Aștept șapte zile.

Romanian often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb ending already tells you who is doing the action.

• aștept = I wait / I am waiting

So Eu aștept șapte zile is possible, but eu is usually added only for emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

Aștept is the 1st person singular, present tense form of the verb a aștepta, meaning to wait.

So the pattern is:

• eu aștept = I wait
• tu aștepți = you wait
• el/ea așteaptă = he/she waits

In this sentence, aștept matches an understood I.

Because after numbers higher than one, Romanian normally uses the plural form of the noun.

• o zi = one day
• două zile = two days
• șapte zile = seven days

So zile is simply the plural of zi.

No. Șapte stays the same.

Unlike one and two, which can vary in some contexts, șapte does not change for masculine, feminine, or neuter nouns.

So you get:

• șapte zile
• șapte cărți
• șapte băieți

The numeral itself remains șapte.

Romanian can express duration directly, without a word like English for.

So a time expression such as șapte zile can function as a duration phrase on its own.

That said, Romanian often uses different structures depending on the exact meaning:

• Aștept șapte zile can suggest I wait for seven days as a duration statement.
• Aștept de șapte zile more naturally means I have been waiting for seven days.

So the version without a preposition is grammatical, but the version with de is very common when talking about an action that started in the past and is still continuing.

Not usually. In everyday Romanian, if you mean an action that started earlier and is still happening now, speakers very often say:

• Aștept de șapte zile.

That is closer to English I have been waiting for seven days.

By contrast, Aștept șapte zile may sound more like a plain duration statement, and in some contexts it can feel less natural than the de version. So this is a useful nuance to know.

The neutral word order here is:

• Aștept șapte zile.

That is the most straightforward way to say it.

Romanian word order is fairly flexible, though, so other orders are possible for emphasis:

• Șapte zile aștept. = emphasis on seven days
• Eu aștept șapte zile. = emphasis on I

So the original order is normal, but not the only possible one.

After numbers, Romanian normally uses the noun without the definite article.

So:

• șapte zile = seven days

If you said zilele, that would mean the days, which is a different idea.

Compare:

• șapte zile = seven days
• zilele = the days

A rough English-friendly approximation is:

• uh-SHTEPT SHAP-teh ZEE-leh

A few important sounds:

• ă in Aștept is a short neutral vowel, similar to the a in sofa
• ș sounds like English sh
• z in zile sounds like English z

A more careful breakdown:

• Aștept → uh-sht ept
• șapte → shap-te
• zile → zee-le

They are separate Romanian letters, not just decorative marks.

• ă = a short central vowel, like a soft uh
• ș = sh

So:

• Aștept begins with ă
• șapte begins with ș

It is important not to ignore these marks, because they are part of the spelling and pronunciation.

Yes. Romanian present tense can cover several meanings that English expresses in different ways, depending on context.

Aștept can mean things like:

• I wait
• I am waiting
• sometimes, depending on the sentence pattern and context, something close to I have been waiting

That is why time expressions and small words like de matter so much. They help make the exact meaning clearer.

Yes. A aștepta can take a direct object.

Examples:

• Aștept autobuzul. = I am waiting for the bus.
• Te aștept. = I am waiting for you.

In Aștept șapte zile, the phrase șapte zile is not a person or thing being waited for; it expresses the duration of the waiting. That is one reason learners often pause at this structure.