Semnalul dispare în metrou.

the subway

Breakdown of Semnalul dispare în metrou.

• în: in
• a dispărea: to disappear
• semnalul: the phone signal

Questions & Answers about Semnalul dispare în metrou.

Why is it semnalul and not just semnal?

Because Romanian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun.

• semnal = signal
• semnalul = the signal

So -ul here means the. This is very common in Romanian.

Also, semnal is a neuter noun. In the singular, neuter nouns behave like masculine nouns, which is why the definite ending is -ul.

Does semnalul here mean a phone signal specifically?

Usually, yes.

In a sentence like Semnalul dispare în metrou, Romanian speakers will normally understand semnalul as phone signal / mobile reception. But semnal can also mean other kinds of signal in different contexts, such as a warning signal, traffic signal, or cue.

So the exact meaning depends on context, but here it is most naturally cell signal / reception.

What verb is dispare?

dispare is the present tense, 3rd person singular form of a dispărea, which means to disappear.

So:

• eu dispar = I disappear
• el/ea dispare = he/she/it disappears

In this sentence, the subject is semnalul, which is singular, so Romanian uses dispare.

In context, it often means the signal cuts out or drops, not necessarily that it disappears forever.