El a promis că nu va refuza întrebările copiilor.

Because Romanian perfect tense is formed with an auxiliary plus the past participle:

• a = the 3rd person singular auxiliary of a avea in the compound past
• promis = past participle of a promite

So el a promis means he promised / he has promised.

This is the normal way Romanian expresses a completed past action in everyday language.

Că means that and introduces a subordinate clause.

So:

• El a promis = he promised
• că nu va refuza întrebările copiilor = that he would not refuse the children’s questions

Romanian uses că very often where English may use that, even when English sometimes leaves that out.

Yes, literally va refuza is will refuse, and nu va refuza is will not refuse.

Romanian often keeps the future form in a clause like this because the refusal is future relative to the moment of promising. English usually shifts this to would not refuse after a past reporting verb:

• Romanian: El a promis că nu va refuza...
• Natural English: He promised that he would not refuse...

So the Romanian future is normal here.

Yes. That is also correct, and in many situations it may sound more natural or more compact.

There are two common patterns:

• a promite că + clause
• a promite să + infinitive-like construction

So both of these work:

• El a promis că nu va refuza întrebările copiilor.
• El a promis să nu refuze întrebările copiilor.

The version with să is especially common when the subject is the same in both parts, as it is here: he promised, and he is the one not refusing.

The că version feels a bit more explicit, because it states a whole clause.

In Romanian, nu normally comes before the finite verb.

Here the finite verb element is va, the future auxiliary, so:

• va refuza = will refuse
• nu va refuza = will not refuse

Romanian does not usually place the negative after the auxiliary the way English does with will not; instead, nu simply comes before the verb phrase.

Because întrebările is the definite plural form, meaning the questions.

• întrebări = questions
• întrebările = the questions

Romanian usually attaches the definite article to the end of the noun instead of putting a separate word like the in front.

So:

• întrebările = întrebări + le

In this sentence, întrebările is the direct object of va refuza.

Copiilor is the genitive-dative plural form of copii.

Here it is genitive, showing possession or relationship:

• întrebările copiilor = the children’s questions / the questions of the children

The ending -lor is a strong clue that you are looking at a plural genitive/dative form.

So:

• copii = children
• copiilor = of the children / to the children

In this sentence, the meaning is genitive: the children’s.

Romanian handles definiteness differently from English.

In a phrase like the children’s questions, Romanian normally makes the possessed noun definite:

• întrebările copiilor

Literally, this is something like the questions of the children.

The important thing is that Romanian does not need to mark both nouns the same way English does. The structure is just different. The possession is shown by the genitive form copiilor, while definiteness is carried naturally by the phrase.

Yes, you could absolutely say:

• A promis că nu va refuza întrebările copiilor.

Romanian often drops subject pronouns because the verb form already shows the person and number, or because the subject is understood from context.

Including El can do things like:

• add emphasis
• create contrast
• make the subject extra clear

So El is possible, but not required.

It is the direct object of va refuza, so functionally it is in the accusative.

In Romanian, many nouns have the same form in nominative and accusative, so you usually identify the case from the role in the sentence rather than from a visibly different ending.

Here:

• va refuza ce? = întrebările copiilor
• so întrebările is the thing being refused

The dictionary form is a refuza, meaning to refuse.

In the sentence:

• va refuza = he will refuse
• nu va refuza = he will not refuse

So refuza itself is the main verb, and va marks the future.

The given order is normal and natural:

• El a promis că nu va refuza întrebările copiilor.

Romanian word order is fairly flexible, but changing it usually adds emphasis or sounds marked.

For example, you could move things around in some contexts, but the standard neutral order is the one you have here:

• subject
• verb
• subordinate clause
• object inside that clause

So as a learner, this is the safest order to use.

The main ones learners notice are:

• că: ă is a short central vowel, similar to the weak vowel in English sofa, but not exactly the same
• întrebările: î is a close central vowel, a sound English does not really have
• copiilor: notice the sequence ii, which is pronounced, not ignored

A rough pronunciation guide:

• El ≈ el
• a promis ≈ a pro-mees
• că ≈ kuh with a very short vowel
• nu va refuza ≈ noo va re-foo-za
• întrebările ≈ something like een-tre-buh-ri-le, but that is only approximate
• copiilor ≈ ko-pee-i-lor

The exact Romanian vowels matter, especially ă and î, so it is worth listening to native audio if you can.