Pasagerul așteaptă bagajul de cală.

The passenger waits for the checked baggage.

Breakdown of Pasagerul așteaptă bagajul de cală.

• a aștepta: to wait
• pasagerul: the passenger
• bagajul de cală: the checked baggage

Questions & Answers about Pasagerul așteaptă bagajul de cală.

Why do pasager and bagaj become pasagerul and bagajul?

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

• pasager = a passenger
• pasagerul = the passenger
• bagaj = baggage / luggage
• bagajul = the baggage / the luggage

So in this sentence, both nouns are definite:

• Pasagerul = the passenger
• bagajul = the baggage

This is very common in Romanian and is one of the first things English speakers notice.

What does așteaptă mean here?

Așteaptă is the present-tense form of the verb a aștepta, meaning to wait or to await.

Here it means:

• he/she waits for
• is waiting for

Because Romanian present tense can often cover both the simple present and the progressive idea, așteaptă can be understood as:

• waits for
• is waiting for

In this sentence, the subject is pasagerul, so așteaptă means the passenger waits / is waiting.