Ciorba este rece, așa că o pun la microunde.

Because ciorba is the definite form: the soup.

Romanian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun:

• ciorbă = soup / a soup
• ciorba = the soup

So Ciorba este rece means The soup is cold.

It is a word for a type of soup, but not exactly every kind of soup.

In Romanian:

• ciorbă usually means a traditional soup, often a bit sour
• supă usually means a clearer or different style of soup

So a Romanian learner may want to remember that ciorbă is culturally specific, even if English may simply translate it as soup.

Este means is. It is the 3rd person singular of a fi = to be.

So:

• ciorba este rece = the soup is cold

In everyday speech, Romanians very often say e instead of este:

• Ciorba e rece.

Both are correct. Este sounds a bit fuller or more careful; e is very common in normal conversation.

Yes, the adjective does agree, but rece happens to have the same form for masculine and feminine singular.

Examples:

• ceaiul este rece = the tea is cold
• ciorba este rece = the soup is cold

In the plural, it changes:

• supele sunt reci = the soups are cold

So rece is the correct singular form here.

Așa că means so, therefore, or that’s why. It introduces a result or consequence.

In this sentence:

• Ciorba este rece, așa că o pun la microunde.
• The soup is cold, so I put/am putting it in the microwave.

It is a very common connector in Romanian conversation.

O is a direct object pronoun meaning it.

It refers back to ciorba, which is a feminine singular noun. That is why the pronoun is o.

So:

• o pun = I put it / I am putting it

Romanian often uses these short object pronouns before the verb.

That is just the normal Romanian word order for unstressed object pronouns.

Romanian:

• o pun = literally it I-put

English:

• I put it

So even though it feels reversed to an English speaker, o pun is the normal pattern.

A useful contrast:

• o pun = I put it
• Pune-o! = Put it!

In affirmative statements, the short pronoun usually goes before the verb.

Pun is the 1st person singular present of a pune = to put.

So pun means:

• I put
• I am putting

Romanian often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed, because the verb ending already shows the person.

So:

• (Eu) pun = I put / I am putting

Both are possible, but eu is usually omitted unless you want emphasis.

Yes. Romanian present tense often covers both the English simple present and present progressive, depending on context.

So o pun can mean:

• I put it
• I’m putting it

In this sentence, the natural English meaning is usually I’m putting it in the microwave, because it describes what the speaker is doing now.

La microunde is the normal idiomatic Romanian way to say in the microwave or into the microwave.

So:

• o pun la microunde = I put it in the microwave

This expression is very common in everyday speech. It is shorter than saying the full în cuptorul cu microunde.

Also, microunde is plural because the full idea is connected to microwaves as waves, but as a learner, the important thing is to remember la microunde as a fixed everyday phrase.