Oricât de scurt este traseul, luăm echipamentul.

to be

Breakdown of Oricât de scurt este traseul, luăm echipamentul.

• scurt: short
• a lua: to take
• traseul: the route; itinerary

Questions & Answers about Oricât de scurt este traseul, luăm echipamentul.

What does oricât de mean, and how does it work here?

Oricât de is a very common Romanian pattern meaning however / no matter how before an adjective or adverb.

In this sentence:

• oricât de scurt = however short / no matter how short

So the structure is:

• oricât de + adjective/adverb

Examples:

• Oricât de greu este... = No matter how hard it is...
• Oricât de repede aleargă... = No matter how fast he/she runs...

Here, oricât de scurt este traseul means literally something like however short the route is.

Why is it scurt and not some other form?

Scurt is the masculine singular form of the adjective short.

It matches traseul, which is:

• masculine
• singular
• definite

Because scurt is used after este as a predicate adjective, it still agrees with the noun:

• traseul este scurt = the route is short

If the noun changed, the adjective would change too:

• drumul este scurt = masculine singular
• calea este scurtă = feminine singular
• traseele sunt scurte = plural

So scurt is used because traseul is masculine singular.

Why is it traseul and not traseu?