Apelul începe acum.

Because -ul is the Romanian definite article, attached to the end of the noun.

• apel = a call
• apelul = the call

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

Apel most commonly means call, especially in a formal or technical sense. In modern Romanian, it can refer to:

• a phone call
• a call in a system or app
• sometimes a more general act of calling

In this sentence, it sounds quite natural in contexts like:

• a phone interface
• a recorded message
• an app or system notification

Începe is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb a începe, which means to begin / to start.

So:

• eu încep = I begin
• tu începi = you begin
• el/ea începe = he/she/it begins
• apelul începe = the call begins / the call is starting

Because apelul is singular, începe is singular too.

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

• starts now
• is starting now

So Apelul începe acum can naturally correspond to either idea depending on context. Romanian does not need a special progressive form here.

Acum means now.

It tells you the action is happening at this moment or immediately. It often adds a sense of announcement or immediacy.

So the sentence sounds like:

• the call starts now
• the call is beginning now

Yes. Romanian word order is fairly flexible.

The neutral order here is:

• Apelul începe acum.

But you could also hear:

• Acum începe apelul. = Now the call begins.
• Începe acum apelul. = less neutral, more marked or contextual

The original version is straightforward and natural.

A simple English-friendly approximation is:

ah-PE-lul in-CHE-pe ah-KOOM

A few notes:

• ce in începe sounds like che in check
• ă and â/î are special Romanian vowels, so an exact English equivalent does not really exist
• stress is roughly:
  • aPELul
  • înCEpe
  • aCUM

The infinitive is a începe, meaning to begin / to start.

You will often see Romanian verbs listed with a:

• a începe
• a vorbi
• a merge

That a is like the to in English infinitives.

Yes, it is just part of the verb’s normal spelling: a începe.

The letter î represents a Romanian vowel that does not exist in standard English. It is important to keep it, because Romanian spelling uses diacritics meaningfully.

So:

• începe is the correct form
• writing it without diacritics as incepe is common in informal typing, but not correct in standard writing

It sounds neutral and slightly system-like or announcement-like.

You might see it in:

• a phone app
• a conference platform
• a recorded message
• a technical interface

In casual everyday speech, people might also say things in other ways depending on the situation, but this sentence itself is perfectly natural and clear.

Yes, depending on context. For example:

• Apelul pornește acum. = the call starts now
• Apelul este pe cale să înceapă. = the call is about to begin

But începe is the most direct and standard choice for begins / starts here.

You could say Începe acum if the subject is already obvious from context.

Romanian often leaves out things that are understood. But:

• Apelul începe acum is clearer and complete
• Începe acum = It starts now / It’s starting now

So the full sentence is better when you want to state exactly what is beginning.