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Questions & Answers about Ana citește o carte bună.
What does citește mean and how do I translate it into English?
citește is the third person singular present tense of a citi (to read). It means reads or is reading.
How do I pronounce the letters ă and ș in this sentence?
- ă (schwa) sounds like the uh in sofa.
- ș sounds like the sh in shoe.
So carte is pronounced CAR-tuh and citește chee-TEH-shteh.
Why is the indefinite article o used before carte instead of un?
Romanian nouns have gender. Carte (book) is feminine, so it takes the feminine indefinite article o. Masculine nouns take un (e.g., un băiat – a boy).
Why is the adjective bună placed after the noun, and why isn’t it bun carte?
In Romanian, adjectives normally follow the nouns they modify. Therefore you say o carte bună, not bună carte. Adjectives also must agree in gender (feminine) and number (singular) with the noun.
Why is the adjective bună and not bun?
Because bun changes its ending to match a feminine singular noun:
- Masculine singular: bun
- Feminine singular: bună
How is the verb a citi conjugated to become citește?
To form the third person singular present tense of a citi:
- Drop -i from citi → cit-
- Add -ește → citește
Thus Ana citește = Ana reads / Ana is reading.
Why is there no pronoun like ea (she) before citește?
Romanian is a pro-drop language: the verb ending (-ește) already indicates third person singular, so the subject pronoun is optional and usually omitted, especially when the subject’s name (Ana) is present.