Pune puțină sare în supă.

Pune is the 2nd person singular imperative of the verb a pune, which means to put.

So in this sentence, Pune means Put!

Romanian often uses the imperative without a subject, so Pune by itself already means You put / Put! when speaking to one person informally.

The dictionary form is a pune = to put.

In Romanian, verbs are usually listed with a before them, which is the infinitive marker, similar to English to.

So:

• a pune = to put
• pune = put! / he/she puts depending on context

In this sentence, it is clearly the command form.

Because puțină agrees with sare, and sare is a feminine noun in Romanian.

Here puțină means a little or some. Romanian quantity words like this often change form to match the gender of the noun.

Compare:

• puțin = masculine/neuter singular
• puțină = feminine singular

Since sare is feminine, you say:

• puțină sare = a little salt

Not:

• puțin sare

Because sare is being used in a general, indefinite sense, like English some salt or a little salt.

Romanian often leaves mass nouns without an article in this kind of sentence:

• puțină sare = a little salt
• multă apă = a lot of water
• puțin zahăr = a little sugar

If you used the definite article, it would sound like the salt, meaning a specific salt already known in context.

Supă without the definite article means soup in a general or indefinite sense.

So:

• în supă = in/into soup
• în supa = in/into the soup

In a simple instruction like Pune puțină sare în supă, Romanian often uses the indefinite form unless a specific soup has already been identified.

If you were talking about a particular soup, you could say:

• Pune puțină sare în supa aceasta. = Put a little salt in this soup.

Here it is best understood as into, even though Romanian uses în for both in and into in many situations.

So:

• în can mean location: in
• în can also express movement/result: into

In Pune puțină sare în supă, the idea is adding salt so that it goes into the soup.

English makes a stronger distinction between in and into than Romanian often does.

In Romanian, the subject is often omitted because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

With the imperative Pune, it is understood that the speaker is talking to you singular, informal:

• (Tu) pune = (You) put

You can add tu for emphasis, but normally it is unnecessary:

• Tu pune puțină sare în supă.

That version sounds more emphatic or contrastive.

Yes. Pune is the informal singular command, used when speaking to one person you address as tu.

For a polite command, or when speaking to more than one person, Romanian uses:

• Puneți puțină sare în supă.

So:

• Pune... = informal singular
• Puneți... = polite singular or plural

This is very common and important in everyday Romanian.

Yes, Romanian word order is fairly flexible, although Pune puțină sare în supă is the most neutral and natural order.

This structure is:

• verb + object + prepositional phrase

You may also hear variations for emphasis, such as:

• În supă pune puțină sare.

But that sounds more marked or stylistic. For learners, the basic order in the original sentence is the best one to use.

The special Romanian letters are important here:

• ț = ts, like the end of English cats
• ă = a short neutral vowel, like the a in sofa
• î = a close central sound that does not exist exactly in standard English; it is pronounced deep in the mouth

Very roughly:

• Pune ≈ POO-neh
• puțină ≈ poo-TSI-nuh
• sare ≈ SAH-reh
• în ≈ a short sound somewhat like in, but with Romanian î
• supă ≈ SOO-puh

These are only approximations, but they help at a beginner level.

Yes, absolutely. Puțină sare is a very natural Romanian phrase.

It is used with a mass noun, where English would also often say:

• a little salt
• some salt

Other similar examples are:

• puțină apă = a little water
• puțină cafea = a little coffee
• puțină răbdare = a little patience

So this pattern is very useful beyond just this sentence.

Yes. Even though the verb is literally put, a very natural English translation is also:

• Add a little salt to the soup.

That is because in cooking instructions, a pune often corresponds to English put or add, depending on what sounds most natural in context.

So both ideas match the Romanian sentence well.