Lecția nu durează mult.

Lecția means the lesson, while lecție means a lesson / lesson.

Romanian usually attaches the definite article to the end of the noun instead of putting a separate word like the in front.

• lecție = lesson
• lecția = the lesson

This is very common in Romanian:

• fată = girl
• fata = the girl

So in this sentence, lecția is the specific lesson being talked about.

The base form is lecție.

So:

• lecție = lesson
• lecția = the lesson

Because lecție is a feminine noun, its singular definite form becomes lecția.

Nu means not.

In Romanian, nu normally goes directly before the verb:

• Lecția durează mult. = The lesson lasts long / The lesson lasts a long time.
• Lecția nu durează mult. = The lesson does not last long.

So the basic pattern is:

subject + nu + verb

Durează is the 3rd person singular present tense form of the verb a dura, which means to last.

Why 3rd person singular? Because the subject is lecția = the lesson, which is singular.

A few present-tense forms of a dura:

• eu durez = I last
• tu durezi = you last
• el/ea durează = he/she/it lasts

So:

• Lecția durează = The lesson lasts

Because Romanian uses the verb a dura directly for to last.

So English The lesson lasts... is naturally:

• Lecția durează...

You do not normally build this idea with to be here.

Here mult means something like much, a lot, or more naturally in English, long in the expression not long.

Romanian often uses mult after verbs where English might use long:

• durează mult = lasts a long time
• nu durează mult = doesn’t last long

So even though mult often means much / a lot, in this sentence it is best understood as part of the expression not long.

Because Romanian can leave timp (time) unstated when the meaning is obvious.

So both of these are possible:

• Lecția nu durează mult.
• Lecția nu durează mult timp.

The shorter version is very natural and common. English does something similar:

• It doesn’t last long.
• It doesn’t last a long time.

Both are correct, but the shorter one is often more natural.

Yes, but this sentence uses the most normal and neutral order:

Lecția + nu + durează + mult

That is:

• subject
• negation
• verb
• adverb

This is the standard way to say it.

Romanian word order can sometimes change for emphasis, but for a learner, this sentence is the safest and most natural pattern to follow.

Yes, Romanian often drops the subject when it is understood from the verb form or context.

So you might hear:

• Nu durează mult. = It doesn’t last long.

But in Lecția nu durează mult, the subject is included for clarity or emphasis: the lesson doesn’t last long.

Lecția is pronounced approximately lek-tsi-a.

A few helpful points:

• ț sounds like ts in cats
• the ending -ia is pronounced as two syllables here
• so it is roughly lek-tsi-a

Romanian spelling is fairly consistent, so once you know the sound of ț, this word becomes much easier.

Durează is pronounced approximately doo-reh-ah-zuh, with the stress on -rea-.

Helpful sound notes:

• du = like doo
• rează contains ă at the end
• ă is a short central vowel, something like the a in sofa

You do not need a perfect English equivalent for ă right away; just know it is a very common Romanian vowel.

Ă is a very common Romanian vowel. It is a short, neutral sound, similar to the unstressed a in English sofa or about.

In this sentence, it appears in:

• durează

It is not the same as a clear a sound like in father.

Because Romanian does not use an extra auxiliary verb like English do/does for ordinary negation in the present tense.

English:

• The lesson does not last long.

Romanian:

• Lecția nu durează mult.

Romanian simply uses:

nu + main verb

So you do not need a separate word for does.

It is singular.

• lecția = the lesson (singular)
• lecțiile = the lessons (plural)

So this sentence is talking about one lesson.

Not in this sentence.

Here mult is being used adverbially, modifying the verb durează, so it stays mult.

Compare:

• multă apă = much water
  Here it changes because it describes a noun.
• durează mult = lasts a lot / lasts long
  Here it modifies a verb, so mult stays the same.

Not exactly the natural opposite.

Grammatically, puțin means little / a little, but with a dura, the more natural contrast is usually:

• Lecția nu durează mult. = The lesson doesn’t last long.
• Lecția durează mult. = The lesson lasts a long time.

You can hear durează puțin, but nu durează mult is the much more idiomatic way to express doesn’t last long.

Yes, depending on context.

Lecție can mean lesson, and in some contexts English might naturally translate it as class.

So Lecția nu durează mult could refer to:

• a lesson in a textbook
• a school lesson
• a class session

The exact English choice depends on the situation.