Learn Romanian › căuta
căuta
to look for / to search /kəwˈta/
verb#270 most common
Also: to seek, to try (to do something), to fetch (colloquial, regional)
Example sentences
Eu caut cheile.
I am looking for the keys.
Ce cauți în geantă?
What are you looking for in the bag?
Am căutat mult timp un apartament ieftin.
I searched for a long time for a cheap apartment.
Dacă vei căuta cu atenție, vei găsi soluția.
If you search carefully, you will find the solution.
Se căuta de multă vreme un vinovat pentru acest dezastru.
A culprit had been sought for a long time for this disaster.
Cauți nod în papură, ca de obicei.
You're nitpicking again, as usual (literally: looking for a knot in a reed).
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | caut | căutai | voi căuta |
| 2sg | cauți | căutași | vei căuta |
| 3sg | caută | căută | va căuta |
| 1pl | căutăm | căutarăm | vom căuta |
| 2pl | căutați | căutarăți | veți căuta |
| 3pl | caută | căutară | vor căuta |
Word family
căutarea search, a quest
căutatsought-after, in demand
căutătorone who searches, a seeker
a se căutato be in demand; colloquially, to act self-important
Etymology
The origin of "a căuta" is debated among Romanian linguists. The most cited theory traces it to a Vulgar Latin frequentative form, *cavitare, built on Latin cavere, "to watch out for, be on guard." Under this view, the sense shifted from "to watch for" to the modern "to look for, search." Some dictionaries mark the etymology as uncertain rather than settled.
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