Ploaia încetează acum.

Because ploaia is the definite form: the rain.

In Romanian, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word like English the.

• ploaie = rain
• ploaia = the rain

So Ploaia încetează acum literally has the rain as the subject.

Încetează is the 3rd person singular present form of the verb a înceta, which means to stop, to cease, or to come to an end.

Here it matches ploaia, which is singular, so Romanian uses the he/she/it form:

• eu încetez = I stop
• tu încetezi = you stop
• el/ea încetează = he/she/it stops

Since ploaia is the thing doing the action, încetează is the correct form.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Romanian often uses the simple present tense where English might use either:

• the rain stops now
• the rain is stopping now

So in this sentence, încetează naturally covers the idea of is stopping without needing a separate verb like is.

Because Romanian does not normally build the present progressive the same way English does.

English often uses:

• is stopping
• is raining
• is coming

Romanian usually just uses the present tense:

• încetează
• plouă
• vine

So încetează already expresses what English often says with is stopping.

Acum means now.

In Ploaia încetează acum, it tells you when the action is happening.

Romanian word order is fairly flexible, so you can also hear:

• Acum ploaia încetează
• Ploaia acum încetează

But Ploaia încetează acum is a very natural, neutral order.

Changing the position of acum can slightly change the emphasis, but the basic meaning stays the same.

It is pronounced roughly like PLOA-ya.

A few helpful points:

• ploa- is one syllable with a glide, not a slow English-style plo-ah
• the ending -ia sounds like ya
• the stress is on the first part: PLOA-ya

So ploaia is not pronounced like plo-a-i-a as four separate parts.

A rough English-friendly guide is in-che-TEA-zuh, but that is only approximate.

Important sounds:

• î is a Romanian vowel that does not really exist in English. It is a central, tight vowel.
• ă sounds like the a in sofa.
• the stress is on tea: în-ce-TEA-ză

So the end is not a strong za sound; it is more like zuh.

Romanian has a spelling rule for this sound:

• î is used at the beginning or end of a word
• â is usually used inside a word

Since încetează starts with that sound, it is written with î.

So this is mainly a spelling rule, not a difference in meaning.

English often says:

• It is raining
• It is getting colder

That it does not refer to anything specific; it is just required by English grammar.

Romanian does not need that kind of dummy subject in the same way. It can say:

• Plouă = It is raining
• Ploaia încetează = The rain is stopping

So Romanian either uses an impersonal verb like plouă, or it uses a real subject like ploaia. There is no need for an empty it.