Prietenii pregătesc petrecerea.

Because prietenii is the definite plural form of prieten.

The steps are:

• prieten = friend (singular)
• prieteni = friends (plural, indefinite)
• prietenii = the friends (plural, definite)

So the two is are not random:

• one i belongs to the plural form
• the other i is the attached definite article, meaning the

This is very common in Romanian with masculine nouns.

Romanian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word before it.

So:

• prietenii = the friends
• petrecerea = the party

This is one of the biggest differences from English. Instead of a separate word like the, Romanian often adds it directly to the noun.

For this sentence:

• prietenii = the friends
• pregătesc = prepare / are preparing
• petrecerea = the party

The base form is petrecere, which means party.

Then:

• petrecere = a party / party
• petrecerea = the party

So the -a at the end shows definiteness. In other words, petrecerea is the feminine singular definite form.

Pregătesc is the present tense form of the verb a pregăti, meaning to prepare.

In this sentence, it is 3rd person plural, agreeing with prietenii:

• prietenii pregătesc = the friends prepare / are preparing

A useful thing to know: pregătesc can also be 1st person singular in Romanian, meaning I prepare / I am preparing. The subject in the sentence tells you which meaning is intended.

Because Romanian often uses the simple present tense where English uses either:

• prepare or
• are preparing

So pregătesc can mean both:

• prepare
• are preparing

Romanian does have ways to be more explicit about an ongoing action, but in normal everyday language the simple present is very often enough.

Prietenii is the masculine plural form, but in Romanian the masculine plural is also used for a mixed group.

So prietenii can mean:

• a group of male friends
• a mixed group of male and female friends

If the group is all female, Romanian would normally use:

• prietenele = the female friends

Because petrecerea is a direct object, but it is an inanimate thing, not a person.

In Romanian, pe is often used before direct objects that are:

• people
• specific animate beings
• pronouns

For example, you often see pe with a person, but not with something like petrecerea.

So:

• pregătesc petrecerea = correct
• no pe is needed here

The normal, neutral order here is:

• Subject + Verb + Object
• Prietenii pregătesc petrecerea.

That is the most straightforward version.

Romanian word order is fairly flexible, though. You can change it for emphasis, contrast, or style. For example, if you want to emphasize the party, Romanian may move it forward, often with a clitic:

• Petrecerea o pregătesc prietenii.

That is less neutral and more emphatic than the original sentence.

So the original version is the standard one a learner should use first.

A few useful pronunciation points:

• ă in pregătesc is like the weak vowel in English about
• ce in petrecerea sounds like che in chess
• prietenii has that extra ending because of the definite article, so you should not reduce it to prieteni

Very roughly:

• prietenii ≈ pree-eh-TE-nee-ee
• pregătesc ≈ preh-guh-TESK
• petrecerea ≈ peh-treh-CHE-rea

These are only approximations, but they help with the main sounds.

Sometimes yes, because Romanian often drops subjects when the verb already makes the subject clear.

However, with pregătesc, there is a special issue: this form can mean both:

• I prepare / I am preparing
• they prepare / they are preparing

So if you say only:

• Pregătesc petrecerea

it could mean either I am preparing the party or They are preparing the party, depending on context.

That is why keeping prietenii in the sentence is helpful: it removes the ambiguity.