș and ş the same character?
No. They can look similar, but modern Romanian uses the comma-below character ș; ş contains a cedilla.
Can I write Romanian without diacritics?
Informal constraints sometimes lead people to omit them, but doing so can create ambiguity and is inappropriate for careful instructional copy.
How many letters are in the Romanian alphabet?
The standard alphabet is commonly counted as 31 letters, including the five letters with diacritics.