Apa se infiltrează prin tavan.

Apă is the basic form of the noun, meaning water.
Apa means the water.

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

So here:

• apă = water
• apa = the water

In this sentence, Romanian treats the water as specific water involved in the situation, so apa sounds natural.

Not really. In this sentence, se is not translated as a separate word like itself.

The verb is a se infiltra, which is a pronominal verb. Here it means something like to seep in / to leak through / to infiltrate. In many Romanian verbs, se helps form a middle or intransitive meaning.

So:

• a infiltra is usually transitive: to infiltrate something
• a se infiltra means to seep / to work its way through

In English, you normally would not translate se word-for-word here.

Infiltrează is present tense, 3rd person singular.

It matches apa, which is singular.

So the structure is:

• apa = singular subject
• se infiltrează = is seeping / seeps

The dictionary form is a se infiltra.

Prin means through.

It shows movement or passage from one side to another, or through some material or obstacle.

So prin tavan means through the ceiling.

In this sentence, it suggests that the water is passing through the ceiling material and coming into the room below.

Romanian often uses a noun without the definite article after a preposition when the expression is general, idiomatic, or the context already makes the meaning clear.

So prin tavan is a natural way to say through the ceiling in this kind of sentence.

If you wanted to specify a particular ceiling more explicitly, you could use a definite form or add more detail, for example:

• prin tavanul bucătăriei = through the kitchen ceiling

But in a simple sentence like this, prin tavan is very normal.

It means ceiling, not roof.

That is an important distinction:

• tavan = ceiling
• acoperiș = roof

So the sentence is about water coming through the inside ceiling, not directly through the roof.

No. Romanian word order is fairly flexible.

This version is the most neutral and straightforward:

• Apa se infiltrează prin tavan.

But other orders are possible in context, for emphasis or style, such as:

• Se infiltrează apa prin tavan.

That said, the original sentence is the clearest and most standard choice for a learner.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

A-pa se in-fil-TREA-ză prin ta-VAN

A few helpful points:

• ă sounds like the weak vowel in English about
• z sounds like English z
• tavan is stressed on the last syllable: ta-VAN
• infiltrează is stressed on -trea-

Not exactly.

• se infiltrează = seeps through, penetrates slowly through material
• curge = flows, runs
• picură = drips

So se infiltrează is a good choice when water is coming through a surface such as a wall or ceiling, especially gradually.

It emphasizes the idea of penetration through the material, not just movement of water.

It agrees with apa in number and person, but not in a way that shows feminine gender in the present tense.

So apa is feminine singular, but the verb form se infiltrează is simply the 3rd person singular form. The same verb form would also be used with a masculine or neuter singular subject.

For example:

• Apa se infiltrează = the water is seeping in
• Gazul se infiltrează = the gas is seeping in

So here, the important agreement is singular subject → singular verb.