Learn Hardcore Romanian: Drumul până la pod nu este lung, dar este zgomotos. - The road to the bridge is not long, but it is noisy.

Romanian marks the definite article by attaching it to the end of the noun (an enclitic article). You don’t write drum-ul; you write drumul, which literally means the road.

Why doesn’t pod have the definite article (i.e. why is it pod and not podul)?

Here până la (“up to/to”) takes an indefinite noun by default, so pod remains in its basic form (“bridge”). If you meant a specific bridge you would say până la podul (“to the bridge”).

What does până la mean, and why is it two words?

până (“until/up to”) + la (“to/at”) form a compound preposition până la, meaning up to or as far as. In English you often just say “to,” but Romanian uses both elements.

Could we contract nu este to nu e, and este to e?

Yes. e is the colloquial contraction of este (“is”). So you can say Drumul până la pod nu e lung, dar e zgomotos in more informal speech.

Why is the verb este repeated in the second clause (“…dar este zgomotos”)?

Because you have two coordinated clauses linked by dar (“but”), and each clause normally needs its own verb. You could drop the second este in very informal or poetic style (ellipsis), but the standard form repeats it.

Why are the adjectives lung and zgomotos not lungă or zgomotoasă?

Adjectives must agree in gender and number with their noun. Drumul is masculine singular, so its predicative adjectives are lung (not lungă) and zgomotos (not zgomotoasă).

Why are the adjectives placed after the verb instead of immediately after the noun?

This sentence uses a predicative construction with a fi (“to be”), so adjectives come after the verb (just like in English: “is long,” “is noisy”). If you wanted an attributive adjective (direct modifier), you’d say drumul lung or drumul zgomotos, placing it right after the noun.

Why does the author say nu este lung (“is not long”) instead of using the antonym scurt (“short”)?

nu este lung is a stylistic choice mirroring the English “is not long.” You could equally say drumul până la pod este scurt, dar zgomotos (“…is short but noisy”). Both forms are correct.

How would you change the sentence to talk about multiple roads?

You pluralize everything:

drumul → drumurile
verb este/sunt (“is”/“are”) → sunt
adjectives lung, zgomotos → lungi, zgomotoase
So: Drumurile până la pod nu sunt lungi, dar sunt zgomotoase.

Why is there a comma before dar?

In Romanian (as in English), you separate two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (here dar = “but”) with a comma.

Why isn’t the subject drumul repeated in the second clause?

When two clauses share the same subject, Romanian often omits the repeated noun in the second clause because it’s understood. Hence dar este zgomotos rather than dar drumul este zgomotos.