Drumul până la școală este ușor.

to be

Breakdown of Drumul până la școală este ușor.

• școala: the school
• drumul: the road
• până la: to
• ușor: easy

Questions & Answers about Drumul până la școală este ușor.

Why is the definite article attached to drum, and how do I know its gender?

In Romanian the definite article for masculine singular nouns is enclitic (it attaches to the end of the noun). So drum (“road/way”) + -ul (the) = drumul (“the road/the way”). The ending -ul tells you two things at once: that the noun is masculine and that it’s definite. Most masculine nouns ending in a consonant form their definite by adding -ul.

What does până la mean, and why are both words needed?

până la literally means “up to” or “until to.”

• până conveys “until/up to.”
• la marks direction or destination (“to/at”).
  Together they express “as far as” or simply “to” in contexts like “to school.” You need both to capture the sense of “getting to that point.”

Why is there no definite article before școală in până la școală?

After the preposition la, Romanian typically uses an indefinite noun to express general destinations:

• la școală = “to (school)” (in general)
  If you meant a specific school already identified, you could say la școala X (using the article a on școală). But for “to school” as an abstract routine, no article is used.

Why is the adjective ușor not feminine (i.e. not ușoară), since școală is feminine?

Adjectives agree with the subject of the sentence, not with the object of a preposition. Here the subject is drumul (masculine singular), so the predicative adjective is in masculine singular (ușor). If the sentence were Școala este ușoară, then ușoară would agree with the feminine noun școală.

Is ușor here an adjective or an adverb?

It’s an adjective serving as a predicative adjective connected by the copula este (“is”). It describes the subject drumul. If you used ușor as an adverb (“easily/softly”), it would modify a verb, e.g. Vorbește ușor (“He speaks softly/easily”).

Can we omit este and say Drumul până la școală e ușor?

Yes. In spoken and informal Romanian, e (a clitic form of este) is very common:
 Drumul până la școală e ușor.
In formal writing, you’ll more often see the full form este.

How do I pronounce drumul până la școală este ușor?

• drumul [ˈdru.mul] (stress on first syllable)
• până [ˈpə.nə] (schwa for ă)
• la [la]
• școală [ʃko̯aˈlə] (shk-oa-LUH)
• este [ˈes.te]
• ușor [uˈʃor] (oo-SHOR)

Note that ș sounds like English “sh,” and ă is a relaxed “uh” (schwa).