Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Romanian grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Ana are o casă mare.
What does are mean in this sentence?
Are is the third person singular present tense of the verb a avea (“to have”). So Ana are literally means “Ana has.”
Why is are used here instead of a form of a fi (“to be”)?
In Romanian you express possession with a avea, not a fi. In English you say “to have,” and in Romanian you say a avea. You never say “Ana is a house,” but rather “Ana has a house.”
What is o doing before casă?
O is the indefinite article corresponding to English a or an. It only appears with feminine singular nouns (“a/an” in English). Since casă (“house”) is feminine singular, you use o casă.
How can I tell that casă is a feminine noun?
Most Romanian nouns ending in -ă are feminine. If you see a noun like casă, fată, masă, it’s almost always feminine. You can also check a dictionary or look at the article that goes with it (o casă, not un casă).
How do you pronounce the ă in casă?
The letter ă represents the Romanian schwa, similar to the unstressed “a” in the English word “sofa.” So casă sounds roughly like CA-suh, with a quick, neutral vowel in the second syllable.
Where is the stress in casă?
Romanian words ending in -ă are typically stressed on the first syllable. So casă is pronounced CA-să, with the stress on CA.
Why is the adjective mare placed after the noun, and how does it agree with casă?
In Romanian adjectives generally follow the noun they modify. Here, casă mare means “big house.” Adjectives agree in number and (where relevant) gender with the noun. The adjective mare has the same form for both masculine and feminine singular, so it stays mare for casă.
How would I say the big house instead of a big house?
Romanian uses enclitic (post-fixed) definite articles. To say “the big house”, you attach -a to casă, giving casa mare. So:
- o casă mare = “a big house”
- casa mare = “the big house”
How do I form the plural to say Ana has big houses?
To pluralize:
- casă → case (feminine plural)
- mare → mari (adjective plural)
- The article o drops away in the plural indefinite.
So you get: Ana are case mari (“Ana has big houses”).
How do I turn this into a question: Does Ana have a big house?
Romanian does not require inversion. You simply keep the word order and raise your intonation:
- Ana are o casă mare?
Optionally, you can add the particle oare for emphasis: - Oare Ana are o casă mare?