Ciorba este pe aragaz și nu este încă gata.

Because ciorba is the definite form: the ciorbă / the soup.

• ciorbă = a ciorbă, ciorbă in general
• ciorba = the ciorbă / the soup

Romanian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun, not before it like English the.

So:

• ciorbă → ciorba
• compare: casă → casa

That is why the final ă changes to a.

Not exactly. Ciorbă is a very common Romanian kind of soup, usually a bit sour/tangy. It is often translated as soup, but culturally it is more specific than that.

A useful contrast is:

• ciorbă = usually a sour soup
• supă = usually a clearer, milder soup or broth

So in English the sentence may say the soup, but in Romanian ciorba gives a more specific idea.

Aragaz means stove or cooker.

Historically it referred to a gas stove, but in everyday Romanian it is often used more generally for the stovetop/cooker area.

So pe aragaz means on the stove.

Because pe means on, and the idea is that the soup is on the stove, sitting on a burner.

• pe aragaz = on the stove
• în cuptor = in the oven

So if a pot is heating on top of the stove, Romanian normally uses pe.

Romanian often uses a bare noun in common location phrases, especially when the place is understood from context.

So pe aragaz is a natural way to say on the stove.

If you wanted to make it more specific, you could use the definite form:

• pe aragazul din bucătărie = on the stove in the kitchen

But in a simple everyday sentence, pe aragaz is completely normal.

Because the sentence has two linked clauses:

• Ciorba este pe aragaz
• și nu este încă gata

Each clause has its own predicate, so Romanian normally keeps the verb to be in both parts.

English can sometimes feel more tolerant of leaving things implied, but in Romanian repeating este here is natural and clear.

You will also very often hear the short form e instead of este:

• Ciorba e pe aragaz și nu e încă gata.

That sounds very natural in speech.

Here, încă means yet.

A very useful rule is:

• in a positive sentence, încă often means still
• in a negative sentence, încă often means yet

So:

• Este încă pe aragaz. = It is still on the stove.
• Nu este încă gata. = It is not ready yet.

In Romanian, nu normally goes directly before the conjugated verb:

• nu este

Then încă can follow, as in:

• nu este încă gata

This word order is very natural.

You can also say:

• încă nu este gata

That is also correct and common, with slightly stronger emphasis on not yet.

But nu should stay with the verb, so nu este is the important core.

Gata means ready, done, or finished.

In this sentence, gata means the soup is not ready yet.

A helpful point: gata is commonly used as an invariable word, so it does not change to match gender or number in the usual way many adjectives do.

For example:

• Ciorba e gata.
• Mâncarea e gata.
• Copiii sunt gata.

So you simply learn gata as the normal form.

For food, gata often means ready to eat / finished cooking, while gătită can focus more on cooked/prepared.

A rough guide:

• ciorba ≈ CHYOR-ba
• este ≈ ES-te
• pe ≈ peh
• aragaz ≈ a-ra-GAZ
• și ≈ sh
• nu ≈ noo
• încă ≈ a rough een-kuh, though î is not exactly an English sound
• gata ≈ GA-ta

A few letter tips:

• ș = sh
• ă = a short neutral vowel, like the a in sofa
• î = a Romanian vowel with no exact English equivalent

So the whole sentence is roughly:

CHYOR-ba ES-te peh a-ra-GAZ sh noo ES-te ean-KUH GA-ta

That is only an approximation, but it is a useful start.