Learn Hardcore Romanian: Cămașa pe care Andrei o cumpără nu este destul de ieftină, dar el este întotdeauna fericit. - The shirt that Andrei buys is not cheap enough, but he is always happy.

pe before the relative pronoun care (literally “that/which”)
a resumptive clitic pronoun (o, referring back to cămașa) immediately before the verb

So pe care introduces “that/which,” and o “resumes” the object inside the clause. Together pe care o cumpără literally means “that which he buys.” The preposition pe marks it as a direct object, and the clitic o is required to keep the sentence grammatically correct in a relative clause.

Why does cămașa end with -a?

Romanian expresses the definite article as a suffix on the noun. For feminine singular nouns like cămașă (“a shirt”), the definite article is -a, so cămașa = “the shirt.” In the indefinite form you’d say o cămașă, and in the definite form the article moves to the end: cămașă + a = cămașa.

Why does ieftină end in -ă here?

Adjectives in Romanian agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. Since cămașa is feminine singular, the adjective ieftin (“cheap”) takes the feminine singular ending -ă: ieftină. If it were a masculine noun you’d see ieftin, and for plurals ieftini (masc.) or ieftine (fem.).

What does destul de ieftină mean, and how does destul de work with adjectives?

destul de + adjective means “enough/quite” or “sufficiently.”

este destul de ieftină = “it is quite/fairly cheap.”
nu este destul de ieftină = “it is not cheap enough.”

Here destul de is an adverbial phrase modifying the adjective. Note that nu negates the verb este, so nu este destul de ieftină correctly means “it is not cheap enough.”

Why is the pronoun el included in dar el este întotdeauna fericit? Can it be omitted?

Romanian verbs are conjugated to show the subject, so subject pronouns are optional.

dar este întotdeauna fericit is grammatically correct and understood as “but [he] is always happy.”
Adding el clarifies or emphasizes the subject (Andrei), and can signal contrast: “but he (Andrei) is always happy.”

You can drop el in casual speech, but include it if you want extra clarity or emphasis.

Why is întotdeauna (“always”) placed between este and fericit? Could it go elsewhere?

As an adverb of frequency, întotdeauna normally goes close to the verb it modifies:

el este întotdeauna fericit (most natural)

You can also front it for emphasis:

Întotdeauna, el este fericit

Or place it after the adjective for stylistic effect (less common):

el este fericit întotdeauna

Why is the adjective fericit masculine singular, even though the previous noun (cămașa) was feminine?

In dar el este întotdeauna fericit, the subject of este is el (Andrei, masculine), not cămașa. Adjectives agree with their subject: since el is masculine singular, fericit is masculine singular. The shirt is only the object of the first clause, so it doesn’t determine this adjective’s form.

Could we say Cămașa pe care Andrei o cumpără nu e destul de ieftină, dar e întotdeauna fericit using e instead of este and dropping pronouns?

Yes. In informal spoken Romanian:

e is the contracted form of este.
Subject pronouns like el can be dropped when they’re clear from context.

So nu e destul de ieftină, dar e întotdeauna fericit is perfectly natural in conversation. In formal writing you’ll often use the full form este and may include el for clarity or emphasis.