Zăpada de pe drum este adâncă.

The snow on the road is deep.

Breakdown of Zăpada de pe drum este adâncă.

• a fi: to be
• drumul: the road
• de pe: from
• zăpada: the snow
• adânc: deep

Questions & Answers about Zăpada de pe drum este adâncă.

Why does zăpada have -a at the end?

In Romanian, definite articles are attached to the end of nouns.

• zăpadă = “snow” (indefinite)
• zăpada = “the snow” (definite)

What does de pe mean in de pe drum?

de pe literally means “from on top of.” It’s used to describe something lying on a surface.

• zăpada de pe drum = “the snow lying on the road.”

Can I just say pe drum instead of de pe drum?

No, they’re used in different contexts:

• pe drum often implies motion along a road (e.g., Merg pe drum – “I’m going on the road”).
• de pe drum describes something coming from or resting on the road’s surface.

What gender and number is zăpada?

zăpada is feminine singular. You can tell because it ends in -a, the typical ending for feminine singular nouns in the nominative/accusative.

Why does adâncă end with -ă? What’s the masculine form?

Adjectives in Romanian agree with the noun’s gender and number.

• The masculine singular form is adânc (“deep”).
• The feminine singular form is adâncă (adding -ă to agree with zăpada, which is feminine singular).

How do adjectives agree with nouns in Romanian?

They match gender (masculine/feminine), number (singular/plural), and sometimes definiteness. For adânc (“deep”):
• adânc = masculine singular
• adâncă = feminine singular
• adânci = masculine plural
• adânce = feminine plural

How do I pronounce the ă and â in this sentence? Where is the stress?

• ă = mid-central vowel /ə/, like the ‘a’ in English “sofa.”
• â = close central unrounded vowel /ɨ/, a sound not in English.
Stress placement:

• zăPA​dă (second syllable)
• aDÂN​că (second syllable)

Can I place the adjective before the noun, like adâncă zăpada de pe drum este?

The neutral word order is noun + adjective. Placing the adjective before the noun is possible but marked or poetic:

• Neutral: Zăpada de pe drum este adâncă.
• Emphatic/poetic: Adâncă este zăpada de pe drum. or Adâncă zăpada de pe drum!