Learn Hardcore Romanian: Seara, mama citește, iar tata se uită la serial. - In the evening, my mother reads, and my father watches a TV series.

Seara literally means “the evening”, but at the start of a sentence like this it functions as “In the evening” / “At night” and expresses when the action happens.

Putting Seara, at the beginning with a comma is a common way in Romanian to front a time expression for emphasis or clarity:

Seara, mama citește. = In the evenings, mom reads.

You could also say:

Mama citește seara.

Both are correct; the first just emphasizes the time a bit more.

Why is it mama and tata, not mamă and tată?

Mamă and tată are the basic forms: “mother” and “father”.

In mama and tata, the final -a is the definite article attached to the noun. So:

mamă = (a) mother
mama = the mother / mom
tată = (a) father
tata = the father / dad

In everyday speech about your own parents, mama and tata function like “mom” and “dad”, not like distant “the mother / the father” in English.

Does mama / tata here already mean “my mom/my dad” even though mea/meu isn’t used?

Yes, in most everyday contexts, mama and tata by themselves imply “my mom” and “my dad” when you’re talking about your own family.

You can say mama mea / tata meu to be explicit, but it’s often unnecessary and can even sound slightly heavy or overly formal in a simple sentence like this.

So:

Seara, mama citește. ≈ In the evening, my mom reads.
Seara, tata se uită la serial. ≈ In the evening, my dad watches a TV series.

What does iar mean, and how is it different from și?

Both iar and și can be translated as “and”, but they’re not used in exactly the same way.

și is the neutral “and”, just joining things.
iar often adds a nuance of contrast, alternation, or “while/whereas”.

In this sentence:

mama citește, iar tata se uită la serial.

can be felt as:

Mom reads, *while dad watches a series.*
Mom reads, *whereas dad watches a series.*

You could say:

Mama citește, și tata se uită la serial.

That is understandable, but iar is more natural here because it slightly contrasts the two different activities.

Why is se uită reflexive? What does it literally mean?

A se uita la is a reflexive verb in Romanian and means “to look at / to watch”.

a se uita = to look (oneself)
a se uita la = to look at / to watch

So:

tata se uită la serial = dad watches a series / dad is watching a show

Literally, something like “dad looks at a series”.

A few related verbs:

a vedea = to see (perceive with your eyes, more passive)
a privi = to look at, to watch (not reflexive)
a se uita la = to watch / to look at (very common for watching TV, series, videos)

Important: with a se uita, you almost always need la:

se uită la TV = he/she watches TV
se uită la film = he/she watches a movie

Why do we say la serial and not la un serial or la serialul?

All three are possible, but they have slightly different meanings:

la serial – generic, like “TV series” in general or “a series” with no focus on which one
la un serial – “at a series / a TV show”, introducing it as one, non-specific series
la serialul – “the series”, a specific, known series

In everyday speech, se uită la serial is often used in a general way, similar to English “watches (his) show / watches a series”, when the exact show is either known from context or unimportant.

Is the present tense here habitual (like “every evening”) or just “this evening”?

In Romanian, the simple present often expresses habitual or repeated actions, especially when combined with a time phrase like Seara.

So:

Seara, mama citește, iar tata se uită la serial.

usually means:

In the evenings, mom (usually) reads, and dad (usually) watches a series.

It describes a routine, not just what is happening right now on a single evening.

Why are there no subject pronouns ea (she) and el (he) in the sentence?

Romanian is a pro-drop language: subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb ending already shows the person and number.

(Ea) citește = she reads
(El) se uită = he watches

Here, mama and tata are explicit subjects, so Romanian does not need ea or el:

Mama citește (not Mama ea citește)
Tata se uită (not Tata el se uită)

Adding ea/el would usually sound redundant or marked, unless you need special emphasis or contrast.

How do you pronounce citește, se uită, and the letters ă, ș, ț?

Basic pronunciation:

ci in citește = like “chee” in cheese (but shorter)
- citește ≈ chee-TESH-te
ș = like English “sh”
- in citește, ș is the “sh” sound.
se uită:
- se ≈ seh
- ui is a glide, a bit like saying oo
  - ee quickly: oo-ee → ui
- tă: t
  - ă (see below)
- So se uită ≈ seh OOY-tă.

Vowels with diacritics:

ă – a mid-central vowel, like the a in “sofa” or “about”.
ș – “sh” as in “she”.
ț – “ts” as in “cats”.

So:

mama ≈ MAH-ma
tata ≈ TAH-ta
se uită la serial ≈ seh OOY-tă la seh-ree-AHL

Why is there a comma before iar? Is it obligatory?

Yes, in this case the comma before iar is standard and expected.

Iar joins two independent clauses:

mama citește
tata se uită la serial

In Romanian, you usually put a comma before coordinating conjunctions like iar, dar (but), însă (however) when they link complete clauses:

Mama citește, iar tata se uită la serial.

Leaving out this comma would be considered a punctuation mistake in careful writing.

Can I drop the comma after Seara and just write Seara mama citește, iar tata se uită la serial?

In everyday, informal writing, many people would omit the comma after Seara, and it will still be understandable.

However, when a time expression like Seara stands alone at the beginning as an adverbial, Seara, mama citește… is the more standard, clearly punctuated version.

So:

More standard: Seara, mama citește, iar tata se uită la serial.
Possible but less careful: Seara mama citește, iar tata se uită la serial.

Can I move seara to the end and say Mama citește seara, iar tata se uită la serial? Does the meaning change?

Yes, you can. Both word orders are correct:

Seara, mama citește, iar tata se uită la serial.
Mama citește seara, iar tata se uită la serial.

The basic meaning does not change: it still indicates an evening routine.

The difference is just emphasis:

Seara, mama citește… – slightly stronger focus on “In the evening…” as the setting.
Mama citește seara… – starts by focusing on “Mom reads”, and then adds “in the evening” as extra information.