Learn Romanian › tovarăș
tovarăș
comrade /toˈvarəʃ/
noun#3209 most common
Also: companion, fellow, mate
Example sentences
Acesta este tovarășul meu.
This is my companion.
Am un tovarăș bun la școală.
I have a good mate at school.
Tovarășul meu de călătorie a întârziat la aeroport.
My travel companion was late to the airport.
În perioada comunistă, oamenii se adresau unii altora cu „tovarășe”.
During the communist period, people addressed each other as "comrade."
Tovarășii de arme au luptat împreună până la sfârșitul războiului.
The comrades-in-arms fought together until the war ended.
Deși folosirea cuvântului „tovarăș” a devenit desuetă după 1989, unii nostalgici îl mai folosesc ironic, evocând vechea retorică de partid.
Although the word "comrade" fell out of use after 1989, some nostalgic speakers still use it ironically, evoking old party rhetoric.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | tovarășul | tovarășii |
| Genitive | tovarășului | tovarășilor |
| Accusative | tovarășul | tovarășii |
| Vocative | tovarășe | tovarăși |
Word family
tovărășiefellowship, companionship, partnership
tovărășesccomradely, of fellowship
a se tovărășito associate with, to keep company
tovarășăfemale comrade or companion
Etymology
Tovarăș entered Romanian from Slavic, most likely via Ukrainian or Polish contact, rather than from Latin like most core Romanian vocabulary. The Slavic form goes back to a Turkic word for goods or cattle, combined with a Slavic collective suffix, so the original sense was something like "partner in trade" or "fellow traveler who shares goods." That trading-partner meaning later narrowed in many Slavic languages to "comrade," a shift Romanian inherited along with the word.
Learn Romanian the way that sticks.
Every word here is a full Polylex card with native audio and spaced repetition, so 4,027 words actually move into long-term memory.
Start free
Every word here is a full Polylex card with native audio and spaced repetition, so 4,027 words actually move into long-term memory.
Start free