Liftul de marfă este deschis.

Because -ul is the definite article attached to the end of the noun in Romanian.

• lift = a lift / an elevator
• liftul = the lift / the elevator

So Liftul de marfă means the freight elevator, not just a freight elevator.

This is one of the biggest differences from English: Romanian usually puts the at the end of the noun instead of before it.

De marfă means for goods, for cargo, or freight.

So:

• lift de marfă = freight elevator
• literally: lift of goods or elevator for cargo

In Romanian, de + noun is very common for this kind of descriptive phrase:

• tren de noapte = night train
• sală de sport = gym / sports hall
• mașină de curse = race car

So de marfă functions like an adjective phrase in English.

Because in this expression, marfă is being used in a general, descriptive way: cargo / freight, not the cargo.

• liftul de marfă = the freight elevator
• not the elevator of the cargo

If you added a definite article to marfă, it would sound like you mean some specific goods, which is not the normal meaning here.

So de marfă is a fixed descriptive pattern, and the second noun usually stays without an article.

Here, este means is.

• liftul = the elevator
• este = is
• deschis = open

So the sentence is built just like English: The freight elevator is open.

In Romanian, you normally do not omit este in this kind of standard sentence.
You may sometimes hear shorter, more informal styles in special contexts, but for a normal learner sentence, Liftul de marfă este deschis is the correct full form.

Because deschis has to agree with liftul, and lift is masculine singular.

Agreement here works like this:

• masculine singular: deschis
• feminine singular: deschisă
• masculine plural: deschiși
• feminine/neuter plural: deschise

Since liftul is masculine singular, the correct form is deschis.

In this sentence, it functions like an adjective, even though historically it comes from the past participle of a deschide (to open).

So in practice, for a learner, it is easiest to understand:

• ușa este deschisă = the door is open
• magazinul este deschis = the shop is open
• liftul este deschis = the elevator is open

Romanian often uses these participle-based forms the same way English uses adjectives like open, closed, broken, etc.

Yes. Both exist.

• lift = very common in everyday Romanian
• ascensor = also correct, sometimes a bit more formal or technical

So you may hear both:

• Liftul de marfă este deschis.
• Ascensorul de marfă este deschis.

In daily speech, lift is extremely common.

The letter ă is a very common Romanian vowel. It is a short, central sound, somewhat like the a in English sofa, but shorter and clearer.

So marfă is approximately:

• MAR-fuh

A rough pronunciation of the whole sentence would be:

• LEEF-tool deh MAR-fuh ES-teh dess-KEES

That is only an approximation, but it can help at first.

Yes, but Liftul de marfă este deschis is the most neutral word order.

Romanian is somewhat flexible with word order, especially for emphasis. For example:

• Liftul de marfă este deschis. = neutral statement
• Este deschis liftul de marfă. = possible, but more marked; it may sound like you are emphasizing open
• Deschis este liftul de marfă. = unusual in normal speech

For learners, it is best to stick with:

• subject + este + adjective

It can mean more than one thing depending on context.

With places or services, deschis can mean:

• open physically
• open for business
• available / operating

So Liftul de marfă este deschis could mean:

• the freight elevator door is open, or
• the freight elevator is available for use

Usually the context makes it clear. If this appeared on a sign, it might sound a little unusual depending on the intended meaning, but grammatically it is fine.

You add nu before este:

• Liftul de marfă nu este deschis. = The freight elevator is not open.

This is the normal pattern for negating to be in Romanian:

• este = is
• nu este = is not

It is the standard and most natural way. Common versions are:

• lift de marfă
• ascensor de marfă

You might also see more technical wording in specialized contexts, but for normal usage, de marfă is exactly what you want for freight / cargo.

No, this is not a genitive form. It is simply the preposition de followed by the noun marfă.

That matters because English speakers often expect something like of goods to always behave like possession. But here Romanian uses a very common de + noun structure to describe type or purpose.

So:

• lift de marfă = cargo elevator / freight elevator
• not a special genitive ending
• just a descriptive phrase with de

This pattern is extremely common in Romanian and worth learning early.