Tramvaiul este mai rapid decât autobuzul.

to be

Breakdown of Tramvaiul este mai rapid decât autobuzul.

• mai: more
• decât: than
• autobuzul: the bus

Questions & Answers about Tramvaiul este mai rapid decât autobuzul.

Why do tramvaiul and autobuzul end in -ul?

Because Romanian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun, not as a separate word before it.

• tramvai = tram
• tramvaiul = the tram
• autobuz = bus
• autobuzul = the bus

The ending -ul is a very common definite article ending for masculine/neuter singular nouns.

Why are the nouns definite here? English might say A tram is faster than a bus.

Romanian often uses the definite singular to talk about something in a general, class-wide sense.

So:

• Tramvaiul este mai rapid decât autobuzul.

can mean something like:

• The tram is faster than the bus
• or more generally, A tram is faster than a bus

depending on context.

This is normal Romanian usage. English often uses a/an or a bare plural for general statements, but Romanian frequently prefers the definite form.

How is the comparative formed in mai rapid?