Orașul este uimitor.

Because Romanian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun, not before it as English does.

• oraș = city
• orașul = the city

So -ul is the masculine/neuter singular definite article here.

This is one of the first big differences English speakers notice in Romanian:

• English: the city
• Romanian: orașul

Uimitor agrees with orașul.

A useful thing to know is that oraș is a neuter noun in Romanian. Neuter nouns usually behave:

• like masculine in the singular
• like feminine in the plural

Since orașul is singular, the adjective takes the masculine singular form:

• orașul este uimitor = the city is amazing

If it were plural, the adjective form would change:

• orașele sunt uimitoare = the cities are amazing

Este is the 3rd person singular form of the verb a fi (to be).

So here:

• orașul = the subject, the city
• este = is
• uimitor = amazing

So the structure is very close to English:

• Orașul este uimitor.
• The city is amazing.

Yes. That is very common.

• este = the full form
• e = the shorter everyday form

Both mean is.

So both of these are correct:

• Orașul este uimitor.
• Orașul e uimitor.

The version with e is often more natural in casual speech.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation is:

o-RA-shul

A few details:

• ș sounds like English sh
• the stress is on RA
• ul is pronounced as part of the same word, because it is attached to the noun

So:

• oraș sounds roughly like o-RA-sh
• orașul sounds roughly like o-RA-shul

A simple approximation is:

oo-ee-mee-TOR

The stress is on the last syllable: -tor.

Romanian uimitor may feel a little unusual at first because of the vowel sequence at the beginning, but if you say it slowly and then speed up, it becomes easier:

• u-i-mi-tor

The normal, neutral order is:

• Orașul este uimitor.

That is the best version to learn first.

Romanian word order is more flexible than English, but changing it usually changes the emphasis. For example, another order might sound more marked or literary.

So for ordinary use, stick with:

• subject + verb + adjective
• Orașul este uimitor.

Not always. Uimitor can mean things like:

• amazing
• astonishing
• surprising
• remarkable

The exact English translation depends on context. In this sentence, amazing is probably the most natural translation.

Because Romanian usually does not use a separate word like English the in this kind of sentence. Instead, definiteness is built into the noun itself.

So:

• English: the city
• Romanian: orașul

That final -ul already includes the idea of the.

Grammatically, yes, but it means something different.

• Orașul este uimitor = The city is amazing
• Un oraș este uimitor = A city is amazing

So orașul is definite and refers to a specific city, while un oraș is indefinite.

Because this sentence is not saying an amazing city. It is saying:

• The city is amazing

That means uimitor is functioning as a predicate adjective, after the verb to be, just like in English:

• The city is amazing

If you wanted an amazing city, you would build the noun phrase differently:

• un oraș uimitor = an amazing city

So compare:

• orașul este uimitor = the city is amazing
• un oraș uimitor = an amazing city

The noun oraș is neuter.

But Romanian neuter nouns are a little special:

• in the singular, they behave like masculine
• in the plural, they behave like feminine

That is why in this sentence, with a singular noun, the adjective appears in the masculine-looking singular form:

• uimitor

This is completely normal for neuter nouns in Romanian.