Izvorul este lângă refugiu.

In Romanian, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun, not written as a separate word.

So:

• izvor = spring
• izvorul = the spring

Here, -ul is the definite article. This is very common in Romanian and is one of the first big differences from English.

This is a very common learner question. After prepositions, Romanian often uses a bare noun in simple location expressions, where English might still use the.

So lângă refugiu can naturally be understood as near the shelter or near a shelter, depending on context.

A good way to think about it is:

• English usually forces you to choose between a and the
• Romanian is sometimes less explicit in this kind of phrase

If you clearly make the noun definite in another context, you can see the article more obviously:

• Refugiul este mic. = The shelter is small.

Lângă means near, beside, or next to.

In this sentence, near is a very natural translation. Depending on context, it can also suggest something fairly close, almost right by the shelter.

So:

• lângă refugiu = near the shelter / beside the shelter

Este is the 3rd person singular of a fi, which means to be.

So:

• este = is

Yes, in everyday Romanian, e is very common and natural:

• Izvorul e lângă refugiu.

That sounds completely normal in speech and informal writing.

A rough English-friendly pronunciation would be:

• Izvorul este lângă refugiu
  eez-VOH-rool ES-teh LUHN-guh reh-FOO-jyoo

A few sound notes:

• ă sounds a bit like the a in about
• â has no exact English equivalent; it is a central vowel that English speakers usually need practice with
• giu in refugiu sounds like jyoo

The main stresses are roughly on:

• izVORul
• LÂNgă
• reFUgiu

• izvor is masculine
• refugiu is neuter

Romanian neuter nouns are a little unusual: they behave like masculine nouns in the singular and like feminine nouns in the plural.

So for refugiu:

• singular: un refugiu
• plural: două refugii

This is a normal Romanian pattern.

Yes. Romanian word order is flexible.

The sentence as given:

• Izvorul este lângă refugiu.

is a neutral, straightforward order: subject + verb + place.

You could also say:

• Lângă refugiu este izvorul.

That puts more emphasis on the location, a bit like It is near the shelter that the spring is or Near the shelter is the spring in English. It sounds more marked or literary.

In everyday speech, Izvorul e lângă refugiu is probably the most natural version.

Yes. Lângă is followed by the accusative.

In this sentence, you do not see any obvious case change on the noun, because the form stays the same:

• lângă refugiu

This is normal. Romanian case marking is often more visible with articles, adjectives, or pronouns than with a plain singular noun.

For example, with pronouns:

• lângă mine = near me
• lângă el = near him
• lângă noi = near us

Not always. In many practical contexts, refugiu often means a shelter, especially a small mountain shelter or refuge hut.

So in a sentence like this, English shelter is often the most natural translation, even though the Romanian word is related to English refuge.

That is why context matters a lot with this noun.