Nu este nimeni la ușă acum.

Romanian normally uses negative concord, which means multiple negative words appear together in the same sentence.

So:

• nu = not
• nimeni = nobody / no one

Together, Nu este nimeni literally looks like Not is nobody, but it simply means There is nobody or No one is there.

This is normal in Romanian.
You should not drop nu and say Este nimeni for this meaning.

Yes. Nimeni nu este la ușă acum is also correct.

Both are natural, but the emphasis is slightly different:

• Nu este nimeni la ușă acum = There’s nobody at the door now
• Nimeni nu este la ușă acum = Nobody is at the door now

The first version often feels a bit more like an existential statement, similar to English there is/there are.

Este is the 3rd person singular form of a fi, which means to be.

So:

• eu sunt = I am
• tu ești = you are
• el/ea este = he/she is

In this sentence, este means is.

Very often in everyday Romanian, este is shortened to e:

• Nu este nimeni la ușă acum
• Nu e nimeni la ușă acum

Both are correct. Nu e... is more common in casual speech.

Romanian often expresses this idea without a separate dummy subject like English there.

English says:

• There is nobody at the door.

Romanian simply says:

• Nu este nimeni la ușă.

So Romanian uses is not nobody at the door, which naturally means there is nobody at the door.

This is a common difference between English and Romanian sentence structure.

La ușă means at the door.

• la = at / to
• ușă = door

In this sentence, la ușă means someone is at the door, usually implying they are outside or by the entrance, perhaps knocking or ringing.

This is more natural than translating word-for-word as near the door.

Good question. The two forms are different:

• ușă = a door / door
• ușa = the door

So:

• la ușă = at the door in a general idiomatic sense
• la ușa would normally need something after it, such as:
  • la ușa casei = at the house door
  • la ușa mea = at my door

In Romanian, after prepositions like la, a noun can often appear without the definite article in fixed expressions, and la ușă is the normal way to say at the door.

Acum means now.

It tells you that the situation is true at this moment:

• Nu este nimeni la ușă acum. = There is no one at the door now.

Without acum, the sentence would still be fine:

• Nu este nimeni la ușă. = There is no one at the door.

Adding acum makes the time reference more explicit.

Yes, Romanian word order is fairly flexible.

You can hear:

• Nu este nimeni la ușă acum.
• Acum nu este nimeni la ușă.
• Nu este acum nimeni la ușă. (possible, but less neutral)

The most neutral version here is probably Nu este nimeni la ușă acum or Acum nu este nimeni la ușă, depending on what you want to emphasize.

• If you emphasize now, starting with Acum can sound more contrastive: Now there’s nobody at the door.

ușă is pronounced approximately OO-shuh.

Two important letters here are:

• ș = sh sound, like in shoe
• ă = a short central vowel, something like the final sound in sofa for many English speakers

So:

• ușă ≈ OO-shuh

The stress is on the first syllable: U-șă.

Usually, if nimeni is part of a negative statement with a verb, you also use nu:

• Nimeni nu vine. = Nobody is coming.
• Nu este nimeni aici. = There is nobody here.

But nimeni can appear alone in short answers or fragments, for example:

• Cine e la ușă? = Who is at the door?
• Nimeni. = No one.

So in a full sentence with a finite verb, expect nu to be there.

It is neutral and completely natural.

• Nu este nimeni la ușă acum. = neutral, slightly fuller
• Nu e nimeni la ușă acum. = more conversational

Both are common. If you are speaking casually, Nu e nimeni... will often sound more everyday.