Îngrășământul este lângă compost.

Because Romanian usually attaches the definite article to the end of the noun.

• îngrășământ = fertilizer / a fertilizer
• îngrășământul = the fertilizer

So Îngrășământul este lângă compost. means The fertilizer is near the compost / near compost.

This is a big difference from English: Romanian often puts the at the end of the noun instead of as a separate word.

Este means is. It is the 3rd person singular present form of a fi = to be.

So:

• este = is

In this sentence, it links the subject to the location:

• Îngrășământul = the fertilizer
• este = is
• lângă compost = near the compost / near compost

In everyday speech, Romanians may sometimes shorten este to e:

• Îngrășământul e lângă compost.

That is very common and natural in spoken Romanian.

Lângă usually means near, next to, or beside, depending on context.

So lângă compost can be understood as:

• near the compost
• next to the compost
• beside the compost

It expresses physical proximity.

A few examples:

• Cartea este lângă telefon. = The book is next to the phone.
• Pisica este lângă ușă. = The cat is near the door.

Because Romanian does not always use the definite article where English would.

compost here can sound like:

• a general substance: compost
• an indefinite reference: near some compost
• or a contextually obvious location, where Romanian simply leaves it unarticulated

If you want to make it clearly definite, you could say compostul, but that usually depends on context.

Compare:

• lângă compost = near compost / near the compost
• lângă compostul din grădină = near the compost in the garden

So the version without the article is normal, especially when talking about a material or substance.

Îngrășământ is a neuter noun in Romanian.

Romanian neuter nouns behave:

• like masculine in the singular
• like feminine in the plural

So:

• singular indefinite: un îngrășământ = a fertilizer
• singular definite: îngrășământul = the fertilizer
• plural indefinite: îngrășăminte = fertilizers
• plural definite: îngrășămintele = the fertilizers

This masculine-in-the-singular / feminine-in-the-plural behavior is very typical of Romanian neuter nouns.

The basic word order here is:

• Îngrășământul = subject
• este = verb
• lângă compost = prepositional phrase

So it follows a very common pattern: Subject + Verb + Location.

This is the most neutral and natural order.

Romanian does allow some flexibility for emphasis, but this version is the standard one for learners. For example, you might also hear:

• Lângă compost este îngrășământul.

That can sound more emphatic or context-dependent, as if answering What is near the compost?

For normal use, Îngrășământul este lângă compost. is the safest order.

There are several Romanian-specific letters here:

• Î / î
• ă
• ș
• â

In this sentence:

• Îngrășământul
• lângă

A quick guide:

• ă = a short neutral vowel, like the a in sofa
• ș = sh
• â and î represent the same sound, a close central vowel that English does not really have

Important spelling rule:

• î is usually used at the beginning and end of a word
• â is usually used inside a word

That is why you get:

• Îngrășământul with initial Î
• but inside the word, mânt

A rough pronunciation help:

• Îngrășământul ≈ een-gruh-shuh-MUHN-tul
  (only approximate)
• lângă ≈ LUHN-guh

The exact Romanian vowels are a bit different from English, but this approximation can help at first.

Yes. Lângă is a preposition that takes the accusative.

However, in many Romanian nouns, especially inanimate singular nouns, the accusative often looks the same as the nominative, so you may not see any visible change.

That is why:

• compost stays compost
• îngrășământul stays îngrășământul when used as the subject

For a learner, the most useful thing is simply to remember:

• lângă + noun/pronoun = near + noun/pronoun

Examples:

• lângă casă = near the house
• lângă mine = near me
• lângă el = near him

Its normal meaning is physical location: The fertilizer is near the compost.

That said, Romanian, like English, can sometimes use location expressions in broader ways depending on context. But in a sentence like this, with gardening vocabulary, the most natural reading is definitely literal and spatial.

So a learner should understand it as a simple location sentence.

You would remove the definite article from îngrășământul and usually add un if you want to say a fertilizer:

• Un îngrășământ este lângă compost. = A fertilizer is near the compost / near compost.

Or, less commonly in isolation:

• Îngrășământ este lângă compost.

But that second version sounds less natural in most contexts. Usually, if you mean a fertilizer, Romanian will use un.

So the contrast is:

• Îngrășământul este lângă compost. = The fertilizer is near the compost.
• Un îngrășământ este lângă compost. = A fertilizer is near the compost.

Yes, you could say:

• Îngrășământul se află lângă compost.

This also means The fertilizer is located near the compost.

The difference is style:

• este lângă = simpler, more everyday
• se află lângă = a bit more formal or descriptive

For most everyday situations, este lângă is the more basic and useful pattern to learn first.