Learn Hardcore Romanian: În fiecare dimineață asistenta merge prin hol și întreabă dacă cineva tușește. - Every morning the nurse walks through the corridor and asks if someone is coughing.

Why is the present tense (merge, întreabă, tușește) used if this is a repeated / habitual action (“every morning”)? Is that normal in Romanian?

Yes, it’s normal. Romanian uses the present tense for:

actions happening right now:
- Asistenta merge prin hol. – The nurse is walking through the corridor (now).
habitual or repeated actions:
- În fiecare dimineață asistenta merge prin hol. – Every morning the nurse goes through the corridor.

There is no special “habitual tense”. The simple present covers both, just like English goes, asks, coughs in “Every morning the nurse goes… and asks… if anyone coughs.”

What does asistenta mean exactly? Why is it asistenta and not o asistentă?

asistenta = the nurse (definite, singular, feminine)
o asistentă = a nurse (indefinite, singular, feminine)

Romanian usually shows definiteness with an article at the end of the noun:

asistentă – nurse (bare form)
asistenta – the nurse
asistente – nurses
asistentele – the nurses

In the sentence, asistenta suggests a specific nurse everyone in the context already knows (for example, “the ward nurse”), not just any random nurse.

Why is it prin hol and not pe hol? What’s the difference?

Both can be used, but there is a nuance:

prin hol
- literally “through the corridor”
- suggests movement through the space, maybe from one end to the other, or passing by different rooms.
pe hol
- literally “on the corridor”
- often used more generally: being or moving on/in the corridor area.

In many everyday contexts they overlap, but prin hol emphasizes the idea of passing through the corridor as she goes along it to check rooms.

Why is there no article with hol? Why not prin holul?

hol = a corridor / corridor (general, unspecific)
holul = the corridor (a specific, identifiable corridor)

In the sentence, prin hol can mean “through the corridor area” in a general sense (the corridor on that ward / in that clinic, not sharply identified).
If the speaker wants to emphasize a very specific corridor already known in the situation, they might say:

În fiecare dimineață asistenta merge prin holul spitalului.
– Every morning the nurse walks through the hospital corridor.

Leaving it as prin hol sounds more like “through the hallway/corridor (there)” without stressing which exact one.

Could the time expression În fiecare dimineață go at the end of the sentence or in the middle? Is the word order fixed?

It’s flexible. All of these are grammatical:

În fiecare dimineață asistenta merge prin hol și întreabă dacă cineva tușește.
Asistenta merge prin hol în fiecare dimineață și întreabă dacă cineva tușește.
Asistenta, în fiecare dimineață, merge prin hol și întreabă dacă cineva tușește. (more formal / written, with commas)

The default, neutral version is usually like (1): the time expression first, then the rest of the sentence. Moving it changes emphasis, not grammar:

At the beginning: emphasis on the time (“Every morning, …”).
After the verb: slightly more emphasis on what she does, then when she does it.

What exactly does dacă do here? Is it “if” or “whether”?

dacă covers both English if and whether, depending on context.

In this sentence:

… întreabă dacă cineva tușește.
= “… she asks whether / if anyone is coughing.”

This is an indirect yes/no question (she asks a question whose answer can be “yes” or “no”).
So here dacă is best understood as whether / if (not a conditional “if… then…”).

Why is it dacă cineva tușește, not dacă tușește cineva? Is the word order important?

Both word orders are possible, but there’s a difference in focus:

dacă cineva tușește (subject cineva first)
– neutral: “if anyone is coughing.”
dacă tușește cineva (verb first, then subject)
– a bit more emphasis on the verb; can sound more like “if there is anyone who is coughing.”

In an indirect question after întreabă, the most neutral pattern is subject–verb (cineva tușește). That’s why dacă cineva tușește feels more standard and less marked.

Is cineva singular or plural? Why is the verb tușește (3rd person singular)?

cineva = someone / anyone, and it is grammatically singular.

Therefore, the verb must be 3rd person singular:

cineva tușește – someone is coughing
nimeni nu tușește – nobody is coughing (also 3rd person singular)

If you wanted plural, you’d use oameni, pacienți, etc.:

oamenii tușesc – the people are coughing
pacienții tușesc – the patients are coughing

Why is it fiecare dimineață and not a plural like in English “every mornings”?

In Romanian, fiecare (“each/every”) is always followed by a singular noun:

fiecare dimineață – every morning
fiecare pacient – every patient
fiecare zi – every day

So dimineață must stay singular here. A form like fiecare dimineți is incorrect.

Can we use a different verb instead of merge here, like trece or se plimbă? Would it change the meaning?

Yes, you can change the verb, and it slightly changes the nuance:

merge prin hol – goes/walks through the corridor (neutral movement)
trece prin hol – passes through the corridor (focus on passing by, maybe more briefly)
se plimbă prin hol – strolls/walks around the corridor (suggests walking around with no special rush, “taking a walk”)

In your sentence, merge prin hol is neutral and fits the idea of a nurse doing her rounds.

How are the special Romanian letters in this sentence pronounced: ă, î, ș, ț (as in dimineață, În, tușește)?

In this sentence you see:

ă – in dimineață
- A short, neutral vowel, similar to the a in English sofa or the e in taken (very relaxed).
î – in În
- A central vowel, similar to French u in lune or the Russian ы; it’s not in English. Mouth slightly tense, sound in the middle of the mouth.
ș – in tușește
- Like English sh in shy.
ț – in dimineață
- Like ts in English cats.

Spelling with these diacritics is important in Romanian, because s ≠ ș and t ≠ ț, and a ≠ ă.