Avem patru documente.

Avem means we have. It comes from the verb a avea = to have.

This is the 1st person plural form:

• eu am = I have
• tu ai = you have
• el/ea are = he/she has
• noi avem = we have
• voi aveți = you all have
• ei/ele au = they have

So Avem patru documente literally means We have four documents.

In Romanian, the verb ending often already shows who the subject is, so the subject pronoun is frequently left out.

• Avem already means we have
• Noi avem also means we have, but noi is usually added only for emphasis or contrast

For example:

• Avem patru documente. = We have four documents.
• Noi avem patru documente, ei au doar două. = We have four documents, they only have two.

So omitting noi is completely normal.

Patru is the Romanian word for four. It does not change form here.

Romanian numbers like patru are generally invariable in this kind of sentence:

• patru documente = four documents
• patru case = four houses
• patru fete = four girls

So patru stays patru regardless of the noun after it.

Because the sentence is talking about more than one document, Romanian uses the plural form.

• document = document
• documente = documents

Since patru means four, the noun must be plural:

• un document = one document
• două documente = two documents
• patru documente = four documents

Document is a neuter noun in Romanian.

Romanian neuter nouns behave:

• like masculine in the singular
• like feminine in the plural

That is why:

• singular: un document = a document
• plural: două/patru documente = two/four documents

This matters because the forms used with the noun can depend on whether it is singular or plural.

Romanian often uses a bare noun where English might also use no article.

So:

• Avem patru documente. = We have four documents.

There is no need for an article here because the number already makes the meaning clear.

If you wanted to say the four documents, Romanian would normally be:

• cele patru documente = the four documents

So:

• patru documente = four documents
• cele patru documente = the four documents

The normal, neutral word order is:

• Avem patru documente.

Romanian word order is fairly flexible, but changing it usually changes the emphasis.

For example:

• Avem patru documente. = neutral
• Patru documente avem. = emphasizes four documents
• Noi avem patru documente. = emphasizes we

So the original version is the most natural basic form.

A simple approximate pronunciation is:

AH-vem PAH-troo doh-koo-MEN-teh

A few useful notes:

• v sounds like English v
• e is usually like e in bet, but a bit cleaner
• u is like oo in food, but shorter
• c in documente sounds like k because it comes before u
• stress is roughly:
  • A-vem
  • PA-tru
  • docu-MEN-te

No, not in this sentence.

After a cardinal number like patru, Romanian normally uses the noun directly:

• patru documente = four documents

You do not add de here.

In Romanian, de can appear after some larger numbers or quantity expressions, but not after patru in a basic phrase like this.

So the correct form is:

• Avem patru documente.

Yes. In natural English, Avem patru documente can be translated as:

• We have four documents
• We’ve got four documents

Both are fine in English, although the Romanian sentence itself is simply the standard present tense of a avea.

A very useful pattern is:

Avem + number + plural noun

Examples:

• Avem două camere. = We have two rooms.
• Avem trei copii. = We have three children.
• Avem cinci minute. = We have five minutes.
• Avem multe probleme. = We have many problems.

So Avem patru documente is a good model sentence for building many others.