Închiriem duba azi.

Romanian often drops the subject pronoun when it is clear from the verb ending.

Here, închiriem already means we rent / we are renting, because the ending -em marks 1st person plural.

So:

• Noi închiriem duba azi. = We are renting the van today.
• Închiriem duba azi. = same basic meaning, just more natural in many contexts

You can add noi if you want emphasis or contrast:

• Noi închiriem duba azi, nu ei. = We’re renting the van today, not them.

Închiriem is the present tense, 1st person plural form of the verb a închiria.

So the verb goes like this in the present:

• eu închiriez = I rent
• tu închiriezi = you rent
• el/ea închiriază = he/she rents
• noi închiriem = we rent
• voi închiriați = you all rent
• ei/ele închiriază = they rent

In this sentence, închiriem means we rent / we are renting.

It can mean we rent or we are renting, depending on context. In everyday speech, with a time word like azi (today), it can also sound like a planned near-future action:

• Închiriem duba azi. = We’re renting the van today.

So Romanian present tense is often a bit broader than English simple present.

Because duba means the van, while dubă means a van or just van as a dictionary form.

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

So:

• dubă = van
• duba = the van

This is very common in Romanian:

• casă = house
• casa = the house

It is built onto the noun.

In English:

• the van

In Romanian:

• duba

This is called the enclitic definite article. Instead of putting a separate word before the noun, Romanian attaches the article to the end.

A few examples:

• băiat = boy → băiatul = the boy
• fată = girl → fata = the girl
• dubă = van → duba = the van

Dubă usually means van or panel van. In some contexts, it can also refer to a police van or a vehicle used for transporting people or goods, depending on context.

In your sentence, the most natural meaning is simply the van.

Azi means today.

Yes, azi and astăzi both mean today. The difference is mostly style:

• azi = very common, everyday
• astăzi = also common, sometimes a little more formal or fuller-sounding

So these both work:

• Închiriem duba azi.
• Închiriem duba astăzi.

Not completely. Romanian word order is fairly flexible, though this sentence has a very natural default order.

Închiriem duba azi is a normal way to say it, but you could also hear:

• Azi închiriem duba. = emphasizes today
• Duba o închiriem azi. = emphasizes the van

Romanian often changes word order for focus, emphasis, or style, more freely than English.

A rough pronunciation is:

uhn-kee-ree-EM DOO-ba AHZ-ee

A few notes:

• În- has a vowel sound î/â that does not exist in standard English
• ch before i here sounds like k, so închiriem starts roughly like uhn-kee-
• duba is DOO-ba
• azi is roughly AH-zee

The stress is roughly:

• închiriEM
• DUba
• aZI or often a lighter final word in natural speech, depending on rhythm

In Romanian spelling, ch before e or i is used to keep the hard k sound.

So:

• ce / ci normally sound like che / chi in English-style approximations
• but che / chi in Romanian keep the k sound

That is why închiriem is pronounced with k, not with an English ch sound like in chair.

Yes, absolutely. It is grammatically correct.

But in many situations, Romanian prefers:

• Închiriem duba azi.

Adding noi is usually for:

• emphasis
• contrast
• clarity

For example:

• Noi închiriem duba azi, iar ei mâine. = We’re renting the van today, and they are renting it tomorrow.