Cadoul pentru mama este o carte nouă, iar cadoul pentru tata este o chitară.

The gift for Mom is a new book, and the gift for Dad is a guitar.

Breakdown of Cadoul pentru mama este o carte nouă, iar cadoul pentru tata este o chitară.

• pentru: for
• a fi: to be
• cartea: the book
• o: a
• nou: new
• iar: and
• chitara: the guitar
• mama: the mother
• tata: the father
• cadoul: the gift

Questions & Answers about Cadoul pentru mama este o carte nouă, iar cadoul pentru tata este o chitară.

Why is it cadoul and not just cadou at the beginning of the sentence?

In Romanian, the definite article (the) is usually attached to the end of the noun, not placed in front as a separate word.

• cadou = gift (a gift)
• cadoul = the gift

So:

• Cadoul pentru mama = The gift for mom
  not just A gift for mom.

The ending -ul is the masculine singular definite article. Romanian “wraps” the article onto the noun:

• băiat → băiatul (the boy)
• telefon → telefonul (the phone)
• cadou → cadoul (the gift)

What gender is cadou, and why does it take -ul as the article?

Cadou is a neuter noun in Romanian. Neuter nouns behave like:

• masculine in the singular
• feminine in the plural

So in the singular definite form, cadou behaves like a masculine noun and therefore takes -ul:

• cadou → cadoul (the gift)

In the plural, it behaves like feminine:

• cadouri → cadourile (the gifts)

So:

• un cadou (an/one gift) → cadoul (the gift)
• niște cadouri (some gifts) → cadourile (the gifts)

Why is it pentru mama and pentru tata without any article, and not pentru pe mama or something similar?

Two things are happening here:

1. No article before “mama/tata”
   For close family members used like names or titles (mom, dad, grandma, etc.), Romanian often uses the noun without an article, especially in very simple structures like:
   
   • pentru mama (for mom)
   • pentru tata (for dad)

You could say pentru mama mea (for my mother), but that adds “my” and sounds a bit more explicit or formal.

2. No pe after pentru
   The preposition pentru already marks the object, so you don’t use pe here. Pe is used mainly for direct objects that are specific people (e.g. Văd pe mama – I see mom). Since pentru is a preposition, it doesn’t need pe.

What case are mama and tata in after pentru?

After pentru, the noun is in the accusative case.

In modern Romanian, for many nouns (especially singular, with no article), the accusative form looks the same as the nominative, so you can’t see the case difference in the form:

• Nominative: Mama este acasă. (Mom is at home.)
• Accusative: Cadoul este pentru mama. (The gift is for mom.)

The function in the sentence and the preposition pentru tell you that it’s accusative.

Why is the verb este used and not e? Are both correct?

Both este and e mean is (3rd person singular of a fi – to be).

• este is the full, standard form.
• e is a shortened, more informal form, very common in speech and also acceptable in casual writing.

In your sentence, este is perfectly standard:

• Cadoul pentru mama este o carte nouă.

You could also hear:

• Cadoul pentru mama e o carte nouă.

They mean the same thing; este just sounds a bit more neutral/formal.

Why is the adjective nouă placed after the noun: o carte nouă instead of o nouă carte?

By default, in Romanian, most adjectives come after the noun:

• o carte nouă = a new book

When you put the adjective before the noun, it often adds a nuance:

• o carte nouă
  
  • neutral “a new book” (not old, not used)
• o nouă carte
  
  • often feels like “another book” / “a further book” / “yet another book” or strongly emphasizing the novelty

Both orders are grammatically correct, but noun + adjective is the standard pattern.

Why is the adjective nouă written with ă and not noua without the diacritic?

nouă here is the feminine singular form of the adjective “new” agreeing with carte (feminine).

• Masculine singular: nou
• Feminine singular: nouă

The ă (pronounced like a short, central vowel) is an important letter in Romanian; changing it to a would be a spelling mistake and can change meaning in many words. So:

• o carte nouă = a new book

If you write noua without diacritics, it could be misread as a different form (e.g. noua carte = the new book, with noua as a postposed adjective with its own article), but in standard writing, you should always use ă.

Why is it o carte and o chitară? How do I know which article to use?

Romanian has gendered indefinite articles:

• un for masculine singular (and also for neuter singular)
• o for feminine singular

Both carte (book) and chitară (guitar) are feminine nouns, so they take o:

• o carte = a book
• o chitară = a guitar

If they were masculine/neuter, you would use un:

• un cadou = a gift
• un telefon = a phone

How do the nouns in the sentence form their plurals?

Here are the plural forms of the key nouns:

• cadou (gift) → cadouri (gifts)

  • Definite plural: cadourile (the gifts)

• mama (mom) → mame (moms)

  • Definite plural: mamele

• tata (dad) → tați (dads)

  • Definite plural: tații

• carte (book) → cărți (books)

  • Definite plural: cărțile

• chitară (guitar) → chitare (guitars)

  • Definite plural: chitarele

So the plural equivalent could be:

• Cadourile pentru mama și tata sunt cărți noi și chitare.
  (The gifts for mom and dad are new books and guitars.)

What is the difference between iar and și in this sentence? Can I use și instead of iar?

In the sentence:

• … o carte nouă, iar cadoul pentru tata este o chitară.

iar is a conjunction often translated as and, but it carries a slight contrast or separation between clauses. It can feel like “and” or “whereas”:

• The gift for mom is a new book, and (on the other hand) the gift for dad is a guitar.

You can replace iar with și:

• Cadoul pentru mama este o carte nouă, și cadoul pentru tata este o chitară.

This is grammatically correct.
Nuance:

• și = simple “and”
• iar = “and/whereas” with a gentle contrast, often more natural when joining two full clauses like here.

Why is there a comma before iar?

There is a comma because iar introduces a second independent clause:

• (1) Cadoul pentru mama este o carte nouă,
• (2) iar cadoul pentru tata este o chitară.

Each part could stand on its own as a sentence. In Romanian, when you connect two independent clauses with iar, you typically use a comma before iar, just like in English with “and” or “whereas” in similar situations.

Could we use a structure with possession instead of pentru? For example, how would you say “Mom’s gift is a new book”?

Yes, instead of “the gift for mom”, you can express possession using the genitive:

• Cadoul mamei este o carte nouă.
  = Mom’s gift is a new book.

Here:

• mamei is the genitive/dative form of mama.

Similarly:

• Cadoul tatei este o chitară.
  = Dad’s gift is a guitar.

So:

• Cadoul pentru mama = the gift intended for mom
• Cadoul mamei = mom’s gift (the gift belonging to her)

The meaning is close, but the focus is slightly different (recipient vs. possessor).

How do you pronounce the special Romanian letters in this sentence, like ă, â, and ț?

In your sentence you see ă (and possibly â or î in other words, plus ț in tata doesn’t have but cărți would):

• ă (as in mama, chitară, nouă)

  • A short, central vowel, similar to the a in English “sofa” or the e in “taken”.

• â / î (not present in this exact sentence, but common in Romanian)

  • The same sound, a central, somewhat “closed” vowel with no direct English equivalent. Often described as a darker version of the u in “burn” (without the r).

• ț (appears in words like cărți, “books”)

  • Pronounced like ts in “cats”.

So chitară is roughly: kee-TAH-rə.
nouă is roughly: NOH-wə.