Din moment ce valiza este goală, cumpărăm obiecte de primă necesitate.

to be

Breakdown of Din moment ce valiza este goală, cumpărăm obiecte de primă necesitate.

• a cumpăra: to buy
• gol: empty
• din moment ce: since; given that

Questions & Answers about Din moment ce valiza este goală, cumpărăm obiecte de primă necesitate.

What does din moment ce mean here?

Here it means since, as, or given that.

So the sentence is using din moment ce to introduce a reason:

Din moment ce valiza este goală, cumpărăm obiecte de primă necesitate.
= Since the suitcase is empty, we buy essential items.

Literally, din moment ce can look like from the moment that, but in sentences like this it usually does not express time. It works as a conjunction meaning because/since.

Also, the ce here is just part of the fixed expression din moment ce. It does not mean what in this sentence.

Why is it valiza and not o valiză?

Because valiza means the suitcase, while o valiză means a suitcase.

Romanian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun:

• valiză = suitcase
• valiza = the suitcase

This is very different from English, where the comes before the noun.

So:

• valiza este goală = the suitcase is empty
• o valiză este goală = a suitcase is empty

In this sentence, the speaker is talking about a specific suitcase, so valiza is the natural choice.