Anul este lung.

Because anul means the year, while an means a year or simply year.

Romanian usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun, instead of putting a separate word like the in front.

• an = year / a year
• anul = the year

So:

• Anul este lung. = The year is long.
• Un an este lung. = A year is long.

This attached definite article is very common in Romanian.

-ul is the masculine/neuter singular definite article, meaning the.

So the noun is built like this:

• an = year
• an + ul = anul = the year

This is one of the first big differences English speakers notice in Romanian: the definite article is usually a suffix.

A few similar examples:

• băiat = boy → băiatul = the boy
• copac = tree → copacul = the tree
• an = year → anul = the year

Este means is. It is the 3rd person singular form of the verb a fi (to be).

So:

• anul = the year
• este = is
• lung = long

Together: The year is long.

Some forms of a fi are:

• eu sunt = I am
• tu ești = you are
• el/ea este = he/she is
• noi suntem = we are
• voi sunteți = you are
• ei/ele sunt = they are

Normally, no. In standard Romanian, you usually keep the verb a fi in this kind of sentence.

So you say:

• Anul este lung.

Not normally:

• Anul lung.

Romanian is different from languages that often omit is in simple descriptive sentences. For a beginner, the safest rule is: if English uses is, Romanian usually does too.

Lung is the masculine singular form of the adjective long.

It matches anul, which is a masculine/neuter singular noun here. In Romanian, adjectives often change form to agree with the noun in gender and number.

Basic forms of this adjective are:

• lung = masculine singular
• lungă = feminine singular
• lungi = plural

Examples:

• anul lung = the long year
• ziua lungă = the long day
• anii lungi = the long years
• zilele lungi = the long days

Because anul is not feminine. The noun an is masculine (and neuter nouns behave like masculine in the singular), so the adjective must also be masculine singular:

• anul lung = the long year

You would use lungă with a feminine singular noun, for example:

• ziua este lungă. = The day is long.

So the adjective form depends on the noun it describes.

The most normal and neutral order is:

• Anul este lung.

Romanian word order is fairly flexible, but changing it usually changes the emphasis or makes the sentence sound more literary, poetic, or marked.

• Anul este lung. = neutral, standard
• Lung este anul. = unusual, marked emphasis on long

For everyday learning, use Anul este lung.

Grammatically, yes. It is a correct sentence.

But in ordinary conversation, it may sound a bit unusual unless there is a context, because saying the year is long is not something people say very often by itself in either Romanian or English.

A Romanian speaker might be more likely to say something like:

• Anul este foarte lung. = The year is very long.
• Anul acesta pare lung. = This year feels long.
• Un an e lung. = A year is long.

So the sentence is fine for grammar practice, even if it is not the most common real-life statement.

Yes. In everyday Romanian, e is a very common shorter form of este.

So both are possible:

• Anul este lung.
• Anul e lung.

Both mean the same thing.
The version with este may sound a bit more careful or formal, while e is very common in speech.

A simple approximate pronunciation is:

• Anul ≈ AH-nool
• este ≈ YES-teh
• lung ≈ loong

A rough full approximation:

• AH-nool YES-teh loong

A few notes:

• u is usually like oo in food
• e is usually like e in met or yes depending on position
• g in lung is a hard g

If you want to sound more natural, keep the vowels clear and short rather than reducing them too much as in English.

You would say:

• Un an este lung.

Here:

• un = a / one
• an = year

So compare:

• Anul este lung. = The year is long.
• Un an este lung. = A year is long.

This contrast is very useful, because it helps you see how Romanian handles definiteness:

• English uses the
• Romanian usually adds the article to the noun: anul