Learn Hardcore Romanian: În pauză, profesoara discută cu elevii despre exercițiul dificil. - During the break, the female teacher talks with the students about the difficult exercise.

În pauză is an adverbial phrase of time placed at the beginning of the sentence. In Romanian, when such a phrase comes first, it is usually followed by a comma, just like “During the break, the teacher…” in English.

You can also say:

Profesoara discută cu elevii despre exercițiul dificil în pauză.
This is grammatically correct and natural; here, în pauză comes at the end and usually takes no comma.

So:

În pauză, profesoara discută… (with comma, phrase at the start)
Profesoara discută… în pauză. (no comma, phrase at the end)

What is the difference between în pauză and la pauză?

Both can be heard, but there is a nuance:

în pauză = literally “in the break”, focusing on the time/period during which the action happens.
la pauză = literally “at the break”, also acceptable in everyday speech, especially in schools, and often means the same thing.

In standard/neutral usage for “during the break,” în pauză is very common. La pauză is more colloquial and slightly more tied to the idea of a scheduled school break, like “at break time.”

Why is it profesoara and not just profesoară?

Romanian uses a suffix at the end of the noun for the definite article:

profesoară = a teacher (indefinite, feminine singular)
profesoara = the teacher (definite, feminine singular)

So profesoara means we are talking about a specific, known teacher. The -a at the end is the definite article (feminine singular). English puts the article in front (the teacher), Romanian puts it at the end (profesoara).

How does the verb discută work here? Does it mean “is talking” or “talks”?

Discută is the 3rd person singular present tense of a discuta (to discuss / to talk).

In Romanian, the simple present can correspond to both:

She discusses / she talks
She is discussing / she is talking

So profesoara discută can be translated as “the teacher talks / is talking.” Romanian usually does not need a separate continuous form like English “is talking.” Context tells you whether it’s a general habit or something happening right now.

Why do we say discută cu elevii and not just discută elevii?

The verb a discuta in the sense of “to talk with someone” normally requires the preposition cu (with):

a discuta cu cineva = to discuss / talk with someone

So:

profesoara discută cu elevii = the teacher talks with the students

If you drop cu, it sounds like “she discusses the students” (i.e., she talks about them, not with them), and that would instead require:

profesoara îi discută pe elevi – which is unusual and sounds strange in normal speech.

So cu elevii is needed to show they are her conversation partners.

Why is it elevii and not just elevi?

Again, this is the definite article attached to the noun:

elev = student (singular, masculine)
elevi = students (plural, indefinite) = students
elevii = the students (plural, definite) = the students

Cu elevii = with the students (a specific group, presumably her students).
If you wanted “with students” in a more general/non-specific way, you could say cu elevi, but in a school context you almost always mean the specific class, so elevii is natural.

What is the role of despre in despre exercițiul dificil?

Despre is a preposition that means “about”:

a discuta despre ceva = to discuss / talk about something

So:

despre exercițiul dificil = about the difficult exercise

Like in English, despre introduces the topic of the discussion. It is normally followed by a noun (or pronoun) in the accusative case: despre exercițiul.

Why is it exercițiul and not exercițiu?

Same pattern of the definite article:

exercițiu = an exercise (indefinite, masculine singular)
exercițiul = the exercise (definite, masculine singular)

The suffix -ul is the masculine singular definite article.
So exercițiul dificil means “the difficult exercise”, referring to a specific exercise that teacher and students both know about. Exercițiu dificil would be “a difficult exercise.”

How does agreement work in exercițiul dificil? Why is it dificil and not dificilă?

In Romanian, adjectives normally come after the noun and agree in gender and number with it.

exercițiu is masculine singular
its definite form is exercițiul (still masculine singular)
the adjective dificil has forms:
- masculine singular: dificil
- feminine singular: dificilă
- masculine plural: dificili
- feminine plural: dificile (or dificile for both genders in some patterns)

Since exercițiul is masculine singular, the adjective must also be masculine singular: dificil.
So: exercițiul dificil = the difficult exercise (masc. sg. + masc. sg.).

How would the sentence change if I wanted to say “a teacher talks with some students about a difficult exercise”?

You would need to make nouns and the adjective indefinite:

O profesoară discută cu niște elevi despre un exercițiu dificil.

Breakdown:

o profesoară = a female teacher
niște elevi = some students
un exercițiu = a(n) exercise (masc. sing.)
dificil = difficult (masc. sing.)

Compare:

În pauză, profesoara discută cu elevii despre exercițiul dificil.
→ during the break, the teacher talks with the students about the difficult exercise.
În pauză, o profesoară discută cu niște elevi despre un exercițiu dificil.
→ during the break, a teacher talks with some students about a difficult exercise.

What do the diacritics (ă, ț, etc.) change in this sentence? Can I write it without them?

The correct spelling is:

În pauză, profesoara discută cu elevii despre exercițiul dificil.

Diacritics affect both pronunciation and, sometimes, meaning:

ă (as in pauză, profesoara, discută) is a mid-central vowel (like the a in English sofa).
ț (as in exercițiul) is pronounced like ts in cats.

You will often see people type without diacritics (e.g. In pauza, profesoara discuta…), especially informally or when they lack a Romanian keyboard. Native speakers can usually understand, but it’s not standard and can sometimes cause ambiguity. For learning, it’s best to always include the diacritics.

Is there any difference between a discuta cu elevii despre exercițiu and a vorbi cu elevii despre exercițiu?

Both are correct, but there is a subtle nuance:

a discuta cu elevii despre exercițiu
→ closer to “to discuss with the students about the exercise”, slightly more formal and suggests a two-way, possibly more structured conversation.
a vorbi cu elevii despre exercițiu
→ “to talk with the students about the exercise”, neutral, everyday verb, can be more general.

In this sentence, discută sounds perfectly natural, especially in a school context where they may be analyzing or clarifying a difficult exercise.