În coș mai punem brânză, ouă și puțină carne pentru weekend.

Here mai means something like also, still, or in addition. In this sentence, it suggests that these items are being added to what is already in the basket.

So mai punem is roughly we also put in / we add as well.

Without mai, punem would simply mean we put or we are putting.

It can mean both, depending on context.

Grammatically, punem is the 1st person plural present tense of a pune = to put.

So it literally means we put or we are putting. But in everyday Romanian, this form is also often used in a more inclusive, planning-type way, like English let’s put or let’s add.

In a shopping context, mai punem brânză... can sound like:

• we’ll add some cheese too
• let’s also put some cheese in
• we’re also putting in some cheese

Because coș here is being used in a more general or non-emphasized way: in the basket as part of the shopping situation.

Romanian often leaves the noun indefinite when the context already makes it clear what is meant. In a supermarket or shopping-list context, în coș sounds very natural.

If you say în coșul, that means in the basket with a more clearly definite sense, as if you are pointing to a specific basket already established in the conversation.

So:

• în coș = in the basket / into the basket, context-based
• în coșul = into the specific basket

Both are possible in the right context, but în coș is very natural here.

Here it is best understood as into because the action is one of movement: you are putting things into the basket.

Romanian uses în for both:

• location: in
• movement toward the inside of something: into

So unlike English, Romanian does not need a different form here.

Examples:

• Este în coș. = It is in the basket.
• Punem lucrurile în coș. = We put the things into the basket.

The context tells you which meaning is intended.

Romanian word order is fairly flexible, and putting În coș first helps set the scene: as for the basket / into the basket.

It gives the sentence a natural, conversational flow, especially in contexts like shopping, instructions, or planning.

A more neutral version could be:

• Mai punem brânză, ouă și puțină carne în coș.

That is also correct. But starting with În coș gives a slight emphasis to the destination.

Because Romanian, like English, often uses no article with indefinite plural nouns and mass nouns when talking about items in general or as part of a list.

So:

• brânză = cheese
• ouă = eggs
• carne = meat

This is very natural in shopping language.

Compare with English:

• We’re buying cheese, eggs, and meat.

You do not need the there, and Romanian works similarly.

You could sometimes add words like niște = some, especially with count nouns:

• niște ouă = some eggs

But in a list like this, leaving the nouns bare is completely normal.

Because puțină agrees with carne, which is a feminine singular noun.

Romanian adjectives and quantity words usually agree with the noun in gender and number.

So:

• puțin = masculine/neuter singular, or adverbial a little
• puțină = feminine singular
• puțini = masculine plural
• puține = feminine/neuter plural

Since carne is feminine singular, you say:

• puțină carne = a little meat / some meat

Compare:

• puțin timp = a little time
• puțină apă = a little water
• puține ouă = few eggs

Here is the breakdown:

• coș = basket
  masculine singular

• brânză = cheese
  feminine singular

• ouă = eggs
  plural of ou
  ou is a neuter noun, so in the singular it behaves like masculine, and in the plural it behaves like feminine

• carne = meat
  feminine singular

• weekend = weekend
  usually treated as masculine/neuter in practice, depending on structure, but here you do not need to worry about agreement because it appears after pentru

The important tricky one is ou / ouă, because neuter nouns in Romanian often surprise English speakers.

Because pentru weekend means for the weekend in a general planning sense.

Romanian often uses the noun without the definite article after prepositions when the meaning is already clear from context.

So here:

• pentru weekend = for the weekend / for this weekend

If you say pentru weekendul, that would usually need something after it, for example:

• pentru weekendul viitor = for next weekend
• pentru weekendul acesta = for this weekend

So pentru weekend works well on its own, while pentru weekendul normally wants a determiner or modifier.

Ouă is often difficult for learners.

It is pronounced roughly OH-uh, in two syllables:

• ou
• ă

A rough guide is /ˈow.ə/.

So:

• ou sounds like English oh with a slight glide
• ă is the short central vowel Romanian uses in words like măr

Try saying it smoothly as:

• OH-uh

Singular and plural:

• ou = egg
• ouă = eggs

Yes. That is correct too.

Romanian allows several word orders here because the meaning is still clear. These are all possible with slightly different emphasis:

• În coș mai punem brânză, ouă și puțină carne pentru weekend.
• Mai punem în coș brânză, ouă și puțină carne pentru weekend.
• Mai punem brânză, ouă și puțină carne în coș pentru weekend.

The original version sounds natural because it begins with the destination În coș, then gives the action mai punem, and then lists the items.

So yes, other orders are possible, but the original is idiomatic and well-formed.

Because Romanian normally does not put a comma before și when it simply joins the last item in a list.

So:

• brânză, ouă și puțină carne

This works just like standard English without an Oxford comma:

• cheese, eggs and a little meat

In Romanian punctuation, the version without the comma before și is the normal one.