Nu reușesc să dorm dacă beau cafea târziu.

Romanian often drops the subject pronoun when it is clear from the verb ending.

• reușesc = I manage / I succeed
• beau = I drink
• dorm = I sleep

So Nu reușesc să dorm dacă beau cafea târziu already clearly means I can’t manage to sleep if I drink coffee late.

You can say Eu nu reușesc..., but eu is usually added only for emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

Not exactly.

• nu reușesc = I don’t manage to / I’m not able to succeed in
• nu pot = I can’t

In this sentence, nu reușesc să dorm sounds like I can’t manage to sleep or I’m unable to fall asleep, often because the attempt fails.

So:

• Nu reușesc să dorm = I can’t manage to sleep
• Nu pot dormi / să dorm = I can’t sleep

Both can work, but nu reușesc adds a sense of failing to achieve sleep, not just general inability.

After many Romanian verbs, especially verbs like a reuși (to manage, succeed), the next verb is introduced by să.

So:

• reușesc să dorm = I manage to sleep
• literally: I succeed that I sleep, though that literal English structure is not natural

This is a very common Romanian pattern:

• vreau să merg = I want to go
• încep să citesc = I begin to read
• reușesc să dorm = I manage to sleep

So să is a normal linker before a verb in this kind of structure.

Because after să, Romanian usually uses the subjunctive form, not the infinitive.

Here:

• a dormi = the infinitive = to sleep
• să dorm = the subjunctive form = that I sleep / to sleep in this structure

So:

• reușesc să dorm is correct
• reușesc dormi is incorrect

English uses the infinitive to sleep, but Romanian often prefers să + finite verb instead.

Because a bea (to drink) is conjugated, and the 1st person singular form is beau.

Conjugation in the present tense:

• eu beau = I drink
• tu bei = you drink
• el/ea bea = he/she drinks
• noi bem = we drink
• voi beți = you drink
• ei/ele beau = they drink

So beau here means I drink.

A useful thing to notice: beau can also mean they drink, so context tells you which one is meant.

Dacă means if.

So:

• dacă beau cafea târziu = if I drink coffee late

This introduces a condition. The whole sentence means that drinking coffee late causes the problem.

Compare:

• dacă = if
• când = when

If you say când beau cafea târziu, that can sound more like whenever I drink coffee late.
With dacă, the sentence is framed as a condition: if I drink coffee late, I can’t sleep.

Romanian often uses the present tense for general truths, habits, and real conditions, just like English often does.

So:

• Nu reușesc să dorm dacă beau cafea târziu
  = I can’t sleep if I drink coffee late = a general/habitual statement

This is not about one specific future event. It means something like Whenever I drink coffee late, I can’t sleep.

If you wanted a more specifically future meaning, Romanian could use other structures, but the present tense is perfectly natural here.

Târziu means late.

In this sentence, it modifies beau cafea:

• beau cafea târziu = I drink coffee late

It tells you when the coffee is drunk.

Its position here is very natural. Romanian word order is flexible, but târziu at the end sounds normal and clear.

You may also hear:

• dacă beau târziu cafea
  but this is less neutral in everyday speech

The most natural version is usually:

• dacă beau cafea târziu

Because Romanian, like English, often uses uncountable nouns without an article when speaking generally.

• beau cafea = I drink coffee

This means coffee in general, not a specific coffee.

Compare:

• beau cafea = I drink coffee
• beau o cafea = I drink a coffee / a cup of coffee
• beau cafeaua = I drink the coffee

So in this sentence, cafea is just the general substance.

Yes, that is a very natural translation.

Literally:

• a dormi = to sleep

But in context, nu reușesc să dorm often means I can’t get to sleep / I can’t fall asleep, because the problem is about managing to start sleeping, not sleeping in general.

So possible natural English translations include:

• I can’t sleep if I drink coffee late.
• I can’t fall asleep if I drink coffee late.
• I can’t manage to sleep if I drink coffee late.

The best choice depends on how natural you want the English to sound.

Yes, Romanian word order is somewhat flexible, but some orders sound more natural than others.

Standard, natural order:

• Nu reușesc să dorm dacă beau cafea târziu.

You could also say:

• Dacă beau cafea târziu, nu reușesc să dorm.

This version emphasizes the condition first: If I drink coffee late, I can’t sleep.

Both are correct. The second one is especially common when you want to highlight the if-clause.

Yes.

• nu dorm = I’m not sleeping / I don’t sleep
• nu reușesc să dorm = I can’t manage to sleep

So nu reușesc să dorm suggests trying but failing. It is more specific and often more natural when talking about insomnia or difficulty falling asleep.

For example:

• Nu dorm could mean I don’t sleep much or I’m awake
• Nu reușesc să dorm clearly means I’m trying to sleep, but I can’t

That is why it works well in this sentence.