Learn Hardcore Romanian: Pentru elevi, limba engleză este la fel de ușoară ca alte limbi. - For students, the English language is as easy as other languages.

Pentru elevi, limba engleză este la fel de ușoară ca alte limbi.

For students, the English language is as easy as other languages.

Breakdown of Pentru elevi, limba engleză este la fel de ușoară ca alte limbi.

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Questions & Answers about Pentru elevi, limba engleză este la fel de ușoară ca alte limbi.

What does pentru mean here, and why is it at the beginning?

Pentru generally means “for”.

In this sentence, Pentru elevi, … literally means “For students, …” and introduces the point of view or the group we are talking about.

Putting Pentru elevi at the beginning (and separating it with a comma) is common in Romanian to set the context first, a bit like:

Pentru mine, engleza e ușoară. – For me, English is easy.

You could also say:

Limba engleză este la fel de ușoară ca alte limbi pentru elevi.

This is still correct, but the emphasis changes slightly: the original version highlights “for students” more strongly by putting it first.

Why is it elevi and not elevii?

elevi = students / pupils (indefinite, general)
elevii = the students (definite, a specific group already known in the context)

Romanian often uses the indefinite plural to talk about people in general:

Elevi învață multe limbi. – Students learn many languages (in general).
Copiii trebuie să doarmă. – Children must sleep. (here the definite form copiii is more idiomatic in this particular generalization)

In your sentence, Pentru elevi means “For students (in general)”, not for some specific group like the students in this class. So elevi (without the definite ending -i*)* is appropriate.

What’s the difference between elevi and studenți?

Both can translate as students, but:

elevi – pupils in school (primary, middle, high school).
studenți – students at university.

So:

Pentru elevi, limba engleză… – For school pupils, the English language…
Pentru studenți, limba engleză… – For university students, the English language…

The sentence is talking about school-age learners by default.

Why is it limba engleză and not just engleză or engleza?

You have three common ways to refer to “English (as a language)”:

limba engleză – literally “the English language”
- A bit more formal or explicit.
- Very common in written or careful speech.
engleza – “the English (language)”
- The noun limbă (language) is understood and omitted.
- engleza is the feminine singular definite form: engleză → engleza.
- Example: Engleza e ușoară. – English is easy.
engleză (without article) – used more when it behaves like an adjective:
- curs de engleză – an English course
- profesor de engleză – English teacher

In your sentence, limba engleză is a perfectly standard, slightly more formal way to say the English language. You could also say:

Engleza este la fel de ușoară ca alte limbi.

This is also correct and natural.

Why is ușoară in the feminine form?

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

limbă (language) is feminine singular.
Therefore, the adjective ușor (easy) must also be feminine singular → ușoară.

Some forms:

masculin singular: ușor
feminin singular: ușoară
masculin plural: ușori
feminin plural: ușoare

Examples:

Un test ușor. – an easy test (masc. sg.)
O limbă ușoară. – an easy language (fem. sg.)
Teste ușoare. – easy tests (plural)

How does la fel de ușoară ca work? Is it like “as easy as”?

Yes. la fel de … ca … is the usual structure for “as … as …” comparisons in Romanian.

Pattern:

la fel de + adjective + ca + noun / pronoun / clause

In your sentence:

la fel de ușoară ca alte limbi
= as easy as other languages

More examples:

Este la fel de important ca matematica.
– It is as important as math.
Ea este la fel de inteligentă ca el.
– She is as intelligent as he is.

So you can remember: “la fel de” = “as” (before the adjective), and “ca” = “as” (before what you compare to).

Can you omit de in la fel de ușoară?

No. In this structure, de is obligatory.

The correct pattern is:

la fel de
- adjective / adverb

Examples:

la fel de mare – as big
la fel de bine – as well
la fel de interesant – as interesting

Saying ✗ la fel ușoară is incorrect. It must be la fel de ușoară.

Why is it ca alte limbi and not decât alte limbi?

Romanian uses:

ca for equality comparisons (as … as),
decât mainly in negative or inequality comparisons (than).

Equality:

Este la fel de ușoară ca alte limbi.
– It is as easy as other languages.

Inequality:

Este mai ușoară decât alte limbi.
– It is easier than other languages.
Nu este mai ușoară decât alte limbi.
– It is not easier than other languages.

So with la fel de …, you use ca, not decât.

Why is it alte limbi without any article? Shouldn’t it be “the other languages”?

alte limbi literally means “other languages” (indefinite, general).

Romanian only adds the definite article when you mean “the specific other languages”:

alte limbi – other languages (in general)
celelalte limbi – the other languages (the rest of a specific set)

In your sentence, we are speaking in general about languages, not about a specific group that was already defined, so:

… la fel de ușoară ca alte limbi. – as easy as other languages (in general)

If you said:

… la fel de ușoară ca celelalte limbi.

it would sound like you have a specific list of languages in mind and English is as easy as the rest of that list.

Why is the plural limbi and not something like limbăi?

The noun limbă (language, tongue) forms its plural irregularly:

singular: limbă
plural: limbi

This is a common type of plural in Romanian for feminine nouns ending in -ă:

masă → mese (table → tables)
casă → case (house → houses)
stradă → străzi (street → streets)
limbă → limbi (language → languages)

So alte limbi just means “other languages”.

Why is there a comma after elevi?

Pentru elevi is an introductory phrase (a prepositional phrase that sets the context: for students).

Romanian usually separates such fronted phrases with a comma:

Pentru mine, este ușor. – For me, it is easy.
În general, elevii învață repede. – In general, students learn quickly.

So the comma after elevi is normal and helps show that Pentru elevi is just a setting, not the grammatical subject.

Is este different from e? Could I say Engleza e la fel de ușoară…?

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

este – full form, slightly more formal
e – shorter, very common in spoken and informal written language

Both are grammatically correct:

Limba engleză este la fel de ușoară ca alte limbi.
Limba engleză e la fel de ușoară ca alte limbi.

In everyday speech, e is very frequent. In more formal writing, este appears more often.

Could the word order be different, like Limba engleză este la fel de ușoară ca alte limbi pentru elevi?

Yes, that sentence is grammatically correct:

Limba engleză este la fel de ușoară ca alte limbi pentru elevi.

However, the emphasis changes slightly:

Pentru elevi, limba engleză este…
– Stronger focus on for students, as a starting point.
Limba engleză este… pentru elevi.
– Focus starts on the English language, adding for students at the end.

Both are natural, but fronting Pentru elevi and using the comma is a very typical way to highlight the group you’re talking about.

How do I pronounce the words with special letters: ă and ș in engleză, ușoară?

ă – a central vowel, like a short, neutral “uh” sound (similar to the English a in sofa).
- engleză → en-GLE-ză
- ușoară → u-ȘOA-ră
ș – pronounced like “sh” in English ship.
- ușoară → u-sh-oa-ră

So roughly:

engleză ≈ eng-LEH-zuh
ușoară ≈ oo-SHWA-ruh

(Approximation only; the actual Romanian vowels are a bit different from English.)