Funcționarul aprobă cererea.

Because -ul is the Romanian definite article for many masculine singular nouns.

• funcționar = an official / a clerk
• funcționarul = the official / the clerk

Unlike English, Romanian usually attaches the to the end of the noun instead of putting it before the noun.

For the same basic reason: it is also a definite noun.

• cerere = request / application
• cererea = the request / the application

Here the article appears as -a, which is common with feminine singular nouns.
You may also notice a small spelling change:

• cerere → cererea

This is normal. When the article is added, the form of the word can change slightly.

aprobă is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb a aproba (to approve).

So it can mean:

• he approves
• she approves
• it approves
• or, in this sentence, the official approves

Romanian often does not need a separate subject pronoun like he or she, because the verb form already gives person and number.

Romanian often omits subject pronouns when they are not needed.

So instead of saying:

• El aprobă cererea = He approves the request

Romanian can simply say:

• Funcționarul aprobă cererea = The official approves the request

The noun funcționarul already tells you who is doing the action.

Mostly from meaning, verb agreement, and normal word order.

In this sentence:

• funcționarul = the person doing the action
• aprobă = approves
• cererea = the thing being approved

Romanian commonly uses Subject–Verb–Object order here, just like English:

• Funcționarul
  • aprobă
    • cererea

Also, cererea is an inanimate thing, so it does not need the special object marker pe, which is mainly used with people or specific animate direct objects.

Yes, Romanian word order is fairly flexible, although Funcționarul aprobă cererea is the most neutral and natural order.

Possible alternatives can appear for emphasis, for example:

• Cererea o aprobă funcționarul = roughly It is the request that the official approves / The official is the one who approves the request

But for learners, the basic order Subject–Verb–Object is the safest default.

funcționar usually means official, clerk, or civil servant, depending on context.

So funcționarul could be:

• the official
• the clerk
• the employee in an office-like or administrative setting

The best translation depends on the situation.

cerere can mean request, but in many contexts it can also mean application.

So cererea might be:

• the request
• the application

For example, in office or legal contexts, cerere is often application or formal request.

A rough guide is:

foonk-tsyo-NA-rul a-PRO-buh che-RE-a

A few important sounds:

• ț = ts as in cats
• ă = a short neutral vowel, like the a in sofa
• ce in cererea sounds like che in English check, but shorter and cleaner

Romanian spelling is fairly phonetic, so pronunciation is often more regular than in English.

• funcționar is masculine
• cerere is feminine

That is why their definite forms look different:

• masculine singular: often -ul → funcționarul
• feminine singular: often -a → cererea

Gender is an important part of Romanian grammar because it affects articles and sometimes adjective forms too.

It is grammatically present tense, but like the English present simple, it can express either:

• a current action: The official is approving the request (depending on context)
• a habitual/general fact: The official approves the request

Most directly, though, learners should read aprobă as approves.

Yes, that is very helpful in Romanian.

It is good to learn both:

• funcționar / funcționarul
• cerere / cererea

That helps you get used to:

• the noun’s gender
• how the definite article is attached
• any spelling changes that happen in the definite form

This is often more useful than learning only the bare dictionary form.