Medicamentul face durerea mai mică, dar trebuie să beau și multă apă.

In Romanian, a face can mean both to do and to make, depending on context.

In Medicamentul face durerea mai mică, it means makes:

• Medicamentul face durerea mai mică = The medicine makes the pain smaller/less.

Structure:

• a face + object + adjective = to make + object + adjective
  
  • Această veste m-a făcut fericit. = This news made me happy.
  • Soarele face camera luminoasă. = The sun makes the room bright.

Durerea is the pain, with the definite article -a attached at the end (Romanian uses enclitic articles).

• durere = pain
• durerea = the pain

In this sentence, the speaker is talking about a specific, known pain (for example, the pain they already have), so Romanian naturally uses the definite form:

• Medicamentul face durerea mai mică.
  = The medicine makes the pain smaller. (a specific pain the speaker has)

Adjectives in Romanian must agree with the noun in gender and number.

• durere is a feminine singular noun.
• Therefore, the adjective must also be feminine singular: mică.

Forms of mic (small):

• masculine singular: mic
• feminine singular: mică
• masculine plural: mici
• feminine plural: mici

So:

• durerea este mică = the pain is small
• durerea este mai mică = the pain is smaller / less

Mai is the usual word for more in comparisons with adjectives.

• mică = small
• mai mică = smaller / more small → here: less (intense)

Some examples:

• El este mai înalt. = He is taller.
• Apa este mai rece. = The water is colder.

So face durerea mai mică = makes the pain smaller / less.

No, mai puțin does not work directly like that with durerea.

• puțin is more like a little / a bit / less, and it usually modifies verbs or quantities, not a noun in this pattern.

Correct patterns:

• Durerea e mai mică. = The pain is smaller / less strong.
• Mă doare mai puțin. = It hurts less.

So you can say:

• Medicamentul face durerea mai mică. ✔
• Medicamentul mă face să mă doară mai puțin. (more complex) ✔
  but not
• Medicamentul face durerea mai puțin. ✘

In Romanian, trebuie is normally followed by să + subjunctive verb.

Pattern:

• trebuie să + [verb in subjunctive]

In the 1st person singular, subjunctive of a bea is:

• (eu) să beau

So:

• Trebuie să beau multă apă. = I have to drink a lot of water.

You don’t say:

• trebuie beau ✘

The verb trebuie itself does not change with the person; it’s the verb after să that changes.

• Eu trebuie să beau. = I have to drink.
• El trebuie să bea. = He has to drink.
• Ea trebuie să bea. = She has to drink.
• Noi trebuie să bem. = We have to drink.

So only the verb after să shows the person:

• beau (I)
• bea (he/she)
• bem (we)
• bea (they) etc.

Here și means also / too / as well.

• trebuie să beau multă apă = I have to drink a lot of water.
• trebuie să beau și multă apă = I also have to drink a lot of water / I have to drink a lot of water too.

It shows that drinking water is in addition to something else (for example, taking the medicine).

Two things are happening:

1. Medicamentul has the definite article:

   • medicament = a medicine / medicine (in general)
   • medicamentul = the medicine

   The speaker is talking about a specific medicine they’re taking.

2. Apă is used as a mass noun here (water in general, not specific water), and with multă (a lot of), it stays indefinite:

   • multă apă = a lot of water
     Saying multă apa would sound wrong here.

Compare:

• Beau apă. = I drink water.
• Beau multă apă. = I drink a lot of water.
• Beau apa. = I drink the water. (some specific water we both know about)

Mult agrees in gender and number with the noun, just like adjectives.

For apă (water):

• apă is feminine singular.
• Therefore we use multă (feminine singular) instead of mult (masculine singular).

Forms:

• masculine singular: mult (mult timp = much time)
• feminine singular: multă (multă apă = a lot of water)
• masculine plural: mulți (mulți oameni = many people)
• feminine plural: multe (multe case = many houses)

Yes, that is correct and natural, but the nuance is slightly different.

• Medicamentul face durerea mai mică.

  • Literally: The medicine makes the pain smaller.
  • More descriptive, highlights a change in degree (smaller than before).

• Medicamentul reduce durerea.

  • Literally: The medicine reduces the pain.
  • Slightly more formal/technical, like in medical or written language.

Both are fine in everyday speech, but face durerea mai mică sounds a bit more conversational.

You can say Medicamentul face mai mică durerea, and it is grammatically correct, but it sounds less natural and a bit heavier in everyday speech.

Normal, most natural order:

• Medicamentul face durerea mai mică. ✔

Reordered:

• Medicamentul face mai mică durerea. ✔ (possible, more marked/emphatic)

Romanian usually prefers:

• verb + [direct object] + [adjective phrase]
  rather than putting the adjective before the noun in this kind of structure.