Breakdown of Sora Anei locuiește cu bunica și bunicul într-un oraș mic.
Questions & Answers about Sora Anei locuiește cu bunica și bunicul într-un oraș mic.
Romanian does not use an apostrophe like English (Ana’s sister). Instead, it uses a “X of Y” structure, where:
- sora = the sister
- Anei = of Ana (genitive form of Ana)
So Sora Anei literally means “the sister of Ana”, which corresponds to “Ana’s sister” in English.
Word order is rigid here:
possessed noun + possessor in genitive → sora Anei (the sister of Ana), not Ana sora.
Anei is the genitive–dative form of the name Ana.
- Ana = base form (nominative)
- Anei = “of Ana” / “to Ana” (genitive–dative)
Romanian often changes the ending of a noun or name to show possession, instead of using a separate word like of.
Other examples:
- cartea Anei = Ana’s book / the book of Ana
- prietena Anei = Ana’s friend (female)
sora is definite: it means “the sister”, not just “sister”.
Romanian usually marks definiteness with an ending, not with a separate word:
- soră = sister (indefinite)
- sora = the sister (definite)
In this sentence, we’re talking about a specific, known sister of Ana, so the definite form sora is used: Sora Anei = Ana’s (the) sister.
All three verbs can appear in contexts about living somewhere, but they are not identical:
a locui → locuiește
- main meaning: to live/reside at an address or in a city
- this is the most neutral and standard verb for “to live (somewhere)”
a trăi → trăiește
- main meaning: to live, be alive, experience life
- can also mean “to live in a place”, but it has a broader, more existential sense
a sta → stă
- literally: to stay, sit, stand
- in everyday speech, it is often used as “to live (reside)”, but it is more colloquial
So:
- Sora Anei locuiește în București. – very natural, neutral.
- Sora Anei trăiește în București. – also acceptable, but slightly more about “she lives her life in Bucharest”.
- Sora Anei stă în București. – common in casual speech, less formal.
Because we are referring to specific, known grandparents: her grandmother and her grandfather.
Romanian marks this with the definite article attached to the end of the noun:
- bunică = a grandmother (indefinite)
- bunica = the grandmother (definite)
- bunic = a grandfather (indefinite)
- bunicul = the grandfather (definite)
So cu bunica și bunicul = with (her) grandmother and (her) grandfather.
If you said cu bunică și bunic, it would sound incomplete or strange, like “with grandmother and grandfather” as generic roles, not clearly identifiable people.
Romanian attaches definite articles to the end of the noun:
Feminine singular usually takes -a:
- bunică → bunica (the grandmother)
- soră → sora (the sister)
Masculine singular often takes -ul (after consonants):
- bunic → bunicul (the grandfather)
- frate → fratele (the brother)
In the sentence, both grandparents are definite: bunica and bunicul.
într-un is a contracted form of:
- în (in) + un (a, one – masculine singular)
The normal written and spoken form is într-un, not în un, when the next word is masculine singular and starts with a consonant:
- într-un oraș = in a city
- într-un sat = in a village
For feminine nouns, you get într-o:
- într-o casă = in a house
So într-un oraș mic is the standard way to say “in a small town/city”.
In Romanian, the default position of descriptive adjectives is after the noun:
- oraș mic = small town
- casă mare = big house
- mașină nouă = new car
Adjectives can come before the noun in some cases (for emphasis, style, or with certain types of adjectives), but for a simple, neutral description like “a small town”, oraș mic (noun + adjective) is the standard order.
So:
- un oraș mic = a small town
not un mic oraș in neutral speech (though un mic oraș is possible with a slightly different emphasis or style).
Yes, both word orders are grammatically correct:
- Sora Anei locuiește cu bunica și bunicul într-un oraș mic.
- Sora Anei locuiește într-un oraș mic cu bunica și bunicul.
Both would be understood the same way. The difference is subtle:
- Version 1 slightly groups “lives with grandma and grandpa” as a unit, then adds where (in a small town).
- Version 2 highlights “in a small town” a bit earlier.
In normal conversation, the original version (with cu bunica și bunicul first) is very natural.
ș is pronounced like English “sh”:
- locuiește → lo-cu-ie-shte
- oraș → o-rash
ă is a mid-central vowel (like the a in sofa or the e in taken), a short, neutral sound:
- bunică → bu-nɨ-kə (approx. boo-NI-kuh)
- Anei has no ă, but it’s good to compare: Ana vs Anei
So the whole sentence roughly sounds like:
SO-ra A-NEI lo-cu-IESH-te ku bu-NI-ka shi bu-NI-kul în-trun o-RASH mik.
(That’s only approximate, not strict IPA.)
For more sisters:
- Surorile Anei locuiesc cu bunica și bunicul într-un oraș mic.
- surorile = the sisters
- locuiesc = they live (3rd person plural)
For “with the grandparents” (both of them as a pair):
- Sora Anei locuiește cu bunicii ei într-un oraș mic.
- bunicii (plural definite) = the grandparents
- ei = her
So:
- bunica și bunicul = (her) grandmother and (her) grandfather (spelled out separately)
- bunicii = the grandparents (as a group)
Romanian can omit the possessive “her” when it is clear from context, as in the original sentence. If you want to make it explicit, you can add a possessive pronoun:
- Sora Anei locuiește cu bunica ei și bunicul ei într-un oraș mic.
Here:
- ei = her
- bunica ei = her grandmother
- bunicul ei = her grandfather
But in many contexts, cu bunica și bunicul is enough, because they are normally understood to be her grandparents.