Eu mănânc salată la prânz.

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Breakdown of Eu mănânc salată la prânz.

• a mânca: to eat
• la: at
• prânzul: the lunch

Questions & Answers about Eu mănânc salată la prânz.

What’s the function of Eu in this sentence? Can it be omitted?

Eu is the first-person singular pronoun (equivalent to I). In Romanian you often drop the subject pronoun because the verb ending already tells you who’s doing the action. So Mănânc salată la prânz still means “I eat salad at lunch.” Including Eu just adds emphasis or clarity.

What does mănânc mean, and how is it formed?

mănânc is the present-tense, first-person singular form of the verb a mânca (“to eat”). The full present-tense conjugation is:
• Eu mănânc
• Tu mănânci
• El/Ea mănâncă
• Noi mâncăm
• Voi mâncați
• Ei/Ele mănâncă

How do you pronounce the letters ă in mănânc and â in prânz? Where does the stress fall?

• ă (in mănânc) is the mid-central “schwa” sound, like the ‘a’ in English “sofa.”
• â (in prânz) is also a central vowel, slightly more closed, but often described as a “hard” schwa.
Stress falls on the only syllable in prânz (it’s monosyllabic), and on the first syllable of mănânc (MĂN-ănc).

Why is salată used without an article, and how would you say “the salad” or “a salad”?