Nava este mare.

to be

Breakdown of Nava este mare.

• mare: big
• nava: the ship

Questions & Answers about Nava este mare.

Why is it nava and not just navă?

Because -a at the end is the definite article in Romanian.

• navă = a ship
• nava = the ship

Romanian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun, unlike English, which puts the before the noun.

So nava este mare literally means the ship is big.

Why is there an a at the end of navă, and why does ă change to a?

The basic noun is navă. When you add the definite article, it becomes nava.

This is a normal pattern for many feminine nouns in Romanian:

• casă → casa = the house
• masă → masa = the table
• navă → nava = the ship

So the final ă often changes to a when the definite article is added.

What does este mean, and is it the same as English is?