Learn Hardcore Romanian: Cartea este groasă.

Many Romanian nouns ending in an unstressed -e are feminine (cheie, linie), but there are exceptions like soare (sun) or frate (brother), which are masculine. In most cases you’ll learn the noun and its gender together or check a good dictionary.

Why is the adjective groasă in that particular form?

Adjectives in Romanian agree with their noun in gender and number. The base form is gros (masculine singular). For a feminine singular noun like carte, you use the feminine singular ending -ă, giving groasă.

If I want to say “the books are thick,” how does everything change?

You switch to the plural forms:
• carte → cărți (books)
• cartea → cărțile (the books)
• este → sunt (are)
• groasă → groase (feminine plural)
Result: Cărțile sunt groase.

Can I say Cartea e groasă instead of Cartea este groasă?

Yes—e is the everyday contraction of este (“is”). You’ll hear Cartea e groasă all the time in speech.

Is it possible to drop the verb and just say Cartea groasă to mean “the book is thick”?

No. Without a fi (to be) you get a noun phrase, not a full sentence. Cartea groasă reads as “the thick book,” not “the book is thick.”

Where does the stress fall in groasă, and how do I pronounce the letter ă?

Stress is on the first syllable: GRO-a-să. The letter ă is a schwa [ə], like the ‘a’ in English about. So groasă sounds roughly like GROH-uh-suh.

What’s the difference between gros and gras, since they look similar?

Though they look alike, they’re distinct adjectives:
• gros (fem. groasă) means thick (an object’s dimension).
• gras (fem. grasă) means fat or greasy.

Can groasă ever mean “fat” when talking about a person?

In principle it could, but standard Romanian uses gras/grasă for “fat” of people. If you say Fata este groasă a native speaker will likely interpret it as “the girl is thick” (unusual) or guess you meant grasă. Use grasă for describing someone’s weight.