Biletul de metrou este valabil o oră.

The subway ticket is valid for one hour.

Breakdown of Biletul de metrou este valabil o oră.

• a fi: to be
• o: a
• metroul: the subway
• ora: the hour

Questions & Answers about Biletul de metrou este valabil o oră.

Why is there de in biletul de metrou?

In Romanian, de links two nouns when the second denotes the type or category of the first. Here it literally means “ticket of metro,” i.e. metro ticket. It’s a genitive construction without turning metrou into a separate definite noun.

Why is it biletul and not just bilet?

Romanian marks definiteness by adding endings to the noun. Bilet is “ticket” (indefinite), while biletul is “the ticket” (definite). Masculine singular nouns take -ul or -le as the definite article.

Why do we say o oră for “one hour” and not una oră or un oră?

Romanian has two indefinite articles:

• un for masculine nouns (e.g. un bilet)
• o for feminine nouns (e.g. o oră)
  Since oră (hour) is feminine, you must use o.

Why isn’t there a preposition like pentru before o oră (“for one hour”)?