Learn Hardcore Romanian: Copiii se spală pe mâini înainte de masă. - The children wash their hands before the meal.

Copiii means the children. In Romanian the definite article is attached as a suffix. For masculine nouns ending in -i, the plural definite suffix is -ii. So you have:
• copii = children (indefinite)
• copiii = the children (definite or generic)

Why is there a se before spală and what does it do?

The se is the third-person reflexive pronoun. It turns a spăla (to wash something) into a se spăla (to wash oneself). Thus se spală means “he/she/it washes himself/herself/itself” or “they wash themselves,” depending on context.

Why is the verb form spală the same for singular and plural, and how do we know it’s plural here?

In Romanian, verbs ending in -a use the same ending -ă for both 3rd person singular (el/ea) and 3rd person plural (ei/ele). That means spală can mean “he/she washes” or “they wash.” We know it’s plural here because the subject Copiii is clearly plural.

What is the role of pe in pe mâini? Can we just say se spală mâini?

When washing a body part, Romanian requires the preposition pe plus the body part in the accusative case. So a se spăla pe mâini literally “to wash oneself on hands” = “to wash one’s hands.” Omitting pe in this construction is ungrammatical.

Could we also say Copiii își spală mâinile înainte de masă? How does that compare to se spală pe mâini?

Yes, that’s perfectly correct. Își is the reflexive-possessive pronoun (“their own”), and mâinile is the definite direct object. Both forms mean the same:
• Copiii se spală pe mâini (idiomatic for body parts)
• Copiii își spală mâinile (more explicit “their hands”)

In English we say “wash their hands.” Why isn’t there a separate possessive like lor here?

In Romanian reflexive body-part constructions, the reflexive pronoun (se or își) already indicates possession. You wouldn’t add lor (their) because it would be redundant or sound unnatural.

What does înainte de masă mean, and why isn’t masă preceded by an article?

Înainte de masă means before a meal or before mealtime. Here masă means meal, not table. There’s no article because it’s a general time expression (any meal), and after the preposition de you normally don’t add a definite article in such cases.

Could we use înainte de cină or înainte de prânz instead of înainte de masă?

Absolutely.
• cină = dinner → înainte de cină = before dinner
• prânz = lunch → înainte de prânz = before lunch
Masa is a generic term for any meal, so înainte de masă covers all mealtimes when you want to speak in general.

How do you pronounce the Romanian letters â (as in mâini) and ă (as in spală)?

• Â is pronounced [ɨ], a close central unrounded vowel—somewhat like an unrounded English “i” pronounced in the middle of the mouth.
• Ă is pronounced [ə], the schwa sound in English words like sofa or about. They are two distinct vowels in Romanian.

Why isn’t there a separate pronoun for “they” in se spală? Do we ever need ei se spală?

Romanian is a pro-drop language: the subject pronoun is often omitted because the verb ending usually tells you who is acting. Here se spală could be singular or plural, but Copiii makes it clear it’s plural. You would only add ei (they) for emphasis: Ei se spală pe mâini înainte de masă.