Learn Hardcore Romanian: Restaurantul liniștit este mai scump, cel zgomotos este mai ieftin. - The quiet restaurant is more expensive, the noisy one is cheaper.

In Romanian, the definite article is enclitic (attached to the end of the noun). For masculine singular nouns ending in a consonant, the article is -ul. So:
• restaurant (a restaurant) + -ul → restaurantul (the restaurant).

Why is the adjective liniștit placed after restaurantul instead of before it?

The default adjective position in Romanian is after the noun. Therefore:
• restaurantul liniștit (the quiet restaurant).
An adjective before the noun is possible but usually adds emphasis or a poetic tone.

How do we form comparatives like mai scump and mai ieftin?

Romanian uses mai + adjective for comparatives (both “more …” and “less …”). For example:
• scump (expensive) → mai scump (more expensive)
• ieftin (cheap) → mai ieftin (cheaper)

Why does the sentence use cel zgomotos instead of repeating restaurantul zgomotos?

To avoid repetition, Romanian replaces the second noun phrase with the demonstrative pronoun cel (“the one”) + adjective. Here:
• cel zgomotos = “the noisy one,” implicitly referring back to “restaurant.”

What exactly is the pronoun cel, and does it change form?

cel is a masculine singular demonstrative pronoun meaning “the one.” It agrees in gender and number:
• cel (m. sg.)
• cea (f. sg.)
• cei (m. pl.)
• cele (f. pl.)
In our sentence, cel zgomotos matches the masculine singular restaurant.

How do adjectives agree with nouns in gender and number in Romanian?

Adjectives must match the noun’s gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural). Examples for “quiet” and “noisy”:
• Masculine singular: liniștit, zgomotos
• Feminine singular: liniștită, zgomotoasă
• Masculine plural: liniștiți, zgomotoși
• Feminine plural: liniștite, zgomotoase

How do you pronounce the Romanian letters ș and ț in liniștit and zgomotos?

• ș = [ʃ], like “sh” in “shop.”
• ț = [ts], like “ts” in “cats.”
So:
• liniștit ≈ lee-NEESH-tit
• zgomotos ≈ zgo-MO-tos

Why is there a comma between the two clauses?

The comma separates two coordinate clauses that share the same implicit verb structure (“este … este”). In English you might write “…, and …,” but in Romanian you can simply use a comma when the verb is understood in the second part.