Drumul până la pod nu este lung, dar este zgomotos.

The road to the bridge is not long, but it is noisy.

Breakdown of Drumul până la pod nu este lung, dar este zgomotos.

• nu: not
• a fi: to be
• dar: but
• podul: the bridge

Questions & Answers about Drumul până la pod nu este lung, dar este zgomotos.

Why is the noun drum written as drumul instead of drum or drum-ul?

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”)?