Learn Hardcore Romanian: Eleva visează că are timp liber în fiecare zi. - The female student dreams that she has free time every day.

The base noun is elevă = a (female) pupil.
When you add the definite article -a to elevă, you get eleva = the (female) pupil.
In the sentence, it's capitalized (Eleva) only because it’s at the beginning.

So Eleva = feminine singular, definite form, nominative/accusative: the schoolgirl / the female pupil.

What is the difference between elev, elevă, and eleva?

These are related but not the same:

elev
- masculine, singular, indefinite
- meaning: a male pupil / a (male) school student
elevă
- feminine, singular, indefinite
- meaning: a female pupil / a (female) school student
eleva
- feminine, singular, definite
- meaning: the female pupil / the schoolgirl

So:

elev ↔ elevă = a male pupil vs a female pupil
elevă ↔ eleva = a female pupil vs the female pupil

Why isn’t there a separate word for “the” before Eleva?

Romanian usually attaches the definite article to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word:

English: the girl
Romanian: fata (fată
- -a)
English: the pupil (female)
Romanian: eleva (elevă
- -a)

So you don’t say *the elevă in Romanian. The -a at the end does the job of “the”, which is why there’s no separate article word in front of Eleva.

Could we also say O elevă visează că are timp liber în fiecare zi? How would the meaning change?

Yes, that sentence is grammatically correct, but the meaning changes slightly:

Eleva visează…
- eleva = the female pupil (a specific girl, known from context)
- Meaning: The (particular) schoolgirl dreams that she has free time every day.
O elevă visează…
- o elevă = a female pupil (non-specific, one of many)
- Meaning: A (certain) schoolgirl dreams that she has free time every day.

So:

Eleva = definite, specific person
O elevă = indefinite, one example out of many

Why don’t we say ea (she) before visează? Could we say Ea visează că are timp liber…?

You can say Ea visează că are timp liber în fiecare zi, but it’s usually not necessary.

Romanian is a “pro-drop” language: when the subject is clear from context or from the verb ending, speakers often leave out the subject pronoun (eu, tu, el, ea, etc.).

In this sentence:

Eleva is already the subject.
Adding ea would be repetitive: Eleva ea visează… sounds odd in normal speech.

You would use Ea visează… mainly:

when the subject is a pronoun instead of a noun (no Eleva mentioned), or
when you want to emphasize she (as opposed to someone else).

What tense is visează, and does it mean “dreams” or “is dreaming”?

Visează is present indicative, 3rd person singular of the verb a visa (to dream).

Present indicative forms of a visa:

eu visez – I dream / I am dreaming
tu visezi – you dream / you are dreaming
el / ea visează – he / she dreams / is dreaming
noi visăm – we dream / are dreaming
voi visați – you (pl.) dream / are dreaming
ei / ele visează – they dream / are dreaming

Romanian present tense usually covers both:

She dreams (habitual)
She is dreaming (right now)

Context decides which English form is best. In this sentence, it can mean either depending on the situation, but typically it’s understood as a general or repeated action: She (often) dreams that she has free time every day.

What does că mean here, and can it be left out like “that” in English?

Here, că is a conjunction meaning “that”, introducing a subordinate clause:

visează că are timp liber
= dreams that she has free time

Important differences from English:

In English you can often drop that:
She dreams (that) she has free time.
In Romanian, you cannot normally drop că in this kind of sentence;
*Eleva visează are timp liber… is incorrect.

So că is required to connect visează with are timp liber în fiecare zi.

Why is it visează că are and not visează să aibă?

Both structures exist, but they express different ideas:

visează că are timp liber
- literally: she dreams that she has free time
- describes the content of the dream, as if it’s really happening in the dream.
- This fits both sleeping dreams and daydreams imagined as real.
visează să aibă timp liber
- literally: she dreams to have free time / she dreams of having free time
- describes more a wish, aspiration, or desire, not the concrete scenes of a dream.

So:

că are → she experiences herself as having free time (in the dream)
să aibă → she strongly wishes/longs to have free time

Why is it are timp liber and not este timp liber?

Romanian uses a avea (to have) with timp in the same way English does:

a avea timp = to have time
a avea timp liber = to have free time

So:

Ea are timp liber. = She has free time.
Ea este timp liber. would literally mean She is free time, which is incorrect.

Therefore are (3rd singular of a avea) is the correct verb:

are timp liber = has free time

Why is it timp liber and not liber timp? Does Romanian normally put adjectives after the noun?

Yes, in Romanian the usual order is:

noun + adjective

So:

timp liber = free time
carte interesantă = interesting book
mașină nouă = new car

Adjectives can sometimes come before the noun for stylistic or emotional effect, but the neutral, standard order is noun first, then adjective.

So timp liber is the normal word order; *liber timp would sound wrong in standard Romanian in this meaning.

What does în fiecare zi literally mean, and why is it zi, not ziua?

În fiecare zi is a very common expression meaning “every day”.

Literally:

în = in
fiecare = each / every
zi = day (singular, without article)

So: în fiecare zi = in each day → every day.

About zi vs ziua:

zi = day (indefinite)
ziua = the day (definite)

After fiecare, the noun normally stays indefinite:

fiecare om = each person
fiecare copil = each child
fiecare zi = each day

So:

în fiecare zi is correct.
*în fiecare ziua is incorrect.

Is the word order fixed? Could we say Eleva visează că în fiecare zi are timp liber?

You can say Eleva visează că în fiecare zi are timp liber, and it is grammatically correct.

Two possible orders:

Eleva visează că are timp liber în fiecare zi.
- more neutral, very natural
- focus a bit on having free time, then specify how often
Eleva visează că în fiecare zi are timp liber.
- slightly emphasizes în fiecare zi (every day)
- gives a bit more weight to the idea of every single day

Romanian word order is relatively flexible, especially with adverbials like în fiecare zi, but you should avoid splitting elements in ways that sound unnatural, e.g.:

*Eleva visează că are în fiecare zi timp liber is still understandable but less smooth than the two versions above.

Does visează refer only to dreams during sleep, or can it also mean daydreaming or having ambitions?

A visa (and its form visează) can refer to several related ideas, depending on context:

Dreams during sleep
- Noaptea, eleva visează că zboară.
  At night, the schoolgirl dreams that she is flying.
Daydreaming / imagining
- La ore, eleva visează că are timp liber în fiecare zi.
  During class, the schoolgirl daydreams that she has free time every day.
Aspirations / ambitions
- Eleva visează să devină medic.
  The schoolgirl dreams of becoming a doctor.

So in your sentence, visează că are timp liber în fiecare zi can be understood as:

a sleeping dream, or
a daydream, depending on context.