Learn Hardcore Romanian: Magazinul este aproape de stația de tramvai.

Magazinul is the definite form (“the store”). In Romanian you attach the definite article to the end of certain nouns (–ul in this case). The bare form magazin means “a store,” while magazinul means “the store.”

Why is there a de after aproape? Couldn’t we just say aproape stația?

In Romanian aproape by itself usually means “almost.” To express “near” (as in proximity), you use the structure aproape de + place. Omitting de would make the phrase ungrammatical.

What’s the difference between aproape de and lângă?

Lângă means “right next to,” indicating immediate adjacency. Aproape de means “near,” but not necessarily touching. So if the store is across the street or a few meters away, aproape de is more accurate than lângă.

Why is it stația de tramvai and not stația tramvaiului?

Stația de tramvai literally means “the tram station” and uses the de + noun construction to indicate type. Stația tramvaiului would be the genitive (“the station of the tram”), which is odd here because you’re not talking about possession, just the kind of station.

What case does the noun after de take here?

After de in this context, the noun tramvai stays in the nominative (which looks like the masculine singular base form). Romanian prepositions like de often govern the nominative/accusative case.

How do you pronounce stația?

Phonetically: [ˈsta.t͡si.a].
• “sta” as in “star” without the r,
• “ți” like “tsee,”
• “a” as the “a” in “sofa.”

Is the verb este required? Could one drop it like in English headlines?

In standard Romanian you need the copula este (from a fi) to link subject and predicate: Magazinul este aproape…. You can’t omit it in a normal sentence. In very informal speech you might hear Magazinul e aproape…, but you still need that “e.”

Can este be shortened to e, and is that correct?

Yes. In spoken and informal written Romanian, este is often contracted to e. So Magazinul e aproape de stația de tramvai is perfectly natural in conversation.