Arma este pe masă.

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

• armă = a weapon / weapon
• arma = the weapon

So in this sentence, arma already includes the idea of the.

For many feminine singular nouns ending in -ă, the definite form is made by replacing the final -ă with -a.

Examples:

• armă → arma = the weapon
• masă → masa = the table
• casă → casa = the house

So this is a normal pattern, not an irregular spelling trick.

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

So:

• eu sunt = I am
• tu ești = you are
• el/ea este = he/she/it is

In everyday speech, Romanians often use the shorter form e:

• Arma e pe masă.

That is very common and natural.

Here, pe means on.

So:

• pe masă = on the table

A useful note: pe has more than one use in Romanian. In other sentences it can also mark certain direct objects, especially people, but here it is simply the preposition meaning on.

This is a very common learner question. English and Romanian do not always match article-for-article in prepositional phrases.

In simple location expressions, Romanian often uses the noun without the definite article, where English naturally says the:

• Cartea e pe masă. = The book is on the table.
• Arma este pe masă. = The weapon is on the table.

So pe masă is a normal, idiomatic Romanian phrase.

If you want to identify the table more specifically, Romanian often adds more information:

• pe masa din bucătărie = on the table in the kitchen

A rough pronunciation is:

AR-ma YES-te pe MA-suh

More exactly:

• arma = AR-ma
• este = YES-te
• pe = peh
• masă = MA-suh

A more technical approximation is:

/ˈar.ma ˈjes.te pe ˈma.sə/

The most important new sound here is ă.

Ă is a separate Romanian letter, not just an accented a.

It is usually pronounced like the weak vowel sound in English about, sofa, or the final sound of comma in many accents: uh / ə.

So:

• m-a-s-ă sounds roughly like MA-suh
• armă sounds roughly like AR-muh

Also, the spelling matters:

• masă and masa are different words/forms in Romanian spelling

So do not ignore ă when reading or writing.

Both nouns are feminine singular:

• armă = feminine singular
• masă = feminine singular

In this sentence:

• arma is the subject, so it is in the nominative
• masă comes after pe, so it is in the accusative after a preposition

However, in this form, the noun masă looks the same as the basic singular form. So even if the case changes grammatically, the shape of the word does not change here.

The basic, neutral order here is:

Subject + verb + place

• Arma este pe masă.

This is the most straightforward way to say it.

Romanian does allow other orders for emphasis, for example:

• Pe masă este arma.

That can sound more marked, as if you are emphasizing the location or contrasting the weapon with something else.

So the given sentence is the normal neutral version.

The direct version is:

• O armă este pe masă.

Here:

• o armă = a weapon

But if you are introducing new information, Romanian often prefers a structure like:

• Este o armă pe masă.
• E o armă pe masă.

That often feels closer to English There is a weapon on the table.

So:

• Arma este pe masă. = the weapon is on the table
• O armă este pe masă. = a weapon is on the table
• Este o armă pe masă. = there is a weapon on the table