Breakdown of Vacanța de vară este mai scumpă decât cea de iarnă.
a fi
to be
de
of
mai
more
decât
than
scump
expensive
vacanța
the vacation
vara
the summer
cea
the one
iarna
the winter
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Questions & Answers about Vacanța de vară este mai scumpă decât cea de iarnă.
Why is vacanța used instead of vacanță here?
Romanian attaches the definite article to the end of the noun. vacanță means “a vacation,” while vacanța means “the vacation.” In our sentence we’re talking about a specific vacation (summer vacation), so we need the definite form vacanța.
What does de vară mean, and why not use an adjective like in English?
de vară literally means “of summer.” Romanian often uses de + noun to form expressions like “summer vacation,” “winter sports,” etc. There isn’t a single-word adjective for “summer” in this context, so vacanță de vară = “summer vacation.”
Why do we say cea de iarnă instead of repeating vacanța de iarnă?
Romanian can replace a previously mentioned feminine noun phrase with the demonstrative pronoun cea (“the one”) plus de + noun. So cea de iarnă means “the winter one,” avoiding repetition of vacanța.
What role does cea play in cea de iarnă?
cea is the feminine singular demonstrative pronoun meaning “the one.” It agrees with vacanță (feminine singular) and stands in for vacanța when you refer back to it.
How is the comparative formed in Romanian, as in mai scumpă?
Romanian comparatives use mai + adjective for “more …” and then decât (“than”) before what you compare to. Here:
mai (more) + scumpă (expensive, feminine form) + decât (than) + cea de iarnă.
Why does scumpă end in -ă instead of -u?
Adjectives agree with the noun’s gender and number. vacanță is feminine singular, so scump (masculine) changes to scumpă for feminine.
What is decât, and can it ever be cât?
decât is the standard word for “than” in comparisons. In negative constructions cât can appear (e.g., “nu mai mare cât muntele”), but after mai in positive comparatives you always use decât.
In colloquial speech, can you say mai scumpă ca instead of mai scumpă decât?
Informally many speakers use ca (“than”) after comparatives, but in standard/written Romanian you should stick with decât.
Could I invert the word order, for example: Este vacanța de vară mai scumpă decât cea de iarnă?
Yes. Placing este at the start turns it into a question:
“Is the summer vacation more expensive than the winter one?”
In statements the neutral order is subject–verb–complement, as in the original.
Do vară and iarnă need to be capitalized?
No. Seasons in Romanian are common nouns, so you write vară and iarnă with lowercase letters, unless they begin a sentence or are part of a proper name.