Learn Hardcore Romanian: În frigider am apă rece, iar pe masă este un pahar curat. - I have cold water in the fridge, and on the table there is a clean glass.

Romanian is a pro-drop (pro-null) language, which means the verb ending already shows who the subject is. Here, am ends in -m, indicating first person singular, so you don’t need to say eu.

Why does the verb am come after În frigider instead of before, as in English?

Romanian has a relatively free word order for emphasis. Starting with În frigider (“in the fridge”) highlights location. The basic idea is still “I have cold water,” but putting the locative adverbial first is perfectly natural.

Why is there no article before frigider? Shouldn’t it be “the fridge”?

In many locative expressions, general or nonspecific places drop the article: În frigider = “in (the) fridge.” If you want to specify a particular fridge, you could say În frigiderul meu (“in my fridge”).

What does the conjunction iar mean here and how is it different from și?

iar often means “and” or “while/whereas,” introducing a contrast or a second point. In this sentence it links two statements: “I have cold water in the fridge, and (on the other hand) on the table there is a clean glass.” și would just join two facts without that nuance.

Why do we use pe masă (“on the table”) instead of la masă?

pe marks surfaces (on top of something). La with masă can mean “at the table” (eating). So pe masă = “on the surface of the table.”

Why is there no article on masă, while un pahar has one?

Here pe masă indicates location in general, so no article is needed. For the object being described, un pahar uses the indefinite article un because it’s “a (some) glass,” not a specific one already known.

Why do the adjectives rece and curat come after the nouns apă and pahar?

In Romanian, most adjectives follow the noun they modify. So apă rece (“water cold”) and pahar curat (“glass clean”) are standard noun-adjective order.

Why is the adjective rece the same form for feminine (apă) and masculine?

Some adjectives, like rece, have identical masculine and feminine singular forms. They only change in plural (e.g. reci).

Could you also say Am apă rece în frigider instead?

Yes. That’s simply the neutral subject–verb–object–location order: “I have cold water in the fridge.” Moving În frigider to the front just shifts emphasis onto the location.