Prietenii urmează regula.

Because prietenii is the friends.

Romanian builds this form in two steps:

• prieten = friend
• prieteni = friends
• prietenii = the friends

So the two i's come from:

• one i for the plural
• one i for the definite article (the)

This is very common with masculine nouns in Romanian.

Here is the basic pattern:

• un prieten = a friend
• prietenul = the friend
• niște / niște prieteni or simply prieteni = friends
• prietenii = the friends

A very important thing for English speakers is that Romanian usually puts the at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word.

Romanian usually uses a definite article attached to the noun.

So instead of:

• English: the friend
• Romanian: prietenul

And instead of:

• English: the rule
• Romanian: regula

This is one of the biggest structural differences from English. The article is often a suffix:

• masculine singular: often -ul
• feminine singular: often -a
• some plural forms also get endings showing definiteness

So in this sentence:

• Prietenii = the friends
• regula = the rule

Urmează is the present tense of the verb a urma, meaning to follow.

In this sentence it means:

• (they) follow

A useful point: in the present tense, the 3rd person singular and 3rd person plural are often the same in Romanian.

So:

• el/ea urmează = he/she follows
• ei/ele urmează = they follow

You know whether it is singular or plural from the subject:

• Prietenii urmează... = plural, so the friends follow...

In this sentence, a urma means to follow in the sense of:

• following a rule
• following advice
• following a path or sequence

With regula, the idea is close to follow the rule or obey the rule.

So Prietenii urmează regula can be understood as:

• The friends follow the rule
• or more naturally in some contexts, The friends obey the rule

The core Romanian verb is still a urma.

Because regula means the rule, while regulă means just rule.

Here is the difference:

• o regulă = a rule
• regula = the rule

The base noun is regulă. When it becomes definite, the ending changes:

• regulă → regula

This is normal for many feminine nouns in Romanian.

Yes. In Prietenii urmează regula, the structure is:

• Prietenii = the subject
• urmează = the verb
• regula = the direct object

So literally:

• The friends
  • follow
    • the rule

Romanian does not need any extra preposition here.

The normal, neutral word order is:

• Prietenii urmează regula.

That is a standard subject + verb + object order.

Romanian can sometimes change word order for emphasis, but this version is the most straightforward and natural for a basic statement.

For example, moving words around may sound marked, poetic, or contrastive depending on context. For learners, the safest pattern is the one in the sentence.

A simple learner-friendly guide is:

• Prietenii ≈ pree-yeh-TEE-nee
• urmează ≈ oor-MYAH-zuh
• regula ≈ REH-goo-la

A few pronunciation notes:

• ie in prietenii sounds like ye
• ă in urmează is the Romanian schwa-like sound, similar to the a in sofa
• ză sounds roughly like zuh

The stress is roughly:

• prieTEnii
• urMEAză
• REgula

Yes. A urma is a useful verb with several related meanings, such as:

• to follow
• to come next
• to result from
• sometimes to attend or to pursue studies/courses, depending on context

For example:

• Ce urmează? = What comes next?
• Urmează cursurile facultății. = He/She attends the university courses.

But in Prietenii urmează regula, the meaning is clearly follow the rule.

You would remove the definiteness:

• Prieteni urmează o regulă. = Friends follow a rule.

Compare:

• Prietenii urmează regula. = The friends follow the rule.
• Prieteni urmează o regulă. = Friends follow a rule.

So Romanian shows definiteness directly on the nouns:

• prietenii = the friends
• regula = the rule
• o regulă = a rule