Learn Hardcore Romanian: Vara mâncăm fructe și legume la prânz. - In summer we eat fruits and vegetables at lunch.

In Romanian you can use a season name in the nominative case as an adverbial of time without a preposition. So Vara mâncăm… literally means “(In) summer we eat….”. You may also hear În vară mâncăm… – both are correct, though dropping în is very common in speech.

What part of speech is Vara here?

Technically vară is a noun (feminine, nominative) but in this context it functions adverbially to indicate when the action happens.

Why is the verb mâncăm in the first person plural?

Mâncăm is the present indicative, first person plural form of a mânca (to eat). It means “we eat” or “we are eating.” In this sentence the subject “we” is implied by the verb ending – there is no need for a separate pronoun.

Does mâncăm cover both “we eat” and “we are eating,” or is it one or the other?

In Romanian the simple present tense (e.g. mâncăm) covers both habitual actions (“we eat regularly”) and ongoing ones (“we are eating right now”). Context tells you which. If you need to stress that it’s happening at this very moment, you can say suntem mâncând, but for general use mâncăm is enough.

Why are fructe and legume in the plural and without any article?

When you talk about categories or things in general, Romanian uses the plural without a definite article: mănânc mere (“I eat apples” in general), mănânc legume (“I eat vegetables”). If you wanted to say “the fruits and the vegetables,” you would use the definite articles in the plural: fructele și legumele.

When do you use the object-marker pe, and why isn’t it used before fructe or legume?

The preposition pe marks a direct object when it’s a specific person or a few special pronouns (e.g. pe Ion, pe noi). It is not used for inanimate, general objects like fruits or vegetables.

How does și function in fructe și legume? Do we need a comma before it?

Și is the conjunction “and,” linking two items. In Romanian you do not place a comma before și when you’re joining just two words or phrases.

Why is it la prânz for “at lunch,” and not în prânz?

Romanian uses la with meals to form fixed time expressions: la micul dejun (at breakfast), la prânz (at lunch), la cină (at dinner). You won’t hear în prânz, though you could elaborate with în timpul prânzului (“during the lunch”).

Why are there two different letters, ă and â, in vară, mâncăm, and prânz?

Romanian has three special vowels:

Ă (schwa sound [ə]), used in words like vară.
Î and Â both represent the same sound [ɨ]. The spelling rule is: use î only at the beginning or end of a word (e.g. în, înger), and â in the interior (e.g. mâncăm, prânz).

Where is the stress in mâncăm and prânz, and how is stress shown in writing?

Romanian spelling does not mark stress with accents. Stress must be learned word by word. In mâncăm the stress falls on the first syllable: MÂN-căm. Prânz is a single-syllable word, so it is stressed by default.