Learn Hardcore Romanian: Deși coada la tramvai este lungă dimineața, vremea bună ne păstrează veseli. - Although the queue at the tram is long in the morning, the good weather keeps us cheerful.

Deși is a subordinating conjunction meaning “although.” It introduces a concessive subordinate clause that contrasts with the main clause. Unlike the coordinating conjunction dar (“but”), which links two independent clauses, deși makes the first clause dependent (and requires a comma when it comes first). Chiar dacă also expresses concession (“even if/even though”), but it often carries a slight hypothetical nuance (“even if the queue were short…”), whereas deși refers to an actual situation.

Why is coada in the definite form but tramvai isn’t preceded by an article?

Coada takes the definite article -a (“the queue”) because we’re talking about a specific line. Tramvai, on the other hand, follows the preposition la to indicate “for the tram” or “at the tram stop,” and in such phrases Romanian typically drops the article. If you wanted to stress location (“of the tram”), you could use coada de la tramvai, but coada la tramvai is more concise and idiomatic.

What role does the preposition la play in coada la tramvai, and could we say coada de la tramvai instead?

Here la marks the target or location of the queue (“for/at the tram”). Yes, you can also say coada de la tramvai, which literally means “the queue of the tram,” focusing on the tram as the origin. Both are correct; coada la tramvai is simply shorter and more commonly used when you talk about waiting for a tram.

Why does dimineață take the definite article (dimineața), and can we place it elsewhere in the sentence?

When time-of-day nouns act adverbially (“in the morning”), they almost always take the definite article: dimineața = “in the morning.” Without the article, o dimineață would mean “a morning” (one particular morning). You can move dimineața to the beginning—Dimineața, deși coada la tramvai este lungă…—but placing it at the end keeps the emphasis on the queue’s length before specifying the time.

Why is vremea used with the definite article, and could we say o vreme bună instead?

Vremea (“the weather”) uses the definite article -a because we refer to the specific weather that day. Saying o vreme bună (“a good weather”) sounds odd in Romanian, since we normally speak of “the weather” in general or “this weather,” not “a weather.”

How does ne păstrează veseli work? Why do we use ne, and why is veseli masculine plural?

Ne is the enclitic pronoun meaning “us,” functioning as the direct object of păstrează (“keeps”). The adjective veseli agrees with the implied subject noi (“we”) in number and gender: masculine plural is the default if the group is mixed or unspecified. In an all-female group you’d say vesele.

Why is the adjective lungă feminine in coada la tramvai este lungă?

Romanian adjectives agree in gender and number with their nouns. Coada is a feminine singular noun, so the adjective takes the feminine singular ending -ă (lungă). If the noun were masculine, you’d use lung.

Could we use face instead of păstrează—for example, vremea bună ne face veseli?

Absolutely. Vremea bună ne face veseli (“the good weather makes us cheerful”) is very natural. Păstrează focuses on maintaining our cheerfulness over time, while face simply indicates cause (“makes us happy”). Both convey roughly the same idea, but with a slight difference in nuance.