Cartea de joc este sub tabla de joc.

Because Romanian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like the.

• carte = card / book

• cartea = the card / the book

• tablă = board
• tabla = the board

So in this sentence:

• cartea de joc = the playing card
• tabla de joc = the game board

This is one of the biggest differences from English: Romanian often adds -a, -ul, -le, etc. to the noun to mean the.

Their dictionary forms are:

• carte → cartea
• tablă → tabla

So:

• carte = card / book
• cartea = the card / the book
• tablă = board
• tabla = the board

The ending changes because of the attached definite article.

Yes, carte very often means book, but in the expression carte de joc, it means playing card.

This is a fixed expression:

• carte de joc = playing card
• cărți de joc = playing cards

So you should learn carte de joc as a set phrase, not by translating each word too literally.

de joc means something like for play / for games / game-related, and it helps build compound-like expressions.

So:

• carte de joc = playing card
• tablă de joc = game board / playing board

This pattern is very common in Romanian:

• sală de clasă = classroom
• mașină de spălat = washing machine
• periuță de dinți = toothbrush

Here, de + noun works a lot like an English compound noun.

Because in this kind of expression, Romanian normally uses the second noun in a general, non-definite form.

So you say:

• carte de joc = playing card
• not carte de jocul

And:

• tablă de joc = game board
• not tablă de jocul

The noun joc here is not referring to a specific game. It is just describing the type of object.

Este means is. It is the 3rd person singular of a fi = to be.

• este = is

In everyday Romanian, people very often use the shorter form:

• e = is

So this sentence could also appear as:

• Cartea de joc e sub tabla de joc.

That is very natural in speech.

Sub means under / below.

In this sentence:

• sub tabla de joc = under the game board

After sub, Romanian uses the normal form you see here. There is no special word like English the to add, because the definiteness is already attached to the noun:

• tabla = the board

So sub tabla de joc literally works like under-the-board of game.

This is the most neutral word order:

• subject
  • verb
    • place expression

So:

• Cartea de joc = the playing card
• este = is
• sub tabla de joc = under the game board

Romanian word order is somewhat flexible, but this version is the most straightforward for a learner.

Yes. Romanian allows more flexibility than English, especially for emphasis.

For example:

• Sub tabla de joc este cartea de joc.

This is still understandable, but it sounds more marked or emphasizes the location. The original sentence is the safest and most neutral pattern to use.

Because Romanian usually expresses the by attaching it to the noun itself.

Compare:

• English: the card

• Romanian: cartea

• English: the board
• Romanian: tabla

So Romanian often does with endings what English does with a separate article.

Yes. Both main nouns here are feminine singular:

• carte = feminine
• tablă = feminine

That is why their definite forms are:

• cartea
• tabla

Gender is important in Romanian because it affects articles and sometimes other words in the sentence.

Because tablă is the indefinite form, while tabla is the definite form.

• tablă = a board / board
• tabla = the board

When the definite article is added, the form changes slightly:

• tablă → tabla

The final ă disappears and the definite ending gives you tabla.

A very common spoken version would be:

• Cartea de joc e sub tabla de joc.

The only change is:

• este → e

Both are correct, but e is more common in everyday conversation.

A simple learner-friendly guide:

• cartea ≈ KAR-tea
• de ≈ deh
• joc ≈ zhok
• este ≈ YES-te
• sub ≈ soob
• tabla ≈ TA-bla

A few pronunciation notes:

• j in Romanian sounds like the s in measure
• c in cartea is a hard k sound
• u in sub is like oo in food

You would remove the attached definite article.

So:

• O carte de joc este sub o tablă de joc.

That means:

• A playing card is under a game board.

Here:

• o carte = a card
• o tablă = a board

So the sentence you were given is definite, while this version is indefinite.