Publicul așteaptă.

Because -ul is the Romanian definite article, attached to the end of the noun.

So:

• public = audience / public (indefinite)
• publicul = the audience / the public (definite)

Unlike English, Romanian usually puts the at the end of the noun instead of before it.

Examples:

• un public = an audience
• publicul = the audience

It is singular in form.

Even though the audience refers to many people, Romanian treats publicul as a singular collective noun, just like English often does in The audience is waiting.

That is why the verb is also singular:

• Publicul așteaptă. = The audience is waiting.

Așteaptă is in the present tense.

It can mean:

• waits
• is waiting
• sometimes does wait, depending on context

Romanian present tense often covers both the simple present and the present continuous idea that English separates.

So Publicul așteaptă can naturally mean The audience is waiting.

Here, așteaptă is third person singular.

That matches publicul, which is singular.

A quick comparison:

• eu aștept = I wait / I am waiting
• tu aștepți = you wait
• el/ea așteaptă = he/she waits
• publicul așteaptă = the audience waits / is waiting

Because Romanian does not need a separate verb like is to form the present continuous in this case.

English says:

• The audience is waiting

Romanian simply uses the present tense:

• Publicul așteaptă

So the idea of is waiting is often expressed just by the plain present tense verb.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

uh-SHTEAP-tuh

A few details:

• ă sounds like a short neutral vowel, similar to the a in sofa
• ș sounds like sh
• ea is pronounced like ya / ea in one syllable, depending on accent and speed

So:

• așteaptă ≈ uh-SHTEAP-tuh

A rough guide is:

POO-blee-kul

More exactly:

• pu = poo
• bli = blee
• cul = kul

The definite article -ul is pronounced as part of the word, not as a separate word.

Normally, no, if you mean the audience.

Public without -ul is indefinite, more like an audience or audience/public in a general sense. In this sentence, Romanian normally uses publicul to mean a specific audience.

So:

• Publicul așteaptă. = The audience is waiting.

Using public by itself here would sound incomplete or unnatural in most normal contexts.

Usually the subject is not omitted in this sentence if you mean the audience specifically.

Romanian often drops subject pronouns like eu, tu, el, because the verb ending already shows the person. But with a noun subject like publicul, you normally keep it if that is the thing doing the action.

So:

• Așteaptă. = He/She is waiting or They/Someone is waiting, depending on context
• Publicul așteaptă. = specifically The audience is waiting

The most neutral word order is:

• Publicul așteaptă.

Romanian can sometimes change word order for emphasis, for example:

• Așteaptă publicul.

But that sounds more marked or contextual, not the basic default. For a learner, subject + verb is the safest and most natural pattern here.

The dictionary form is a aștepta, meaning to wait.

So:

• a aștepta = to wait
• așteaptă = waits / is waiting (third person singular)

This is useful because Romanian verbs are usually learned with a before them in the dictionary.

It can mean both, depending on context.

Common meanings of a aștepta include:

• to wait
• to expect

In Publicul așteaptă, the most natural meaning is The audience is waiting.

But in another sentence, it could mean expects, for example:

• Publicul așteaptă un răspuns. = The audience expects an answer / is waiting for an answer

So context decides the best translation.

Because ă is a separate Romanian vowel, not just a decorated a.

It has its own pronunciation, usually a short, neutral sound like the vowel in sofa.

So in așteaptă, the final ă matters:

• așteaptă is the correct Romanian spelling
• changing or omitting ă would be a spelling mistake

Romanian spelling is quite consistent, so these diacritics are important.

Ș sounds like English sh.

So:

• așteaptă begins with a sound like ash- or uhsh-, depending on how you break it down

This is a very common Romanian letter, and it is always important to keep the diacritic:

• ș = sh
• plain s is a different sound

Yes. Publicul așteaptă. is a perfectly natural short sentence.

It sounds like:

• a simple statement
• a stage or event situation
• a piece of narration
• something a host or organizer might say

Romanian often allows very concise present-tense sentences like this, just as English does.