Dreptul este important.

Because Romanian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun, not before it.

• drept = right / law (indefinite form, depending on context)
• dreptul = the right / the law

So -ul is the definite article here, roughly equivalent to English the.

This is one of the first big differences English speakers notice:

• English: the law
• Romanian: dreptul

-ul is the enclitic definite article for many masculine and neuter singular nouns in the nominative/accusative.

In this sentence:

• drept
  • -ul → dreptul

Compare:

• băiat → băiatul = the boy
• oraș → orașul = the city
• drept → dreptul

So instead of a separate word like the, Romanian often attaches the article to the noun.

It is neuter.

Romanian neuter nouns behave like:

• masculine in the singular
• feminine in the plural

So in the singular, a neuter noun often looks masculine. That is why you get:

• dreptul
• important

not a feminine-looking form.

Because the adjective agrees with the noun, and dreptul is singular neuter. In the singular, neuter uses the same form as masculine singular.

So:

• masculine singular: important
• neuter singular: important
• feminine singular: importantă

That is why:

• Dreptul este important. but
• Legea este importantă. (legea is feminine)

In a normal sentence like this, Romanian does use the verb a fi (to be).

So:

• Dreptul este important. = The law/right is important.

You normally do not omit este in standard Romanian here.

In speech, people often use the shorter form:

• Dreptul e important.

That is very common and natural in conversation.

Este is the 3rd person singular form of a fi (to be).

It matches the singular subject:

• dreptul = singular
• therefore este = is

So the structure is:

• Dreptul = subject
• este = verb
• important = predicate adjective

This is very similar to English:

• The law/right
  • is
    • important

Yes. E is a shorter form of este.

So these are both correct:

• Dreptul este important.
• Dreptul e important.

In general:

• este sounds a bit more full or formal
• e is very common in everyday speech

The most neutral word order is:

• Dreptul este important.

Romanian word order is somewhat flexible, but changing it usually changes the emphasis.

For example:

• Important este dreptul. sounds marked or emphatic, not the normal default
• Este important dreptul. is possible in some contexts, but it is not the most basic way to say it

So for a learner, the safest pattern is:

Subject + este/e + adjective

Yes. Drept is a word with several meanings depending on context. It can be related to ideas like:

• right
• law
• straight
• correct / just

So dreptul can be ambiguous by itself. The exact meaning depends on context and on what translation was already given to you.

That is very normal in Romanian. Many words have a wider range of meanings than a single English word.

Romanian often uses the definite article with abstract nouns more naturally than English does.

So depending on context, dreptul might be translated as:

• the law
• law
• the right
• the legal right

English and Romanian do not always use definiteness in exactly the same way. So even if Romanian has -ul, the best English translation may sometimes sound less definite.

A simple learner-friendly approximation is:

• DREP-tool ES-teh im-por-TANT

A few helpful notes:

• dreptul starts with a consonant cluster, so say it carefully: drept-ul
• este has two clear syllables: es-te
• important is stressed at the end: im-por-TANT

If you want to sound more natural in everyday speech, you will often hear:

• Dreptul e important.

Yes.

For this adjective:

• masculine singular: important
• neuter singular: important
• feminine singular: importantă
• masculine plural: importanți
• feminine/neuter plural: importante

Since dreptul is neuter singular, important is exactly the form you expect.

A very useful pattern is:

Definite noun + a fi + adjective

Example from your sentence:

• Dreptul = the right / the law
• este = is
• important = important

So the whole structure is:

The X is important → X-ul este important

This same pattern works with many nouns:

• Băiatul este obosit. = The boy is tired.
• Orașul este mare. = The city is big.
• Dreptul este important. = The law/right is important.