Learn Hardcore Romanian: Ciorba pe care o gătește bunica este simplă și bună. - The soup that grandmother cooks is simple and good.

In this sentence, we are talking about a specific soup: the soup that grandma cooks. So Romanian uses the definite form ciorba, which literally means the soup.

Same with bunică (grandmother):

bunică = a grandmother
bunica = the grandmother

So Ciorba … este simplă și bună = The soup … is simple and good.

What does pe care mean, and why not just care?

care is the basic relative pronoun: who / which / that.

You use pe care when the relative pronoun is a direct object referring to a person or thing and is preceded by pe (the direct-object marker).

In this sentence:

ciorba is the direct object of gătește (grandma cooks the soup).
In the relative clause you replace ciorba with care, but because it’s a marked direct object, you also need pe:
- ciorba (pe care bunica o gătește) → the soup (which grandma cooks)

So:

care = who/which, used as subject or unmarked object
pe care = who/whom/which, used as marked direct object

English just says: the soup that grandma cooks. Romanian has to show the object role more clearly, so it says pe care.

What is the role of pe in pe care?

pe is the direct object marker in Romanian. It is used:

obligatorily with people as direct objects,
and often with definite/specific things as direct objects.

Here, the underlying sentence is:

Bunica gătește ciorba. – Grandma cooks the soup.

If you turn ciorba (the direct object) into a relative pronoun, you keep the pe to show that this pronoun is still a direct object:

ciorba pe care o gătește bunica – the soup that grandma cooks

So pe before care tells you that care is functioning as a direct object of gătește.

What does o mean in o gătește bunica?

o is a clitic pronoun, meaning her/it (feminine singular direct object).

It refers back to ciorba (a feminine singular noun):

Bunica o gătește. – Grandma cooks it (the soup).

In the full phrase:

Ciorba pe care o gătește bunica
= The soup that grandma cooks (it)
→ In natural English: the soup that grandma cooks.

So o is:

3rd person
feminine
singular
direct object pronoun
and it agrees in gender and number with ciorba.

Why does o come before the verb (o gătește) and not after, like in English?

In Romanian, unstressed object pronouns (like o, îl, le, îi) normally appear before the conjugated verb. This is called clitic placement.

Pattern:

Subiect + (alte elemente) + pronume clitic + verb
Bunica o gătește. – Grandma cooks it.

You cannot say gătește o bunica with the same meaning. That would be ungrammatical or misunderstood.

So:

English: cooks it (verb + pronoun)
Romanian: o gătește (pronoun + verb)

Why are the adjectives simplă and bună in the feminine form?

In Romanian, adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

ciorbă is feminine singular
Therefore, the adjectives must also be feminine singular:
- masculine singular: simplu, bun
- feminine singular: simplă, bună

So:

Ciorba este simplă și bună. – The soup is simple and good.
(ciorba – feminine singular; simplă, bună – feminine singular)

If the noun were masculine, you would change the adjectives:

Mâncatul este simplu și bun. – Eating is simple and good.
(mâncatul – masculine singular; simplu, bun – masculine singular)

Could we change the word order in the relative clause, for example Ciorba pe care bunica o gătește?

Yes. Both of these are correct:

Ciorba pe care o gătește bunica
Ciorba pe care bunica o gătește

They mean the same: The soup that grandma cooks.

In (1), the clitic pronoun o is immediately after pe care, then comes the verb and then bunica.
In (2), the subject bunica comes right after pe care, and the clitic o stays before the verb gătește.

The pronoun o must still be before the verb, but bunica can move around a bit for emphasis or style. Neutral, very common versions are:

Ciorba pe care o gătește bunica…
Ciorba pe care bunica o gătește…

What is the difference between este and e in este simplă și bună?

este and e are forms of the same verb: a fi (to be).

este = full form
e = shortened, colloquial form

Both are correct, and in everyday speech Romanians very often say:

Ciorba pe care o gătește bunica e simplă și bună.

In writing or in more formal contexts, este is often preferred, but e is absolutely standard and very common.

Where is the word “she” in the Romanian sentence? Why doesn’t it appear?

Romanian is a pro-drop language: subject pronouns (like eu, tu, el, ea) are often omitted because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

gătește is 3rd person singular (he/she/it cooks)
bunica is a noun in 3rd person singular feminine

So Romanian doesn’t need an extra ea (she):

Bunica gătește. – Grandma cooks.
(literally: Grandma cooks, not She grandma cooks.)

In the full sentence:

Ciorba pe care o gătește bunica este simplă și bună.

The subject inside the relative clause is bunica. There is no separate ea because it would be redundant.

What is the difference between ciorbă and supă? Could we say Supa pe care o gătește bunica…?

Both ciorbă and supă can be translated as soup, but they are not identical in Romanian usage.

ciorbă: usually a sour soup, often with vegetables and meat, traditionally soured with borș, vinegar, lemon, etc. Very typical Romanian dish (e.g. ciorbă de burtă, ciorbă de legume).
supă: often a clear broth-type soup, sometimes strained, e.g. supă de pui (chicken broth), supă cu tăiței (noodle soup).

Yes, grammatically you could also say:

Supa pe care o gătește bunica este simplă și bună.
– The soup that grandma cooks is simple and good.

Here supa is the soup in general; ciorba specifically suggests the more traditional, often sour Romanian-style soup.