Eu spăl vasele după cină, iar sora mea le clătește.

Yes—Romanian often omits subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

So Spăl vasele după cină already means I wash the dishes after dinner.

Here, eu is included for emphasis or contrast, especially because the sentence compares two people:

• Eu spăl vasele...
• ...iar sora mea le clătește.

So it feels a bit like:

• I wash the dishes, and my sister rinses them.

It is not required, but it sounds natural when the speaker wants to highlight the contrast.

Spăl means I wash.

It is the 1st person singular present tense of the verb a spăla = to wash.

A few present tense forms are:

• eu spăl = I wash
• tu speli = you wash
• el/ea spală = he/she washes
• noi spălăm = we wash
• voi spălați = you (plural) wash
• ei/ele spală = they wash

So Eu spăl vasele literally means I wash the dishes.

Vasele means the dishes, while vase means just dishes in a general or indefinite sense.

Romanian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun, not as a separate word like English the.

So:

• vas = dish / vessel
• vase = dishes
• vasele = the dishes

This ending -le is the definite article here.

So:

• spăl vase = I wash dishes
• spăl vasele = I wash the dishes

Yes, that can be confusing.

In Romanian, vas can mean a container, vessel, dish, and in some contexts it can resemble the English word vase. But in the sentence spăl vasele după cină, the context clearly makes it mean the dishes.

After dinner, washing and rinsing strongly suggest plates, bowls, utensils, and similar kitchen items, not decorative flower vases.

So context is doing a lot of work here.

După cină means after dinner.

• după = after
• cină = dinner

This is a very common time expression in Romanian.

Examples:

• după masă = after the meal / in the afternoon, depending on context
• după școală = after school
• după lucru = after work

So spăl vasele după cină means I wash the dishes after dinner.

Both are possible in Romanian, but they are used a bit differently.

• după cină = after dinner
• după cina can also occur, especially if you are referring to a specific dinner

In many routine expressions, Romanian often uses the noun without the definite article, similar to English expressions like after dinner, at school, by car, etc.

So după cină sounds natural as a general everyday expression.

Iar here means something like and, while, or whereas, depending on context.

In this sentence, it connects two related actions done by different people:

• Eu spăl vasele după cină, iar sora mea le clătește.

It suggests a contrast or division of roles:

• I wash the dishes,
• while / and my sister rinses them.

It is not exactly the same as și:

• și = simple and
• iar = and/while, often with a contrastive feeling

So iar is a very natural choice when comparing two subjects or two actions.

Le is a direct object pronoun meaning them.

It refers back to vasele = the dishes.

So:

• sora mea clătește vasele = my sister rinses the dishes
• sora mea le clătește = my sister rinses them

Romanian often uses these short object pronouns before the verb.

Some common ones are:

• îl = him / it
• o = her / it
• îi = to him / to her
• le = them / to them, depending on the structure

Here, le means them.

Because Romanian commonly uses an object pronoun to refer back to something already mentioned, especially in the second clause.

The sentence is structured like this:

• Eu spăl vasele după cină
• iar sora mea le clătește

In English, we would also normally avoid repeating the dishes and say she rinses them. Romanian does the same thing.

So le avoids repetition and makes the sentence flow naturally.

Clătește means rinses.

It comes from the verb a clăti = to rinse.

In this sentence, clătește is the 3rd person singular present tense, agreeing with sora mea = my sister.

So:

• eu clătesc = I rinse
• ea clătește = she rinses

That is why the sentence has:

• sora mea le clătește = my sister rinses them

In Romanian, possessive adjectives usually come after the noun.

So:

• sora mea = my sister
• fratele meu = my brother
• cartea mea = my book

This is the normal Romanian word order.

Also notice that in many cases the noun takes the definite article when used with a possessive:

• sora mea = my sister
• cartea mea = my book

So sora mea is the standard way to say it.

Yes, Romanian word order is fairly flexible, but the version given is the most neutral and natural.

The sentence:

• Eu spăl vasele după cină, iar sora mea le clătește.

is straightforward and easy to understand.

You could change the order for emphasis, for example:

• După cină, eu spăl vasele...
• Vasele le spăl eu...

But these versions shift the focus.

For a learner, the original sentence is a very good standard pattern:

• subject + verb + object + time expression

A few pronunciation notes:

• ă is a short central vowel, somewhat like the vowel in sofa for many English speakers.
• spăl sounds roughly like spuhl, but shorter and crisper.
• după sounds roughly like DOO-puh.
• clătește sounds roughly like kluh-TESH-teh.

Also:

• ș is pronounced sh
• ț is pronounced ts

So:

• clătește has ș = sh
• stress is usually on -teș-: clă-TEȘ-te

These are only rough guides, but they can help at the beginning.

Yes. A very natural version is:

• Spăl vasele după cină, iar sora mea le clătește.

This still clearly means:

• I wash the dishes after dinner, and my sister rinses them.

The verb spăl already tells us the subject is I.

Including eu adds emphasis, especially if the speaker is contrasting duties:

• I wash them, my sister rinses them.