Bărbatul conduce mașina.

Because Romanian usually puts the definite article on the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

• bărbat = man
• bărbatul = the man

So -ul here is the masculine singular definite article.

For the same reason: -a is the definite article attached to a feminine singular noun.

• mașină = car
• mașina = the car

So in this sentence:

• bărbatul = the man
• mașina = the car

Romanian normally uses a postposed definite article, which means the article comes after the noun, attached to it.

Compare:

• English: the man, the car
• Romanian: bărbatul, mașina

This is one of the big differences between Romanian and English, and it often feels unusual at first to English speakers.

Here conduce is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb a conduce = to drive / to lead.

So it can mean:

• he drives
• she drives
• it drives

In this sentence, because the subject is bărbatul (the man), it means the man drives.

Romanian often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed, because the verb form already gives that information.

For example:

• conduce = he/she drives
• eu conduc = I drive
• tu conduci = you drive

Since bărbatul is already the subject, adding el (he) would usually be unnecessary unless you want emphasis.

This is the normal, neutral word order: subject + verb + object.

• Bărbatul = subject
• conduce = verb
• mașina = object

Romanian word order can be more flexible than English, but Bărbatul conduce mașina is the most natural basic order for a simple statement.

These are important Romanian letters:

• ă is a short, neutral vowel, similar to the a in English sofa
• ș is pronounced sh, like in English shoe

So:

• Bărbatul sounds roughly like BUR-ba-tul, with the first vowel being that short ă
• mașina sounds roughly like ma-SHEE-na

These English-style approximations are not exact, but they help at first.

Romanian nouns have grammatical gender, and mașină is a feminine noun.

That matters because the form of the definite article changes:

• masculine singular: often -ul
• feminine singular: often -a

So:

• bărbat → bărbatul
• mașină → mașina

Gender also affects adjectives and some other grammar later on.

You would use the indefinite noun forms, without the attached definite article:

• Un bărbat conduce o mașină.

Here:

• un = a for a masculine noun
• o = a for a feminine noun

Compare:

• Bărbatul conduce mașina. = The man drives the car.
• Un bărbat conduce o mașină. = A man drives a car.

The dictionary forms are:

• bărbat = man
• mașină = car
• a conduce = to drive

In actual sentences, Romanian often changes these forms:

• bărbat → bărbatul
• mașină → mașina
• a conduce → conduce

So when you look words up, you usually search for the base form, not the form used in the sentence.