Learn Hardcore Romanian: Soția lui Andrei gătește ciorbă de legume în fiecare seară. - Andrei's wife cooks vegetable soup every evening.

soția = the wife
- soție = wife
- soția = the wife (Romanian puts the definite article at the end of the noun)
lui Andrei = of Andrei
- lui is a general possessive marker often used with proper names:
  - cartea lui Andrei = Andrei’s book
  - telefonul lui Maria = Maria’s phone

So the pattern is:

[the + noun] + lui + [name]
soția lui Andrei = Andrei’s wife

Why is it soția and not just soție?

Because the sentence talks about a specific, known wife: the wife of Andrei.

Romanian uses a suffix for the definite article:

soție = wife (indefinite, a wife)
soția = the wife (definite)

More examples:

casă = house → casa = the house
mașină = car → mașina = the car

In Soția lui Andrei gătește…, we know which wife we are talking about (Andrei’s), so the definite form soția is used.

Could you say soția Andrei without lui, or is soția lui Andrei the only correct form?

The normal, neutral, everyday form is soția lui Andrei.

soția lui Andrei – standard, what you should use.
soția Andrei – can appear in literary or more old‑fashioned styles, but it is not the usual spoken form and can sound odd or affected in modern everyday language.

So in practice, always say soția lui Andrei for Andrei’s wife.

Where is the word she in this sentence? Why is there no subject pronoun?

Romanian usually drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the person and number.

gătește is 3rd person singular (he/she/it cooks).
The subject is clearly soția lui Andrei, so there is no need for a separate ea (she).

You could say:

Ea gătește ciorbă… = She cooks soup…

but if you already have the noun (soția lui Andrei), using ea as well would normally be redundant:

Soția lui Andrei ea gătește… – sounds unnatural in normal speech.

What tense is gătește, and how does it compare to English?

gătește is present tense, 3rd person singular of a găti (to cook).

Conjugation (present):

eu gătesc – I cook
tu gătești – you cook
el / ea gătește – he / she cooks
noi gătim – we cook
voi gătiți – you (pl.) cook
ei / ele gătesc – they cook

In this sentence, present tense expresses a habitual action, like English “Andrei’s wife cooks vegetable soup every evening.” It matches English present simple in meaning here.

Why is it gătește ciorbă de legume and not gătește pe ciorbă de legume?

In Romanian, the preposition pe is used before a direct object that is a person (or sometimes a pet), or a very specific, personified thing:

Văd pe Maria. – I see Maria.
Iubesc pe bunica. – I love my grandma.

For inanimate things like soup, you normally do not use pe:

Gătește ciorbă. – She cooks soup.
Cumpăr pâine. – I buy bread.

So gătește ciorbă de legume is correct without pe.

What is the difference between ciorbă and supă?

Both are types of soup, but in Romanian they are not the same:

ciorbă
- Usually sour, often with borsh, lemon, or vinegar.
- Often chunkier, with vegetables and/or meat.
- Very typical in Romanian cuisine: ciorbă de legume, ciorbă de perișoare, etc.
supă
- More like a clear broth or lighter soup, often not sour.
- For example: supă de pui (chicken soup).

In ciorbă de legume, we’re talking about a Romanian‑style vegetable soup, typically with a sour taste.

Why is it ciorbă de legume and not ciorbă cu legume?

Both can exist, but they are not identical in meaning:

ciorbă de legume
- Literally vegetable soup.
- The main type or base of the soup is vegetables.
- This is the normal way to say vegetable soup.
ciorbă cu legume
- Literally soup with vegetables.
- Emphasizes that the soup contains vegetables, but they might not be the main defining ingredient (for example, a meat soup with some vegetables).

So, for standard vegetable soup, you say ciorbă de legume.

Why is it ciorbă (indefinite) and not ciorba (the definite form) in this sentence?

Because we are talking about what she usually cooks, in general, not about one specific pot of soup that is already known.

Gătește ciorbă de legume în fiecare seară.
= She cooks vegetable soup every evening (a habitual action; type of food).

If you were talking about a particular soup everyone already knows about, you might use the definite form:

Gătește ciorba de legume pe care o iubește Andrei.
= She cooks the vegetable soup that Andrei loves.

For habitual, generic actions (what someone generally eats, drinks, cooks, buys), Romanian often uses the indefinite form.

Can I move în fiecare seară to the beginning of the sentence? For example: În fiecare seară, soția lui Andrei gătește ciorbă de legume.

Yes, that is perfectly correct and very natural.

Both word orders are fine:

Soția lui Andrei gătește ciorbă de legume în fiecare seară.
În fiecare seară, soția lui Andrei gătește ciorbă de legume.

The meaning is the same: Andrei’s wife cooks vegetable soup every evening.

Putting în fiecare seară first slightly emphasizes the time (every evening), but grammatically both are normal.

What does în fiecare seară literally mean, and why do we need în?

Literally:

în = in
fiecare = each / every
seară = evening (singular)

So în fiecare seară = in every evening → idiomatically, every evening.

The preposition în is required in this expression. You cannot say just fiecare seară alone to mean “every evening” in this kind of time phrase; you need:

în fiecare dimineață – every morning
în fiecare zi – every day
în fiecare seară – every evening
în fiecare an – every year

Why is it seară (singular) and not seri (plural) in în fiecare seară?

Because fiecare (each/every) in Romanian always takes a singular noun, just like in English:

fiecare zi – each/every day
fiecare seară – each/every evening
fiecare copil – each/every child

So the correct structure is:

în fiecare seară (singular noun after fiecare), not în fiecare seri.

How do you pronounce the special letters ă, ț, and â in words like Soția, Andrei, gătește?

In this sentence you see ă and ț:

ă (as in gătește)
- A short, central vowel, similar to the a in English sofa or the u in sun (but shorter and more neutral).
- gătește roughly: guh-TESH-teh.
ț (as in soția)
- Pronounced like ts in cats.
- soția roughly: so-TSI-a.

You don’t have â in this particular sentence, but:

â and î represent the same sound: a deep central vowel, somewhat like a very dark “uh,” with the tongue pulled back.

Correct pronunciation of ă and ț will make your Romanian sound much more natural.

Does the verb form gătește change depending on whether the subject is male or female?

No. Verb endings in Romanian do not change for gender, only for person and number.

El gătește. – He cooks.
Ea gătește. – She cooks.
Soțul lui Andrei gătește. – Andrei’s husband cooks.
Soția lui Andrei gătește. – Andrei’s wife cooks.

All use gătește, because they are all 3rd person singular. Gender is shown by the noun (soțul, soția) or the pronoun (el, ea), not by changing the verb ending.