In this paper we evaluate the degree of grammaticalization in Romanian verbal periphrases (VP), attending phenomena such as decategorialization and increasing cohesion. In order to evaluate the degree of decategorialization in Romanian auxiliaries, we focus on properties such as loss of ability to subcategorize a NP, inflection, form of the diathesis or subject selection. With regard to evaluation of the degree of cohesion achieved by the VP, we focus on the loss of the infinitive mark a, the inseparability of V1 (the auxiliary verb) and V2 (the auxiliated verb) when there are two coordinated V2, the impossibility of inserting elements between V1 and V2, or reference to V1 with an anaphoric expression. Our data reveal, on the one hand, that auxiliaries presenting a high degree of decategorialization also present a high degree of cohesion (a putea 'can', a sta 'be about to'), and on the other hand, that auxiliaries presenting few decategorialization symptoms also present a lower degree of cohesion (a căuta 'intend', a da 'be about to').