Compatibilitatea depinde de temperament.

Compatibilitatea is the noun compatibilitate with the Romanian definite article attached to the end.

• compatibilitate = compatibility
• compatibilitatea = the compatibility

Romanian often uses the definite form for general ideas when the noun is the subject of the sentence, especially with abstract nouns. So even though English says Compatibility depends on temperament, Romanian naturally says Compatibilitatea depinde de temperament.

Also, compatibilitate depinde... would not sound correct here.

Depinde is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb a depinde = to depend.

It matches the subject compatibilitatea, which is singular.

A few examples:

• Eu depind = I depend
• Tu depinzi = you depend
• El/Ea depinde = he/she depends
• Compatibilitatea depinde = compatibility depends

Because a depinde normally requires the preposition de.

So the pattern is:

• a depinde de ceva/cineva = to depend on something/someone

This works very much like English:

• depends on temperament
• depinde de temperament

Other examples:

• Totul depinde de tine. = Everything depends on you.
• Succesul depinde de muncă. = Success depends on work.

Here temperament is being used in a general sense, not to refer to one specific temperament already identified in the conversation.

So:

• de temperament = on temperament / on a person’s temperament in general
• de temperamentul... = on the temperament of... / on that specific temperament

Compare:

• Compatibilitatea depinde de temperament. = Compatibility depends on temperament.
• Compatibilitatea depinde de temperamentul lui. = Compatibility depends on his temperament.

So the lack of article here is normal and natural.

After de, temperament is in the accusative.

In this sentence, though, you do not see any visible change in the noun’s form. That is very common in Romanian. Many nouns look the same in the nominative and accusative.

So:

• nominative: temperament
• accusative after de: temperament

The grammar changes, but the form stays the same here.

Yes, but Compatibilitatea depinde de temperament is the most neutral and standard order.

Romanian word order is somewhat flexible, so you could also hear:

• De temperament depinde compatibilitatea.

That version puts more emphasis on de temperament. It is grammatical, but less neutral.

For a learner, the basic order is the safest:

• subject + verb + prepositional phrase

Compatibilitate is a feminine noun.

You can tell from forms like:

• o compatibilitate = a compatibility
• compatibilitatea = the compatibility

Because it is feminine singular, the definite article is -a:

• compatibilitate → compatibilitatea

A simple pronunciation guide would be:

com-pa-ti-bi-li-TA-tea de-PIN-de de tem-pe-ra-MENT

Approximate stress:

• compatibilitatea → stress on TA
• depinde → stress on PIN
• temperament → stress on MENT

A rough English-friendly approximation:

• kohm-pah-tee-bee-lee-TAH-teh-ah
• deh-PEEN-deh
• deh tem-peh-rah-MENT

Romanian pronunciation is usually quite phonetic, so once you know the sounds, it is fairly predictable.

Not necessarily. Grammatically, the sentence is general.

Compatibilitatea can refer to:

• romantic compatibility
• personal compatibility
• social compatibility
• even broader kinds of compatibility, depending on context

So the sentence itself just says that compatibility depends on temperament; the exact type of compatibility would come from the surrounding context.