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Zăpada de pe drum este adâncă.

Zăpada de pe drum este adâncă.
The snow on the road is deep.
FromLesson 9inHardcore Romanian

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!
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