Learn Hardcore Romanian: Chelnerul ne arată un meniu nou acum. - The waiter is showing us a new menu now.

Chelnerul means the waiter. Romanian marks the definite article (“the”) as a suffix on the noun rather than a separate word. Here, chelner (a waiter) + -ul (masculine singular definite) = chelnerul (the waiter).

What is ne doing in this sentence, and why does it come before the verb?

Ne is the indirect object pronoun meaning to us (or simply “us” in English). The verb a arăta (to show) takes both a direct object (un meniu nou) and an indirect one (ne). In Romanian, object-pronoun clitics are placed immediately before the conjugated verb, so ne appears before arată.

Why is arată translated as “is showing” rather than just “shows”?

Romanian does not differentiate between simple present and present continuous like English does. Arată is the third-person singular present of a arăta and can mean both “(he) shows” and “(he) is showing.” The adverb acum (“now”) signals the progressive sense, so in English it becomes “is showing.”

How do you pronounce the Romanian letter ă, as in arată?

The letter ă is a mid-central (schwa) vowel, similar to the ‘a’ in English about or sofa. So a-RĂ-tă sounds roughly like uh-RAH-tuh, with the first and last vowels being soft schwas.

Why does the adjective nou follow meniu, and could meniu ever be feminine?

Most Romanian adjectives follow the noun they describe: un meniu nou (“a new menu”). Meniu is a masculine noun (borrowed from French), so it takes the masculine indefinite article un and the masculine form nou. It is never feminine, so you cannot say o meniu or use nouă.

What are the direct and indirect objects in this sentence?

Direct object: un meniu nou (the thing being shown)
Indirect object: ne (to us)
In English, the structure is “The waiter shows us (indirect) a new menu (direct).”

Can we replace un meniu nou and ne with pronouns? If so, what’s the correct order?

Yes. You can say: Chelnerul ni-l arată acum.
Here ni- = ne (to us), -l = un meniu nou (masculine singular). Clitic order in Romanian is always indirect before direct, so ni-l, not l-ni.

Why is acum placed at the end, and can it appear elsewhere?

Acum means now and is an adverb of time. Romanian allows flexible adverb placement for emphasis or style. You could also say:

Acum chelnerul ne arată un meniu nou.
Chelnerul ne arată acum un meniu nou.
All mean the same; the position just shifts the focus slightly.

Could we say un nou meniu instead of un meniu nou, and would that change the meaning?

Yes, un nou meniu is grammatically correct and still means “a new menu.” Placing the adjective before the noun can sound a bit more formal or emphatic. In everyday speech, un meniu nou (noun + adjective) is more common.