Learn Hardcore Romanian: Copacul din grădină este al meu, cel din fața casei este al vecinului. - The tree in the garden is mine, the one in front of the house is the neighbor's.

Romanian uses enclitic definite articles attached to the end of nouns. copac means “tree,” and adding -ul makes it copacul, “the tree.” This replaces a separate word like “the” in English.

What does din mean in copacul din grădină?

Here din is a preposition meaning “from” or “out of,” but in context it indicates location: “the tree in/from the garden.” It’s actually a contraction of de + în, commonly used to link a noun to its place.

Why is grădină not in its definite form (i.e. not grădina)?

When a noun follows din, it normally appears without its own enclitic article. So instead of din grădina you say din grădină (“in the garden”). If you wanted to emphasize “out of the garden,” you could use din grădină as well, but here it simply marks location.

How do we express “in front of the house” in Romanian rather than “from the front of the house”?

A more literal “in front of the house” is în fața casei. However, Romanian often uses cel din fața casei to mean “the one in front of the house” by combining the demonstrative cel with din + place.

What is cel in cel din fața casei, and why not repeat copacul?

cel is a neutral demonstrative pronoun meaning “the one.” It replaces the noun copac a second time. So cel din fața casei = “the one from/in front of the house.”

What does al meu mean, and why not use meu alone?

al meu is a possessive phrase meaning “mine” for masculine singular nouns. You cannot say meu by itself; you need the preposition al (of) plus the pronoun meu. For feminine singular you’d use a mea, and so on.

Why is it al vecinului rather than something like vecinului meu?

Here al vecinului literally means “of the neighbor” or “the neighbor’s.” vecinului is the genitive/dative form of vecinul (the neighbor). Saying vecinului meu (“my neighbor’s”) is redundant, because al vecinului already conveys possession.