Moldova Bacalaureat Romanian for Non-Native Speakers common mistakes
Moldova Bacalaureat Romanian for Non-Native Speakers · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
The candidate reads the literary fragment once, then answers the comprehension items from memory of the general plot, so answers to questions about a specific paragraph quote the wrong character or the wrong moment.
Under time pressure, candidates treat the text as a story to be understood globally rather than as evidence for discrete items; the narrative is familiar enough to feel 'already answered'. Non-native readers in particular over-rely on gist because decoding is slow.
What to do instead
Answer every item by locating and underlining the exact sentence that supports it before writing, and copy the key words of that sentence into the answer. For each item, note the paragraph number in the margin. If no sentence supports an option, that option is wrong regardless of whether it fits the story.
The candidate writes the answer to a 'why' or 'how' item as a single word or a copied fragment ('pentru că frigul'), producing an answer that cannot be scored as an explanation.
The candidate transfers the short-answer habit from vocabulary exercises and does not notice that the item asks for a relation (cause, purpose, consequence), which requires a clause.
What to do instead
Before writing, identify the question word (de ce, cum, în ce scop, ce consecință) and build the answer as a full clause that repeats the relation: 'Pentru că era frig, personajul...'. Practise converting fragments into 'pentru că / astfel încât / deoarece' clauses using past exam texts.
The candidate uses the wrong case or preposition after a verb or noun, writing forms such as 'a participa la concursul' when the verb requires 'a participa la un concurs' with correct article, or 'mulțumesc la profesor' instead of 'mulțumesc profesorului'.
Verb- and adjective-government patterns (recțiune) are memorised as vocabulary, not as structural frames, and the candidate's first language often uses a different preposition or a direct object where Romanian uses the dative.
What to do instead
Build a personal list of high-frequency frames with the required case marked: 'a mulțumi cuiva (dat.)', 'a se teme de ceva', 'a depinde de cineva', 'a contribui la ceva', 'a fi mândru de cineva'. For each new verb in a text, record the frame, not just the meaning, and test yourself by completing sentences.
The candidate confuses paronyms and near-synonyms in context, for example using 'a se adresa' for 'a adresa', 'efectiv' for 'eficient', 'a elabora' for 'a lucra', or 'a completa' for 'a completa un formular' versus 'a împlini' an age.
These pairs look transparent from Latin or from the candidate's first language (especially Russian or Romance languages), so the candidate trusts resemblance instead of checking the meaning in the sentence.
What to do instead
Keep a paronym notebook organised by root, with one minimal sentence per member of the pair ('Am adresat o întrebare profesorului' / 'M-am adresat profesorului'). In the exam, substitute the word into the sentence and check whether the resulting meaning is the one the text states before choosing.
In the composition, the candidate produces a text with correct sentences but no functional structure: no introduction stating the topic, no linking between paragraphs, and a conclusion that merely repeats the first sentence.
Candidates prepare content (ideas, vocabulary) but not a plan, and under exam pressure they write whatever comes, treating the composition as a longer grammar exercise.
What to do instead
Spend three minutes on a five-line plan: topic sentence, two arguments with one example each, conclusion. Use explicit connectors (în primul rând, pe de o parte, totuși, prin urmare, în concluzie) and check that each paragraph opens with a sentence that announces its function.
The candidate writes a formal text (cerere, scrisoare oficială, e-mail către instituție) in colloquial register, using 'tu' forms, contractions, emotive vocabulary, and no formula of address or closing.
The candidate's only models of fluent Romanian are informal speech and social media, and the exam's functional-writing task is treated as free writing rather than as a genre with fixed formulas.
What to do instead
Memorise the skeleton of each required genre: formula of address (Stimate domn / Stimată doamnă, Domnule director), statement of purpose, request or information, closing formula (Cu stimă, Vă mulțumesc), date and signature. Practise two formal and two informal texts on the same topic and compare the register differences explicitly.
The candidate omits or misplaces diacritics and applies the wrong spelling rule for 'î' versus 'â', writing 'sînt' inside a word boundary but 'coborî' as 'coborâ', or writing 'î' at the beginning of a word derived with a prefix.
The 1993 spelling norms are learned as a list of exceptions rather than as a rule, and typing habits from phones and social media reinforce non-standard forms.
What to do instead
Learn the rule as a decision procedure: 'â' inside words, 'î' at the beginning and end of words, and 'î' retained after a prefix when the base word begins with 'î' (reîncepe, neînsemnat). Drill with word pairs (sânge/sînge is non-standard; coborî, hotărî, a urî) and proofread specifically for diacritics as a separate pass at the end.
The candidate punctuates by ear, producing comma splices between main clauses, missing commas before 'dar', 'iar', 'ci', and 'încât', and inserting a comma between the subject and the predicate before 'să' or 'că'.
Punctuation is taught as intonation, and the candidate's first language may allow or require different comma placement; the written rule for coordinated and subordinated clauses is not automatised.
What to do instead
Work from the clause structure: mark every predicate first, then decide whether the junction is coordination (comma before dar, iar, ci, însă) or subordination (comma before încât, deoarece, deși, but no comma before că and să when the clause is tightly integrated). Do a punctuation-only proofreading pass on your own texts, reading each sentence and naming the junction type.
The candidate answers interpretation items by retelling the plot or by giving a personal opinion ('mie mi-a plăcut personajul') instead of naming a literary device and showing how it produces a meaning in the text.
The candidate does not have the metalanguage (metaforă, personificare, comparație, repetiție, antiteză, motiv literar) available for production, so description of content is the only strategy available under pressure.
What to do instead
Prepare a short list of five or six devices with a ready-made sentence pattern: 'Prin din secvența «...», textul sugerează ...'. For each practice text, write one such sentence per device, always quoting the exact words and then stating the effect. Never write an interpretation sentence without a quotation.
In the oral interaction, the candidate answers with one word or a memorised paragraph, does not ask for clarification when a question is not understood, and does not react to the interlocutor's follow-up question.
The candidate prepares monologues but not interaction strategies, and fear of making a grammar error leads to minimal answers; there is no practised formula for asking for repetition or buying time.
What to do instead
Rehearse three repair formulas until automatic: 'Îmi puteți repeta, vă rog?', 'Nu sunt sigur că am înțeles; vă referiți la ...?', 'Dați-mi un moment să mă gândesc.' Practise with a partner who always asks one unexpected follow-up, and require yourself to answer in at least three sentences plus one question back to the interlocutor.