Câinele are blana maro.

Because Romanian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

• câine = dog
• câinele = the dog

So -le here is part of the definite form of the noun.

Are means has.

It is the 3rd person singular form of the verb a avea = to have.

So:

• eu am = I have
• tu ai = you have
• el/ea are = he/she/it has

In this sentence, Câinele are... means The dog has...

Blană is the basic dictionary form and means fur or coat.

Blana is the definite form, meaning literally the fur / the coat.

For many feminine nouns ending in -ă, Romanian forms the definite singular by changing -ă to -a:

• casă → casa
• blană → blana

In this sentence, Romanian uses the definite form because with body parts, hair, eyes, and animal coverings, Romanian often says things like:

• are ochii verzi = has green eyes
• are părul lung = has long hair
• are blana maro = has brown fur

So even though English does not use the here, Romanian often does.

Because in Romanian, adjectives usually come after the noun.

So:

• blana maro = brown fur
• literally: the fur brown

This is normal Romanian word order.

Usually, maro does not change. It is generally treated as an invariable adjective.

So you can see:

• blană maro
• ochi maro
• rochie maro

without changing maro.

This is different from many other Romanian adjectives, which do change to agree with the noun.

Because Romanian often shows possession through the structure of the sentence rather than by using a separate possessive word.

In Câinele are blana maro, it is understood that the fur belongs to the dog. Romanian commonly uses this pattern with parts of a person or animal:

• Fata are părul lung = The girl has long hair
• Pisica are ochii verzi = The cat has green eyes

So Romanian does not need a separate word meaning its here.

Yes. Blana câinelui este maro is also correct and means The dog’s fur is brown.

The difference is mainly in structure:

• Câinele are blana maro = The dog has brown fur
• Blana câinelui este maro = The dog’s fur is brown

Both are natural. The first uses to have; the second uses to be plus a possessive structure.

You might hear it, and it is grammatically possible, but Câinele are blana maro is more idiomatic when you are simply describing the dog’s natural appearance.

Using o blană maro can sound more like you are treating the coat/fur as one particular feature or describing it a bit more separately. For a basic description of an animal’s coloring, are blana maro is very natural.

The two most important special vowels here are:

• â in câinele
• ă in the basic form blană (even though in the sentence you see blana)

A rough guide:

• â / î: a sound with no exact English equivalent
• ă: similar to the a in sofa

A rough pronunciation of the whole sentence is:

CÂI-ne-le A-re BLA-na MA-ro

But the exact Romanian vowel in câi- is not quite like a normal English vowel.

Yes. It follows a very normal Romanian pattern:

Subject + Verb + Object + Adjective

• Câinele = subject
• are = verb
• blana = object
• maro = adjective describing blana

So the sentence structure is straightforward and natural Romanian.