Learn Hardcore Romanian: Planul pentru viitor nu este la fel de clar ca visul meu, dar mă ajută să învăț. - The plan for the future is not as clear as my dream, but it helps me to learn.

Viitor means “future”. In pentru viitor, it’s used in a general, abstract way: for the future (in general), not for the specific future we talked about.

You could say:

pentru viitor – for (the) future, in a general sense
pentru viitorul copilului meu – for my child’s future (here viitorul is specific, so it takes -ul)

So in this sentence, we leave viitor without the definite article because we mean “the future” as an abstract concept.

How does the expression la fel de clar ca work? Is it like “as clear as” in English?

Yes, la fel de … ca is the standard way to say “as … as” (comparison of equality):

la fel de clar ca = as clear as
- Planul nu este la fel de clar ca visul.
  = The plan is not as clear as the dream.

Structure:

la fel de
- adjective + ca
  - noun/pronoun

More examples:

El este la fel de înalt ca tine. – He is as tall as you.
E la fel de greu ca ieri. – It is as hard as yesterday.

You might also see “atât de … ca”, but for “as … as” in neutral comparisons, la fel de … ca is the most common.

Why is the adjective clar in the masculine form? I thought plan is neuter.

Romanian neuter nouns behave like:

masculine in the singular
feminine in the plural

So:

(sing.) planul – the plan → treated as masculine
(pl.) planurile – the plans → treated as feminine

Adjectives agree with this behavior. So for planul (singular, neuter → masculine behavior), we use the masculine singular form:

planul clar – the clear plan
planurile clare – the clear plans (feminine plural adjective)

So clar is masculine singular, matching planul.

Why do we say visul meu and not visul mea?

Romanian possessive adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they modify, not with the person who owns it.

vis is masculine singular.
So we use meu (masculine singular), not mea (feminine singular).

Forms of “my”:

masc. sg.: meu – visul meu (my dream)
fem. sg.: mea – casa mea (my house)
masc. pl.: mei – prietenii mei (my [male/mixed] friends)
fem. pl.: mele – ideile mele (my ideas)

So visul meu is “the dream of mine” with agreement in gender/number.

What is the function of mă in mă ajută, and why does it go before the verb?

mă is a clitic object pronoun, meaning “me” (direct object):

El mă ajută. – He helps me.

In Romanian, short object pronouns like mă, te, îl, o, ne, vă, îi usually go before the verb in neutral sentences:

mă ajută – (someone/something) helps me
nu mă ajută – (it) doesn’t help me
el mă ajută – he helps me

“Full” forms (with pe), like pe mine, are used for emphasis:

El mă ajută. – He helps me.
El pe mine mă ajută, nu pe tine. – He helps me, not you.

In your sentence, mă is the unstressed, normal object pronoun, so it stands before ajută.

Why is it mă ajută să învăț and not something like mă ajută învăța or mă ajută să înveți?

The verb a ajuta (to help) is typically followed by:

a person (object) + să
- verb (subjunctive):

Structure:
[subject] + ajută + [object pronoun] + să + [verb (same person as the object)]

In the sentence:

implicit subject = “it” (the plan)
mă = me (object)
să învăț = that I learn

So: (Planul) mă ajută să învăț. → The plan helps me (so that) I learn.

Not:

mă ajută învăța – Romanian does not use a bare infinitive here like English “helps me learn”.
mă ajută să înveți – would mean “helps me so that you learn”, which doesn’t match the object mă (“me”).

The verb after să usually matches the person of the understood subject of that clause (here: I → învăț).

What is the role of să in să învăț? Is it like “to” in English?

să introduces the subjunctive mood, not an infinitive.

învăț = I learn (present indicative)
să învăț = that I (should) learn / for me to learn

After verbs like a ajuta, a vrea, a putea, a încerca, Romanian usually uses să + subjunctive, where English often uses “to” + infinitive:

Mă ajută să învăț. – It helps me (to) learn.
Vreau să învăț. – I want to learn.
Pot să învăț. – I can learn.

So să is closer to “that / so that / for [me] to” than just English “to”, but practically you can often translate it with “to”.

Could we say ajută-mă să învăț instead of mă ajută să învăț? What’s the difference?

They are different sentences with different meanings:

mă ajută să învăț
= it helps me to learn
– statement, 3rd person singular (ajută as a normal present tense verb).
ajută-mă să învăț!
= help me to learn!
– imperative (a command/request addressed to “you”), with the object pronoun -mă attached to the verb with a hyphen.

So you cannot replace one with the other without changing the meaning from a description (“it helps me”) to a command (“help me!”).

Is the word order flexible here? Could I move parts of the sentence around?

Romanian word order is more flexible than English, but not everything is interchangeable without changing emphasis or meaning.

Original:

Planul pentru viitor nu este la fel de clar ca visul meu, dar mă ajută să învăț.

Possible variations that keep the same meaning (with slight changes in emphasis):

Planul pentru viitor nu e la fel de clar ca visul meu, dar tot mă ajută să învăț.
Planul pentru viitor, deși nu este la fel de clar ca visul meu, mă ajută să învăț.

But something like:

… dar ajută-mă să învăț.

changes it into a command (“but help me to learn”), not “but it helps me to learn”.

So:

You can shorten nu este → nu e.
You can move adverbs or insert commas to shift emphasis.
You cannot simply turn mă ajută into ajută-mă without changing from statement to imperative.

What tense are este and ajută in this sentence?

Both este and ajută are in the present indicative:

(el/ea) este – he/she/it is
(el/ea) ajută – he/she/it helps

So the sentence is talking about a present, general situation:

The plan is not as clear as my dream, but it helps me to learn.

There is no future or past marker here; Romanian uses separate forms (or auxiliary verbs) for those tenses, e.g.:

va fi – will be
a fost – was
m-a ajutat – helped me

Could we say în viitor instead of pentru viitor? Would that change the meaning?

Yes, you can say în viitor, but the meaning changes slightly:

pentru viitor – for the future, with the idea of purpose / preparation
- Planul pentru viitor – a plan for the future (something you intend to use in the future)
în viitor – in the future, more about time/location in time
- Planul în viitor – the plan in the future (sounds odd here; usually we’d say ce vom face în viitor – what we’ll do in the future)

In this sentence, pentru viitor is natural because it expresses intention and orientation toward the future, not just a time reference.