Rezultatul contează.

Because -ul is the Romanian definite article, attached to the end of the noun.

• rezultat = result / a result
• rezultatul = the result

Romanian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun, unlike English, which uses a separate word like the.

So Rezultatul contează means The result matters.

Contează is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb a conta, meaning to matter, to count, or to be important.

So:

• eu contez = I matter / I count
• tu contezi = you matter
• el/ea contează = he/she/it matters
• rezultatul contează = the result matters

Since rezultatul is singular, the singular verb form contează is used.

A rough pronunciation is:

kon-TEA-zuh

A few useful points:

• c before o is like English k
• ea is pronounced like a diphthong, roughly ya or ea in one syllable
• ț is like ts in cats
• ă is a short central vowel, something like the final sound in sofa

So contează sounds approximately like kon-TEA-tsuh.

In this sentence, matters is the most natural translation.

A conta can mean:

• to count in the sense of to be taken into account
• to matter
• to be important

So Rezultatul contează can be understood as:

• The result matters
• The result counts
• What matters is the result (a looser translation)

In everyday English, The result matters is usually the best choice.

Yes. Contează rezultatul is also correct.

Romanian word order is more flexible than English. Both versions are possible:

• Rezultatul contează = neutral, straightforward
• Contează rezultatul = often gives a little more emphasis to the idea of mattering

English usually needs a fixed order, but Romanian can move things around more easily for emphasis or style.

Because Romanian does not need a dummy subject like English it in this kind of sentence.

In English, you often say:

• It matters
• It is important

Romanian usually does not insert an equivalent meaningless subject. If the subject is named, you just say it directly:

• Rezultatul contează = The result matters

And even without a noun, Romanian can often just say:

• Contează = It matters

The verb ending already gives enough grammatical information.

Not quite.

• Rezultatul contează = The result matters
  This refers to a specific result, or to the result in a general but definite sense.

• Un rezultat contează = A result matters
  This sounds less natural in many contexts, because it suggests one unspecified result.

In this sentence, the definite form rezultatul is the natural choice if you mean the outcome in a particular situation.

Rezultat is a neuter noun in Romanian.

Romanian neuter nouns behave:

• like masculine in the singular
• like feminine in the plural

So in the singular:

• un rezultat
• rezultatul

And in the plural:

• două rezultate
• rezultatele

For this sentence, you only need the singular form, and that is why it looks masculine-like.

Not literally. Rezultatul is singular and definite, so it specifically means the result.

If you want Results matter, Romanian would normally be:

• Rezultatele contează = The results matter
• sometimes Rezultatele sunt importante = The results are important

So:

• Rezultatul contează = The result matters
• Rezultatele contează = The results matter

Yes, absolutely.

Rezultatul contează. is a full, natural Romanian sentence:

• Rezultatul = subject
• contează = verb

Romanian, like English, can make a complete sentence with just a subject and a verb. It is short, clear, and idiomatic.