Learn Hardcore Romanian: Unde sunt studenții?

sunt is the third-person plural present tense of a fi (to be). It corresponds to they are in English. Since studenții (the students) is a plural subject, you use sunt.

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?

Romanian forms questions by intonation and word order rather than an auxiliary. You place the interrogative word (Unde) first, then the verb, then the subject—no extra “do” needed.

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?

Romanian uses ț (t-comma) and ș (s-comma) to indicate specific sounds. Dropping them can lead to mispronunciation or confusion (e.g., t vs. ț). On most keyboards you type them via AltGr+T / AltGr+S or with dead-key combinations.