Word
Nisipul de pe plajă este cald.
Meaning
The sand on the beach is warm.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Questions & Answers about Nisipul de pe plajă este cald.
Why is the definite article attached to nisip as nisipul rather than appearing as a separate word?
In Romanian, the definite article (“the”) is not a separate word but is enclitic—attached at the end of the noun. For masculine singular nouns ending in a consonant, you add -ul:
- nisip (sand) + -ul → nisipul (the sand)
What does de pe mean in de pe plajă? Why not just de or just pe?
de pe is a compound preposition meaning “from off” or “off the surface of.”
- de alone means “from” (a general origin).
- pe alone means “on” (a location on a surface).
Together, de pe conveys “originating from the top of,” so de pe plajă = “off the beach.”
Why do we use pe plajă instead of în plajă?
In Romanian:
- pe
- location indicates being on a surface (e.g. pe masă = “on the table”).
- în
- location indicates being inside something (e.g. în cameră = “in the room”).
A beach is treated as a surface, so you say pe plajă = “on the beach.”
- location indicates being inside something (e.g. în cameră = “in the room”).