Chiriașul așteaptă aici.

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

• chiriaș = tenant
• chiriașul = the tenant

So the ending -ul is the masculine singular definite article.
This is one of the most noticeable differences from English.

Chiriașul is:

• masculine
• singular
• definite

Its basic dictionary form is chiriaș. The sentence is talking about one specific male tenant, or a tenant referred to with the masculine noun.

A feminine form also exists:

• chiriașă = a female tenant
• chiriașa = the female tenant

Așteaptă is present tense, 3rd person singular of the verb a aștepta = to wait.

So it can mean:

• he waits
• she waits
• it waits

In this sentence, the noun chiriașul tells you who is doing the action, so English translates it as the tenant waits / is waiting here.

Romanian present tense often covers both the simple present and the present continuous idea from English, depending on context.

Because Romanian often leaves out the subject pronoun when it is already clear.

The verb ending in așteaptă already shows that the subject is 3rd person singular, and the noun chiriașul is explicitly there anyway. So adding el would usually be unnecessary:

• Chiriașul așteaptă aici. = normal
• El așteaptă aici. = He is waiting here
• Chiriașul el așteaptă aici. = usually unnatural unless used for emphasis in a special context

Romanian is a pro-drop language, meaning subject pronouns are often omitted.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• chiriașul ≈ kee-ree-AH-shul
• așteaptă ≈ uhsh-TEAP-tuh
• aici ≈ eye-EECH

A few important Romanian sounds in this sentence:

• ș = sh as in ship
• ă = a short central vowel, something like the a in sofa
• ch before i in chiriașul sounds like k, not like English ch in chair

So chiriașul does not start with a ch sound like English chair.

Yes, aici can move, but the given order is the most neutral and natural:

• Chiriașul așteaptă aici. = neutral: The tenant is waiting here.

You may also hear:

• Aici așteaptă chiriașul. = The tenant is waiting here / emphasis on here
• Chiriașul aici așteaptă. = possible, but more marked or contrastive

Romanian word order is fairly flexible, but changes in order often change focus or emphasis, not the basic meaning.

Aici means here.

It is an adverb of place. In this sentence, it tells you where the waiting happens.

It is often placed at the end of the sentence, especially in neutral statements, but not always. Romanian allows flexibility:

• Așteaptă aici. = He/She is waiting here
• Aici așteaptă. = He/She is waiting here with emphasis on here

So the end position is common, but not mandatory.

It is pronounced with three syllables: aș-teap-tă.

The middle part teap is one syllable, with a diphthong-like sound. The stress falls on teap:

• aș-TEAP-tă

Learners sometimes want to break it too much or pronounce every vowel separately, but in normal speech it flows as one word with the main stress in the middle.

Yes. Romanian present tense often covers both ideas:

• The tenant waits here
• The tenant is waiting here

English chooses between simple present and present continuous more strictly. Romanian often uses the same present-tense form for both, and context tells you which one sounds best in English.

The infinitive is a aștepta = to wait.

In Romanian, dictionary verbs are usually given with the particle a, which corresponds to English to:

• a aștepta = to wait
• a merge = to go
• a vedea = to see

So in așteaptă, the initial a- is simply part of the verb stem, not the infinitive marker by itself. The full infinitive is a aștepta, but the conjugated form here is așteaptă.

Here it is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the sentence.

Romanian still has cases, but in many everyday sentences like this one, the nominative form is straightforward:

• Chiriașul = the subject
• așteaptă = the verb
• aici = adverb of place

So for a learner, the main thing to notice here is not an unusual case ending, but the attached definite article -ul.