Familia Anei locuiește într-un bloc mare, la etajul doi.

Ana's family lives in a big apartment building, on the second floor.

Breakdown of Familia Anei locuiește într-un bloc mare, la etajul doi.

• Ana: Ana
• mare: big
• un: a
• la: on
• în: in
• doi: two
• familia: the family
• a locui: to live
• blocul: the apartment building
• etajul: the floor

Questions & Answers about Familia Anei locuiește într-un bloc mare, la etajul doi.

Why is it Familia Anei and not Familia Ana for Ana’s family?

Romanian normally expresses possession with the genitive case, not with an ’s like English.

• Ana → Anei in the genitive (possessive) case.
• So Familia Anei literally means the family of Ana.

You can think of it as:

• familia (the family) + Anei (of Ana) → Ana’s family.

Using Familia Ana would be incorrect; it sounds like “the Ana family” (as if Ana were the surname), not Ana’s family.

Why does familia take a singular verb locuiește if it refers to multiple people?

In Romanian, familia is grammatically singular, even though it refers to several people.

• familia = the family (singular noun, feminine)
• Therefore the verb must be 3rd person singular: locuiește.

This is similar to American English:

• The family lives in an apartment building. (not live)

What is the difference between locuiește, stă, and trăiește for “lives”?

All can translate as lives, but they are used differently:

• locuiește – focuses on where someone resides, their dwelling.

  • Familia Anei locuiește într-un bloc mare.
    Ana’s family lives/resides in a big apartment building.

• stă – very common in speech for “lives, stays, is staying (somewhere)”.

  • Unde stai? = Where do you live? / Where are you staying?

• trăiește – to live in the sense of to be alive / to experience life, not usually about your address.

  • Ea trăiește în România. = She lives (her life) in Romania.
  • El mai trăiește? = Is he still alive?

In this sentence, locuiește is the most neutral and standard for “lives (resides)”.

What exactly does bloc mean here? Is it like “block” in English?

No. In Romanian, bloc almost always means:

• an apartment building, a block of flats.

So într-un bloc mare is best understood as:

• in a big apartment building (not just “on a big block” as in a city block).

Why is it într-un and not just în un?

într-un is a contracted form of în + un, used before a masculine singular noun like bloc:

• în + un bloc → într-un bloc

This contraction is very common and standard.

Pattern:

• Masculine/neuter singular: într-un (before consonant or vowel)
  • într-un bloc – in a (one) block/apartment building
• Feminine singular: într-o
  • într-o casă – in a house

You would not normally say în un bloc in modern Romanian; într-un bloc is the natural form.

Why is the adjective after the noun: bloc mare and not mare bloc?

In Romanian, the default position for descriptive adjectives is after the noun:

• un bloc mare = a big apartment building
• o casă frumoasă = a beautiful house

Adjectives before the noun are possible but tend to sound:

• more emphatic,
• more literary/poetic,
• or can change the nuance.

For everyday description, you normally say bloc mare, not mare bloc.

What does la etajul doi literally mean, and how does it compare to English “second floor”?

Literally:

• la = at / on
• etajul = the floor (etaj + -ul definite article)
• doi = two

So la etajul doi is literally “at/on the floor two”, which corresponds to:

• on the second floor in English.

Note:

• In Romanian, saying etajul doi is the usual, natural way.
• You can also say la al doilea etaj, but la etajul doi is more common in everyday speech.

Why is it etajul doi and not etajul al doilea?

Romanian often uses cardinal numbers (unu, doi, trei, …) after the noun to indicate floor numbers:

• etajul unu / doi / trei – the first / second / third floor.

The more formal ordinal forms are:

• etajul întâi – the first floor
• etajul al doilea – the second floor
• etajul al treilea – the third floor

In everyday speech for floors, etajul doi is shorter and very common; it still corresponds to “second floor”.

Why is it doi and not două?

Romanian has two forms of “two”:

• doi – used with masculine and neuter nouns:

  • doi băieți (two boys)
  • doi câini (two dogs)
  • etajul doi (second floor – etaj is masculine)

• două – used with feminine nouns:

  • două fete (two girls)
  • două case (two houses)

Since etaj is masculine, the correct form is doi.

What is the role of the suffix -ul in etajul?

Romanian usually attaches the definite article to the end of the noun, unlike English.

• etaj = floor
• etajul = the floor (specific).

So:

• la etajul doi = on the second floor.

This pattern is very common:

• bloc → blocul (the block / the apartment building)
• copil → copilul (the child)

Why do we use la with floors: la etajul doi?

The preposition la is used very widely in Romanian, and one of its uses is to indicate location:

• la etajul doi – on the second floor
• la școală – at school
• la birou – at the office
• la bunici – at (my) grandparents’ (place)

Here, la functions similarly to English “on” or “at”, depending on the noun.

Could I say Familia Anei stă într-un bloc mare instead? Would it sound natural?

Yes, Familia Anei stă într-un bloc mare is natural, especially in spoken Romanian.

Nuance:

• locuiește is a bit more neutral/formal, clear about residence.
• stă is very common in everyday speech and can mean “lives” or “stays”.

Both are acceptable; in a textbook sentence, locuiește is slightly preferred.

Is there any difference between Familia Anei locuiește… and Anei familie locuiește…?

Yes. Anei familie is incorrect word order in standard Romanian.

The normal pattern for a possessed noun is:

• [Possessed noun] + [possessor in genitive]

So:

• familia Anei = Ana’s family
• cartea băiatului = the boy’s book
• mașina profesorului = the teacher’s car

Reversing it (Anei familie) is not idiomatic Romanian.