Parola mea este lungă, dar profesoara spune că trebuie să o păstrez simplă.

My password is long, but the (female) teacher says I should keep it simple.

Breakdown of Parola mea este lungă, dar profesoara spune că trebuie să o păstrez simplă.

• a fi: to be
• mea: my
• dar: but
• a trebui: must
• lung: long
• simplu: simple
• a spune: to say
• că: that
• o: it
• a păstra: to keep
• profesoara: the teacher
• parola: the password

Questions & Answers about Parola mea este lungă, dar profesoara spune că trebuie să o păstrez simplă.

Why does mea come after parola? In English we say my password, not password my.

In Romanian, possessive adjectives usually come after the noun:

• parola mea = my password
• cartea ta = your book
• mașina lui = his car

So the normal order is noun + possessive, not possessive + noun.

Why is it parola mea este lungă and not parola mea este lung?

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

• parolă is feminine singular.
• The base adjective is lung (long).
• For feminine singular, lung becomes lungă.

So:

• masculine singular: lung (e.g. drum lung – long road)
• feminine singular: lungă (e.g. parolă lungă – long password)

Why is simplă also ending in -ă?

Same rule: agreement of the adjective with the noun.

• parolă = feminine singular noun
• simplu = base adjective (simple)
• feminine singular form: simplă

Therefore:

• parolă simplă = simple password
• parolă lungă = long password

Both adjectives take the feminine singular form -ă to match parolă.

Why are the adjectives after the noun (parola mea este lungă, simplă)? Can they go before the noun?

By default, adjectives usually go after the noun:

• o parolă lungă = a long password
• o parolă simplă = a simple password

Some adjectives can go before the noun, usually to add a more subjective, emotional, or stylistic nuance. But lungă and simplă are most naturally placed after parolă in neutral speech.

So parola mea este lungă is the neutral, standard structure.

What is the difference between profesoara and profesoară?

• profesoară = a (female) teacher (indefinite, no “the”)
• profesoara = the (female) teacher (definite)

Romanian often adds the definite article as an ending:

• profesor → profesorul (the teacher, masculine)
• profesoară → profesoara (the teacher, feminine)

In the sentence, profesoara means the teacher, someone specific that both speaker and listener know.

Why isn’t there a separate word for “the” before profesoara?

Romanian usually attaches the definite article to the end of the noun, instead of using a separate word like English the.

Examples:

• carte → cartea (the book)
• băiat → băiatul (the boy)
• profesoară → profesoara (the teacher)

So profesoara already includes the meaning the teacher; no extra word is needed.

Why is it profesoara spune and not profesoara spune că eu trebuie să o păstrez simplă?

Romanian often drops subject pronouns when they are clear from the verb ending.

• păstrez is the 1st person singular form (I keep).
• Because of that ending, eu (I) is understood and doesn’t need to be said.

So:

• (Eu) păstrez = I keep
• Trebuie să păstrez = I must keep

Adding eu is possible (Trebuie să o păstrez eu simplă), but in this sentence it’s not necessary and would usually sound more emphatic.

What does trebuie să mean, and why do we need să?

trebuie by itself means must / have to / is necessary.

When you follow it with a verb, Romanian uses the subjunctive introduced by să:

• trebuie să plec = I must leave / I have to leave
• trebuie să învăț = I have to study
• trebuie să o păstrez = I must keep it

So să is required here to introduce the verb păstrez after trebuie.

What’s the role of că in profesoara spune că trebuie…?

că means that as a conjunction introducing a subordinate clause, just like English:

• Ea spune că trebuie să plec.
  = She says that I must leave.

In your sentence:

• profesoara spune că trebuie să o păstrez simplă
  = the teacher says that I must keep it simple

You can drop that in English, but you cannot drop că in this Romanian structure.

What is the o in trebuie să o păstrez? Why is it before the verb?

o here is a clitic direct object pronoun meaning “it”.

• It refers back to parola (feminine singular noun).
• Feminine singular direct object pronoun is o.

In Romanian, these pronouns normally go before the verb:

• o păstrez = I keep it (feminine)
• îl știu = I know him/it (masculine)
• le văd = I see them (feminine plural)

So trebuie să o păstrez literally is I must it keep = I must keep it.

Could I say trebuie să păstrez parola mea simplă instead of trebuie să o păstrez simplă?

Yes, that is grammatically correct:

• Trebuie să păstrez parola mea simplă. = I must keep my password simple.

Using the pronoun o is more natural and less repetitive, because parola mea was just mentioned:

• Parola mea este lungă, dar… trebuie să o păstrez simplă.

Both versions are understandable, but native speakers prefer the pronoun here.

Why is spune in the present tense? In English I might say “the teacher said that I must…”.

Romanian can use the present tense to report what someone says, very much like English says:

• Profesoara spune că… = The teacher says that…

If you specifically want past, you can say:

• Profesoara a spus că trebuie să o păstrez simplă.
  = The teacher said that I must keep it simple.

So the present spune is fine if the focus is on her general instruction or a current statement.

Why is it simplă at the end, not să o păstrez simplă parola mea or something like that?

In Romanian, the normal pattern is:

verb + object (pronoun or noun) + adjective

• o păstrez simplă = I keep it simple
• parola o păstrez simplă = the password, I keep it simple
• camera o țin curată = I keep the room clean

So trebuie să o păstrez simplă is the natural order:
trebuie (must) + să + o (it) + păstrez (I keep) + simplă (simple).