Learn Hardcore Romanian: Mâine am o programare la spital la doctoriță. - Tomorrow I have an appointment at the hospital with the female doctor.

Romanian, like English, often uses the present tense for future events that are planned or scheduled, especially when there’s a time word like mâine (tomorrow).

Mâine am o programare... = Tomorrow I have an appointment...
This is just like English: Tomorrow I have a meeting.

You can also say:

Mâine voi avea o programare la spital. = Tomorrow I will have an appointment at the hospital.

…but voi avea sounds a bit more formal or distant and is less common for everyday, fixed appointments. The version with am is the natural, everyday way to say it.

What exactly does programare mean here, and is it the same as “appointment”?

Yes, in this sentence o programare means an appointment, especially a scheduled time with a professional.

Typical uses of programare:

o programare la doctor – a doctor’s appointment
o programare la frizer – a hairdresser appointment
o programare la service – a booking at the car service/garage

It can also mean “programming” (as in computer programming), but that meaning appears in different contexts:

Îmi place programarea. – I like programming.

Context (doctor, hospital) makes it clear that here it means a scheduled appointment, not coding.

Why is it o programare and not un programare? How does gender work here?

Romanian has grammatical gender, and the indefinite article agrees with the noun:

un = a/an for masculine and neuter singular
o = a/an for feminine singular

Programare is a feminine noun, so you must say:

o programare – an appointment
două programări – two appointments (plural: programări)

Compare:

un program – a schedule / a show / a programme (masculine)
o programare – an appointment / a booking (feminine)

What does the preposition la mean here, and why is it repeated: la spital la doctoriță?

The preposition la is very flexible in Romanian. Depending on context it can mean:

to: Merg la spital. – I’m going to the hospital.
at: Sunt la spital. – I’m at the hospital.
with (a professional) in the sense of “appointment with”:
am o programare la doctor – I have an appointment with the doctor.

In la spital la doctoriță:

la spital – at/to the hospital
la doctoriță – at/to (with) the female doctor

So the idea is: an appointment at the hospital, with the (female) doctor.

Repeating la is natural in Romanian and keeps the structure clear:
o programare la [loc] la [persoană/profesie]
(an appointment at [place] with [person/profession]).

You can also change the order, e.g. la doctoriță, la spital, but you still normally keep la in front of each element.

Why is it la spital and not la spitalul, even though in English we say “at the hospital”?

Romanian often drops the definite article with certain institutions after la (and also în) when talking generally about going there for their usual function:

la spital – (to) hospital / (at) the hospital
la școală – (to) school / (at) school
la biserică – (to) church / (at) church
la facultate – (to) university / (at) university
la doctor – (to) the doctor

So la spital is the normal, idiomatic way to say “to/at the hospital” in a general sense.

La spitalul is also correct, but it usually stresses a particular, known hospital, for example:

Mâine am o programare la spitalul județean.
Tomorrow I have an appointment at the county hospital.

In your sentence, the focus is just “at the hospital” in general, so la spital is natural.

What’s the nuance of doctoriță compared to doctor or medic?

All three relate to doctors, but with slightly different flavours:

doctor – grammatically masculine, but often used for doctors of any gender in neutral or polite speech.
- Mâine am o programare la doctor.
doctoriță – feminine form, clearly indicates a female doctor.
- Mâine am o programare la doctoriță.
  Common and widely used; some people feel it sounds a bit colloquial or slightly diminutive, but it’s very normal in everyday language.
medic – a more formal or technical word, gender‑neutral.
- Mâine am o programare la medic.

In very polite speech, many people say:

la doamna doctor (literally “to Mrs. doctor”) for a female doctor
la domnul doctor for a male doctor

Your sentence with doctoriță makes it clear it’s specifically a female doctor and sounds colloquial‑natural.

Where is the definite article for doctoriță? Shouldn’t it be “the doctor”?

In Romanian, the definite article is normally attached to the end of the noun:

doctoriță – (a) female doctor / female doctor (in general)
doctorița – the female doctor (a specific one).

However, after la plus a profession used in this “go to the professional” sense, Romanian commonly uses the bare form without article, and it can correspond to either “a doctor” or “the doctor” in English depending on context:

Merg la doctoriță.
I’m going to the (female) doctor. / I’m going to a (female) doctor.

So:

la doctoriță = to/at the female doctor (generic/service sense)
la doctorița = to/at that particular female doctor (more explicitly specific)

In your sentence, la doctoriță is the usual, idiomatic form; the context makes it clear you mean the doctor you’re seeing.

Can I change the order la spital la doctoriță to la doctoriță la spital?

Yes, both are grammatically correct, but the nuance changes slightly:

Mâine am o programare la spital la doctoriță.
– First highlights the place (hospital), then the person (female doctor).
Mâine am o programare la doctoriță, la spital.
– First highlights the doctor, then specifies that she is at the hospital.

Both would be understood the same way in practice. The original order you gave is natural and common; the alternative with a comma (la doctoriță, la spital) is also very natural.

Could I use întâlnire or consultație instead of programare?

Sometimes, but they’re not perfect synonyms.

programare – focuses on the scheduled slot / booking. This is the default word for “appointment” with a doctor, hairdresser, etc.
întâlnire – a meeting (social or business):
- întâlnire cu un prieten – meeting with a friend
- întâlnire de afaceri – business meeting
  With a doctor, it sounds unusual; it doesn’t emphasise you booked a time.
consultație – a consultation, stresses the medical act rather than the booking:
- Am o consultație la medic. – I have a consultation with the doctor.

So:

programare – the appointment time
consultație – the medical examination/consultation itself
întâlnire – a generic meeting, usually not used for doctor visits

In everyday speech for a doctor’s appointment, programare is the most natural.

Is Mâine am o programare la spital la doctoriță the only correct word order? Where can mâine go?

Word order is fairly flexible in Romanian; mâine can move around without changing the basic meaning. All of these are correct:

Mâine am o programare la spital la doctoriță.
(Tomorrow is emphasised; very natural.)
Am mâine o programare la spital la doctoriță.
(Neutral; also common.)
Am o programare mâine la spital la doctoriță.
(Slightly emphasises the appointment first, then “tomorrow”.)

In speech, intonation decides what is most emphasised. Structurally, all three are fine.

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

Key words:

Mâine – roughly “MUH‑y-neh”
- â = [ɨ], a sound with no exact English equivalent, a bit like the vowel in Russian “ы” or like saying ih but more central.
- Stress is on MÂI: MÂI‑ne.
programare – pro‑gra‑MA‑re
- Stress on the ma syllable: pro‑gram‑A‑re.
spital – spi‑TAL
- Stress on the last syllable: spi‑tal.
doctoriță – doc‑to‑RI‑ță
- Stress on ri.
- ț = like ts in cats.
- ă = a short, relaxed vowel, like the a in sofa or the e in taken: -tsă.

So doctoriță sounds like dok-toh-REE-tsuh.

Could I say am o programare cu doctorița instead of la doctorița? What’s the difference between cu and la here?

Both are possible, but they emphasise different things:

am o programare la doctorița
– Most common. Focus on the service you’re booked for (a doctor’s appointment). la + profession/place is the standard pattern.
am o programare cu doctorița
– Literally “I have an appointment with the (female) doctor.”
Emphasises the person you are meeting rather than the type of service. You’d probably say this especially if:
- You already mentioned the place: la spital
- Or you want to stress with whom the appointment is.

You can even combine them:

Mâine am o programare la spital cu doctorița.
Tomorrow I have an appointment at the hospital with the (female) doctor.

So:

la = standard for “appointment at/with (professional/place)”
cu = highlights the person you’re meeting.