Copiii se joacă pe teren.

The children play on the field.

Breakdown of Copiii se joacă pe teren.

• copilul: the child
• pe: on
• a se juca: to play
• terenul: the plot of land; field

Questions & Answers about Copiii se joacă pe teren.

Why does copiii have three i letters?

Because copiii is the children:

• copil = child
• copii = children
• copiii = the children

The extra i comes from the Romanian definite article attached to the plural form. So:

• plural noun: copii
• plural + definite article: copiii

This is a very common thing in Romanian, even though it looks strange at first to English speakers.

What does se mean in se joacă?

Here, se is part of the verb a se juca, which means to play in the sense of to play around / have fun.

So:

• se joacă = play / are playing

In this sentence, you should learn a se juca as a whole verb. The se is not optional here.

What is the difference between a juca and a se juca?

This is an important distinction.

• a se juca = to play, have fun, play around
• a juca = to play something, or sometimes to perform/act, depending on context

For example:

• Copiii se joacă. = The children are playing.
• Copiii joacă fotbal. = The children play football.

So in Copiii se joacă pe teren, the meaning is general: they are playing there, not necessarily naming a specific game.