Breakdown of Apartamentul este mic, dar este frumos.
Questions & Answers about Apartamentul este mic, dar este frumos.
The ending -ul is the definite article meaning the, attached to the end of the noun.
- apartament = apartment
- apartamentul = the apartment
In Romanian, the definite article (the) usually goes after the noun and is stuck to it as an ending, instead of being a separate word like in English.
In Romanian, adjectives usually come after the noun:
- apartament mic = small apartment
- literally: apartment small
So Apartamentul este mic is literally The apartment is small, with mic placed after the verb este, and in the basic noun phrase you’d also say un apartament mic (a small apartment), not un mic apartament.
Romanian adjectives change form depending on gender and number.
The base forms of this adjective are:
- masculine singular: mic
- feminine singular: mică
- masculine & feminine plural: mici
The noun apartament is a neuter noun. Neuter nouns behave like:
- masculine in the singular
- feminine in the plural
So:
- singular: apartament mic / apartamentul este mic
- plural: apartamente mici / apartamentele sunt mici
That’s why you see mic in the singular sentence here.
Apartament is a neuter noun in Romanian.
Neuter nouns behave:
- like masculine in the singular
- like feminine in the plural
This affects:
The article
- un apartament (a masculine-like indefinite article)
- apartamentul (the + masculine-like definite article -ul)
- apartamente (plural)
- apartamentele (the apartments)
The adjective agreement
- singular: apartament mic (masculine singular form)
- plural: apartamente mici (feminine plural form of the adjective)
Yes. este is the full form of the verb a fi (to be) in the 3rd person singular, and it corresponds to English is.
- el/ea este = he/she/it is
In everyday spoken Romanian, people very often shorten este to e:
- Apartamentul e mic, dar e frumos.
Both are correct; este is a bit more formal or careful, e is more casual and common in speech.
You can omit the second este, and it is still correct:
- Apartamentul este mic, dar frumos.
This is similar to English:
- The apartment is small but (it is) beautiful.
Both versions are fine:
- Apartamentul este mic, dar este frumos. (a bit more explicit)
- Apartamentul este mic, dar frumos. (slightly more natural and concise in everyday speech)
dar is a coordinating conjunction meaning but.
It works very much like English but:
- It links two clauses or two descriptions that contrast with each other.
- The structure … este X, dar (este) Y is directly comparable to … is X, but (it is) Y.
Example:
- Este mic, dar confortabil. = It is small but comfortable.
Romanian punctuation here is similar to English:
- You normally put a comma before dar when it connects two clauses or two separate ideas:
- Apartamentul este mic, dar este frumos.
Just like:
- The apartment is small, but it is beautiful.
In short: when dar introduces a contrasting clause, you usually use a comma before it.
Yes, you can say that, and it’s grammatically correct:
- Apartamentul este frumos, dar este mic.
The basic meaning is the same, but the emphasis changes:
- Apartamentul este mic, dar este frumos.
→ you first point out the negative (small), then “rescue” it with a positive (beautiful). - Apartamentul este frumos, dar este mic.
→ you first highlight the positive (beautiful), then add the limitation (small).
So the nuance shifts slightly, just like in English.
Frumos is quite flexible and can mean:
- beautiful / pretty – especially for people or scenery
- nice / pleasant – for places, objects, situations
For an apartment, frumos usually suggests:
- attractive, nicely arranged, aesthetically pleasing, “nice-looking”
Other possible words:
- drăguț – cute, nice (often milder)
- plăcut – pleasant
- aratos – good-looking (more about appearance)
So in this sentence, you can understand frumos as somewhere between nice and beautiful.
You need the plural of the noun, the verb, and the adjectives:
- Apartamentele sunt mici, dar sunt frumoase.
Breakdown:
- apartamentele = the apartments (neuter plural with -le)
- sunt = are (3rd person plural of a fi)
- mici = small (plural form of mic)
- frumoase = beautiful (feminine plural form of frumos; neuter nouns take feminine forms in the plural)
You can also omit the second sunt:
- Apartamentele sunt mici, dar frumoase.
Approximate pronunciation (Romanian is mostly phonetic):
- Apartamentul → [a-par-ta-MEN-tul]
- stress on -men-
- este → [YES-teh]
- e like in yes
- mic → [meek]
- i like in see
- dar → [dar]
- a like in father (shorter)
- frumos → [froo-MOSS]
- stress on -mos
- u like oo in book (a bit shorter), o like in more (without the glide)
Said smoothly:
a-par-ta-MEN-tul YES-te meek, dar YES-te froo-MOSS.
Yes, that sounds very natural and common:
- Apartamentul e mic, dar frumos.
Changes compared to the original:
- este → e (more colloquial)
- omission of the second este (very normal when it’s clear from context)
The meaning remains the same; it just sounds a bit more like what you’d hear in casual conversation.
Yes, two common alternatives are:
însă – also but / however; can sound a bit more formal or stylistic:
- Apartamentul este mic, însă este frumos.
totuși – usually however / still / nevertheless; often used at the start of the second clause:
- Apartamentul este mic; totuși, este frumos.
In everyday neutral speech, dar is the most common and straightforward choice.