Am nouă mere.

I have nine apples.

Breakdown of Am nouă mere.

• a avea: to have
• mărul: the apple
• nouă: nine

Questions & Answers about Am nouă mere.

Why is eu (I) not stated in Am nouă mere?

In Romanian the verb ending already shows the person. Am ends in –m, which marks “I” (first-person singular). So you normally drop eu unless you want to emphasize or contrast:
• Eu am nouă mere, nu tu.

What does am mean, and how is it different from sunt?

Am is the first-person singular present of a avea (to have): “I have.”
Sunt is the first-person singular present of a fi (to be): “I am.”
So Am nouă mere literally means “I have nine apples,” not “I am nine apples.”

Why is the number nine written nouă here?

The Romanian cardinal number for nine is nouă in the nominative/accusative. It doesn’t change form for gender (unlike “one” or “two,” which have masculine/feminine variants).

Do cardinal numbers in Romanian ever agree in gender or case with the noun they count?

Most cardinal numbers (three, four, five, etc.) are invariant. Only unu (one) and doi (two) have separate masculine and feminine forms:
• unu/una (one)
• doi/două (two)
All other numbers, including nouă, stay the same whether you count masculine or feminine nouns.

Why is the noun mere plural instead of singular?

In Romanian, when you count two or more items (2–19, 20, 30, etc.), the noun always appears in plural.
• 1 măr
• 2 mere
• 9 mere

Why is there no article before mere?

Romanian has no separate indefinite article for plurals. You say un măr for “a/an apple,” but for “some apples” you simply use the bare plural (mere).

Is word order fixed as Verb + Number + Noun?

The neutral order is V + Numeral + Noun (Am nouă mere). You can add eu in front for emphasis (Eu am nouă mere) or move elements around in poetic or emphatic speech, but everyday Romanian uses the verb first.

How do I pronounce nouă?

Phonetically it’s [ˈnowə], with stress on the first syllable: NOH-wə.

How would I say the negative or turn it into a question?

Negative: Nu am nouă mere. (“I don’t have nine apples.”)
Question: Am tu nouă mere? or more idiomatically Ai nouă mere? (“Do you have nine apples?”)