Questions & Answers about Unde sunt studenții?
Why is the verb sunt used here? What does it stand for?
What’s the difference between studenți and studenții?
- studenți = “students” (indefinite)
- studenții = “the students” (definite)
Romanian marks the definite article by adding a suffix. For masculine plurals, that suffix is -ii.
How would you ask “Where are students?” without the definite article?
You simply drop the extra i:
Unde sunt studenți?
That asks about students in general, not a specific group.
How do you say “Where is the student?” in Romanian?
Use the third-person singular este (he/she/it is) and the singular definite article -ul:
Unde este studentul?
This literally means “Where is the student?”
How do you pronounce Unde sunt studenții??
Roughly: OON-deh soont stoo-DEN-tsii
- Unde = OON-deh
- sunt = soont
- ț = ts as in “cats”
- -ii = a long “ee” sound
Why isn’t there a word like “do” in Romanian questions?
Is it okay to say Sunt studenții unde? for emphasis?
No—Sunt studenții unde? sounds awkward. The standard pattern for a question with a wh-word is:
1) Interrogative (Unde)
2) Verb (sunt)
3) Subject (studenții)
Can you emphasize studenții in this sentence?
Yes. In speech you simply stress it: Unde sunt STUDENȚII?
In writing you could add tocmai (“exactly”): Unde sunt tocmai studenții? to highlight “the very students.”
Why are the diacritics in studenții necessary?
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