Escala începe mâine.

Romanian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun, not as a separate word before it.

So:

• escală = a stopover / a layover
• escala = the stopover / the layover

In this sentence, escala is the definite singular form.

Because escală is the basic dictionary form, while escala is the definite form.

For many feminine nouns ending in -ă, Romanian forms the ... by changing that ending:

• casă → casa
• masă → masa
• escală → escala

So escala means the stopover, not just a stopover.

Începe is the verb. It is the 3rd person singular present tense of a începe = to begin / to start.

It matches the subject escala, which is singular:

• escala începe = the stopover starts

Romanian often uses the present tense for a future event when the time is already clear from context.

Here, mâine tells you the action is in the future, so începe can stay in the present form.

This works much like English in sentences such as:

• The train leaves tomorrow.
• School starts next week.

Romanian can also use a more explicit future:

• Escala va începe mâine.

That also works, but Escala începe mâine sounds very natural.

Mâine means tomorrow, and here it functions as an adverb of time. It tells you when the action happens.

So the structure is:

• Escala = subject
• începe = verb
• mâine = time expression

Yes. Romanian word order is fairly flexible.

The most neutral version here is:

• Escala începe mâine.

But you could also say:

• Mâine începe escala.

That version puts more emphasis on tomorrow.

Both are grammatical. The original sentence is just the more straightforward, neutral order.

A rough guide is uhn-CHEH-peh, but not exactly like English.

A few useful points:

• în contains the Romanian sound î, which does not exist naturally in English
• ce is pronounced like che in check
• stress falls on the second syllable: în-CE-pe

A more technical pronunciation is approximately /ɨnˈtʃe.pe/.

A rough guide is MUH-ee-neh, but again the first vowel is the Romanian â, which has no exact English equivalent.

Useful points:

• â and î represent the same sound in Romanian
• ai here sounds like a quick glide, roughly like the y sound appearing between vowels
• stress is on the first syllable: MÂI-ne

Approximate pronunciation: /ˈmɨj.ne/.

They represent the same sound, but Romanian spelling uses them in different positions.

A simple rule is:

• î is usually written at the beginning or end of a word
• â is usually written inside a word

So:

• începe has î because it is at the beginning
• mâine has â because it is inside the word

Not necessarily. In this sentence, it is capitalized simply because it is the first word of the sentence.

If it appeared in the middle of a sentence, it would normally be written escala, not Escala, unless it were part of a proper name.

Yes. Those are both valid future forms:

• Escala va începe mâine.
• Escala o să înceapă mâine.

Compared with Escala începe mâine:

• începe mâine = natural, simple, often used when the future time is already clear
• va începe mâine = more explicitly future, sometimes a bit more formal
• o să înceapă mâine = very common in everyday speech

So the original sentence is correct and natural, but it is not the only possible way to express the idea.