Learn Hardcore Romanian: La cină bem apă, nu cafea, pentru că vrem să dormim. - At dinner we drink water, not coffee, because we want to sleep.

La is a preposition meaning “at” when referring to time or events (like meals). cină means “dinner.” So La cină literally translates as “At dinner.”

Why isn’t there an article before cină?

When you use la to indicate a meal or routine event, you don’t add an article. Saying La o cină would sound odd in this context; you simply say La cină for “at dinner.”

How is the verb bem formed and who is doing the action?

The infinitive “to drink” is a bea. In the present tense, first-person plural (“we drink”) it becomes bem. The ending -em signals “we,” so you don’t need the pronoun noi.

Why is there no subject pronoun noi before bem?

Romanian is a pro-drop language: the verb ending already shows the subject. Since bem ends in -em, it clearly means “we drink,” making noi unnecessary and usually omitted.

Why are apă and cafea used without any article?

Both apă (“water”) and cafea (“coffee”) are uncountable (mass) nouns here. When you talk about them in general—“water, not coffee”—you omit the article. If you wanted a single serving, you could say o apă or o cafea, but that changes the nuance.

Why is nu placed before cafea instead of before the verb?

This is a contrasting negation: apă, nu cafea means “water, not coffee.” In a normal negative sentence you’d use nu + verb (e.g., Nu bem cafea = “We don’t drink coffee”). Here, nu negates cafea to show contrast.

What role does pentru că play in the sentence?

Pentru că is a conjunction meaning “because.” It introduces the reason clause: “because we want to sleep.”

Can I replace pentru că with deoarece?

Yes. Deoarece also means “because” but is slightly more formal or common in writing. In everyday speech, pentru că is the default choice.

Why is vrem followed by să dormim, and what is the function of să?

After verbs of desire like a vrea (“to want”), Romanian uses the subjunctive “să” + verb. So “we want to sleep” is vrem să dormim. Without să, you’d need a different construction (e.g., dorim să dormim or “we desire to sleep”).