Actorul șoptește replica.

In Romanian, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of appearing as a separate word like English the.

• actor = actor
• actorul = the actor

So Actorul șoptește replica means The actor whispers the line.

Șoptește is the 3rd person singular present tense form of the verb a șopti, meaning to whisper.

So it means:

• he whispers
• she whispers
• it whispers

In this sentence, it matches actorul, so the meaning is the actor whispers.

Romanian often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed, because the verb form already gives information about the person and number.

For example:

• șoptesc = I whisper
• șoptești = you whisper
• șoptește = he/she whispers

Since the subject is already stated as actorul, there is no need for a separate pronoun like he.

Replica means the line or the spoken line in a play, film, or performance context.

It comes from:

• replică = line / reply / retort
• replica = the line

So in this sentence, it refers to the actor’s spoken line of dialogue.

This is how the Romanian definite article works with many feminine nouns.

• replică = a line
• replica = the line

When the definite article is added, the ending often changes. For many feminine nouns ending in -ă, the definite singular form ends in -a.

So:

• o replică = a line
• replica = the line

Romanian can mark both the subject and the direct object as definite when the meaning is specific.

Here:

• Actorul = the actor
• replica = the line

This gives a specific sense: a particular actor is whispering a particular line.

That is completely normal in Romanian.

The normal, neutral word order here is:

• Actorul (subject)
• șoptește (verb)
• replica (object)

So: Actorul șoptește replica.

Romanian word order is somewhat flexible, though. You might move words around for emphasis, but the version given is the most natural and straightforward.

A rough pronunciation is shop-TESH-te.

A few useful points:

• ș sounds like sh in shoe
• teș in șoptește has a sh sound because of ș
• e is pronounced clearly, not silent

So șoptește sounds roughly like shop-TEHSH-teh, depending on how detailed you want to be.

These are special Romanian letters:

• ș = sh as in ship
• ă = a short central vowel, something like the a in about

Examples from the sentence:

• ș in șoptește = sh
• ă is not in the final sentence form, but it appears in the base noun replică

These letters are important because they change pronunciation and meaning.

The indefinite forms are:

• actor = an actor
• replică = a line

The definite forms in the sentence are:

• actorul = the actor
• replica = the line

So the sentence could be contrasted like this:

• Un actor șoptește o replică. = An actor whispers a line.
• Actorul șoptește replica. = The actor whispers the line.

Yes. Replica is the direct object, because it receives the action of the verb șoptește.

Ask the question:

• The actor whispers what?
• replica

So grammatically:

• Actorul = subject
• șoptește = verb
• replica = direct object

In many contexts, Romanian present tense can correspond to either simple present or present continuous in English, depending on context.

So șoptește can mean:

• whispers
• is whispering

Without more context, both are possible translations. English chooses between them more strictly than Romanian often does.