Question 1

Why does cămașa end in -a rather than using a separate word for “the”?

Accepted Answer

In Romanian the definite article is not a separate word but an enclitic suffix. The base noun is cămașă (“shirt,” feminine singular). To say “the shirt,” you attach -a: cămașă + a → cămașa.

Question 2

How would I say “a blue shirt” (indefinite)?

Accepted Answer

Use the indefinite article o before the noun and keep the adjective in the short form:  
o cămașă albastră  
– o = “a” (feminine)  
– cămașă = “shirt”  
– albastră = “blue” (feminine singular)

Question 3

Why does albastră end in -ă instead of -u?

Accepted Answer

Romanian adjectives agree in gender and number with their noun. Albastru is the masculine form (“blue” for a masculine noun). For a feminine singular noun you replace -u with -ă, yielding albastră.

Question 4

Why is the adjective placed after the noun, rather than before as in English?

Accepted Answer

The default attributive order in Romanian is noun + adjective. Putting the adjective before the noun is possible but less common and often adds emphasis or a poetic tone.

Question 5

Since cămașa is definite, shouldn’t albastră become albastra?

Accepted Answer

Some adjectives have a special “long” (definite) form, but in modern Romanian the vast majority use the short form after the noun—even with definite nouns. So cămașa albastră is standard; albastra is archaic or very literary.

Question 6

How do you pronounce the letters ă and ș?

Accepted Answer

• ă = mid-central vowel (schwa), similar to the ‘a’ in English sofa (IPA: /ə/)  
• ș = the “sh” sound in shop (IPA: /ʃ/)

Question 7

Why is este included? Can I drop it?

Accepted Answer

Este is the full third-person singular of a fi (“to be”), and it links the subject to the predicate. In speech you can shorten it to e:  
Cămașa albastră e curată.  
You cannot omit the verb entirely in standard Romanian.

Question 8

Why does curată also end in -ă?

Accepted Answer

Curat is the masculine form of the adjective “clean.” To agree with cămașa (feminine singular), it becomes curată.

Question 9

How would I say “The blue shirts are clean” in Romanian?

Accepted Answer

Use the plural forms and plural of “to be”:  
Cămășile albastre sunt curate.  
• cămășile = the shirts (definite plural)  
• albastre = “blue” (feminine plural)  
• sunt = “are” (3rd person plural of a fi)  
• curate = “clean” (feminine plural)

Cămașa albastră este curată.

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