El este un prieten rău.

He is a bad friend.

Breakdown of El este un prieten rău.

• a fi: to be
• rău: bad
• el: he
• un: a
• prietenul: the friend

Questions & Answers about El este un prieten rău.

Why is El used at the beginning, and can I drop it?

Romanian is a pro-drop language, which means the subject pronoun can often be omitted because the verb ending already signals person and number.

• El este un prieten rău. includes El for emphasis or clarity (“He is a bad friend”).
• You can drop it in most contexts: Este un prieten rău. or even contract este to e in speech: E un prieten rău.

What is este, and can it be contracted?

• Este is the third-person singular present tense of a fi (“to be”), equivalent to “he/she/it is.”
• In colloquial Romanian, it’s very common to contract it to e:
  • El e un prieten rău.
  • Or drop El entirely: E un prieten rău.
• In formal writing or speech you’ll normally use the full form este.

What role does un play here, and how does it agree with the noun?

• Un is the masculine singular indefinite article (“a” or “an”).
• Romanian articles agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) with the noun they modify.
• For feminine singular you use o (e.g., o fată bună – a good girl).
• In the plural, indefinite articles are typically omitted (e.g., prieteni răi – bad friends).

Why is the adjective rău placed after the noun prieten?

• The neutral word order in Romanian is noun + adjective when giving basic descriptive statements: prieten rău.
• Placing an adjective before the noun is possible for stylistic or emphatic reasons, but the default descriptive order is post-nominal.

Does rău change form for gender and number?

Yes, rău is an irregular adjective. Its forms are:

• Masculine singular: rău
• Masculine plural: răi
• Feminine singular: rea
• Feminine plural: rele

How would I say “She is a bad friend”?

You must change both noun and adjective to feminine and use o for the article:
Ea este o prietenă rea.

How do I express “the bad friend” with the definite article?

Romanian uses enclitic definite articles attached to the end of the noun:

• Masculine singular: prietenul rău – the bad friend
• Masculine plural: prietenii răi – the bad friends
• Feminine singular: prietena rea – the bad (female) friend
• Feminine plural: prietenele rele – the bad (female) friends

What’s the indefinite plural form of prieten rău?

In Romanian, plurals drop the indefinite article. You simply pluralize both noun and adjective:
prieteni răi – bad friends
If you need the subject pronoun: Ei sunt prieteni răi.

Can rău be used as an adverb, and how do I know the difference?

• Adjective rău describes a noun (“bad friend”).
• Adverb rău modifies a verb (“he behaves badly” = el se poartă rău).
  Context tells you which: look at what it’s modifying (noun vs. verb).

Are there any pronunciation or diacritic points to watch out for in rău?

Yes:

• The letter ă represents a mid-central vowel [ə], similar to the ‘a’ in English “sofa.”
• Do not confuse it with a which is pronounced [a] as in “father.”
• rău is one syllable, pronounced roughly like [rəw], with a quick “uh” sound for ă.