Sunt unsprezece chiriași.

to be

Breakdown of Sunt unsprezece chiriași.

• chiriașul: the tenant
• unsprezece: 11

Questions & Answers about Sunt unsprezece chiriași.

Why does the sentence start with sunt? Does it mean they are or there are?

Here sunt is the 3rd person plural form of a fi (to be).

In this sentence, it is best understood as there are, not they are.

So:

• Sunt unsprezece chiriași. = There are eleven tenants.

Romanian often uses sunt in places where English uses there are. There is no separate word exactly like English there in this kind of sentence.

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What does unsprezece mean, and how is it built?

Unsprezece means eleven.

It is historically built from:

• unu / un = one
• spre = an old element meaning something like toward / over
• zece = ten

So it literally comes from the idea of one over ten.

For a learner, the important thing is simply:

• unsprezece = 11

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Why is chiriași plural?

Because unsprezece is greater than one, Romanian uses the plural noun:

• un chiriaș = one tenant
• doi chiriași = two tenants
• unsprezece chiriași = eleven tenants

So after 11, the noun is plural, just as in English.

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