Learn Hardcore Romanian: Mașina de lângă casa mea este mică.

-a is the feminine singular definite article in Romanian. Instead of a separate word like “the,” Romanian attaches -a to the end of feminine nouns in the nominative/accusative. Thus mașină (a car) becomes mașina (the car), and casă (a house) becomes casa (the house).

Why is the possessive mea placed after casa instead of before?

In Romanian, the possessive pronoun follows the noun it modifies. So casa mea literally means “the house my.” This word order is standard for possession, and mea agrees with casă (feminine singular).

How do you decide whether to use mea or meu for “my”?

Romanian possessive pronouns agree in gender and number with the noun they accompany:

meu: masculine singular (ex. fratele meu – my brother)
mea: feminine singular (ex. casa mea – my house)
mei: masculine plural (ex. băieții mei – my boys)
mele: feminine plural (ex. fetele mele – my girls)

Why is the adjective mică at the end of the sentence, and why does it end in -ă?

There are two things at play:

Position: When you describe a subject with the verb a fi (to be), the adjective appears after the verb: subiect + este + adjectiv.
Agreement: Mașina is feminine singular, so the adjective mic takes the feminine singular ending -ă, becoming mică.

What does de lângă mean, and why is de necessary here?

lângă means “next to” or “near.” When you want to turn it into a descriptive modifier of a noun (like “the car next to my house”), Romanian uses de + preposition: de lângă literally “of next to.” This links the phrase to the noun: mașina de lângă casa mea – “the car next to my house.”

Could you omit de and say mașina lângă casa mea?

In very informal speech you might hear mașina lângă casa mea, but it’s less idiomatic. More formally you either use de lângă or a relative clause: mașina care este lângă casa mea.

Could you replace este with e in this sentence?

Yes. e is the common colloquial contraction of este. Both forms are correct:

mașina de lângă casa mea este mică (neutral/formal)
mașina de lângă casa mea e mică (informal)

How do you pronounce the special letters ă, â, and ș in mașina de lângă casa mea este mică?

ă: mid-central vowel [ə], like the ‘a’ in English “sofa.”
â: close central unrounded vowel [ɨ], a sound that doesn’t exist in English (similar to Russian Ы).
ș: [ʃ], like “sh” in “ship.”

How would you say “the car next to John’s house” in Romanian?

You replace mea with lui Ion (Ion = John). So: mașina de lângă casa lui Ion.

What are some synonyms for lângă when you want to say “next to”?

You can also use:

aproape de (close to) – mașina aproape de casa mea
alături de (alongside) – mașina alături de casa mea