Viața este importantă.

Because viața is the definite form of viață (life).

In Romanian, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun, not written as a separate word like English the.

• viață = a life / life
• viața = the life

In this sentence, viața can also be understood more broadly as life in a general sense, which is very natural in Romanian.

That -a is the definite article for a feminine singular noun in this form.

So:

• viață = indefinite
• viața = definite

This is one of the first big differences English speakers notice in Romanian: instead of saying the life, Romanian says viața.

Because importantă must agree with viața, which is feminine singular.

Romanian adjectives usually agree with the noun in gender and number.

Here:

• viața = feminine singular
• so the adjective must also be feminine singular: importantă

Compare:

• un lucru important = an important thing (masculine/neuter singular form)
• o viață importantă = an important life (feminine singular form)

Este is the verb to be, third person singular: is.

So the structure is:

• Viața = the subject
• este = is
• importantă = the adjective/predicate

This is directly parallel to English Life is important.

Yes. E is a very common shorter form of este.

So both are correct:

• Viața este importantă.
• Viața e importantă.

In everyday speech, e is extremely common. Este may sound a bit more full, careful, or formal depending on context.

No, not in a normal present-tense sentence like this.

Romanian usually requires the verb to be here:

• correct: Viața este importantă.
• correct: Viața e importantă.
• not standard: Viața importantă.

So unlike Russian, for example, Romanian does not normally drop the present tense of to be in this kind of sentence.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation is roughly:

VYAH-tsa

A bit more carefully:

• via sounds like vee-a or vya
• ț is like ts in cats
• final a is a short a

So: vee-AH-tsa or VYAH-tsa

The stress is on the first syllable: VIA-ța.

Ț represents the sound ts.

So:

• ț = ts, like in pizza or the end of cats

This letter is different from plain t.

For example:

• ta would sound like ta
• ța sounds like tsa

The comma under the letter matters in correct Romanian spelling.

The normal and most natural order is:

Viața este importantă.

This is:

subject + verb + adjective

Romanian word order is somewhat flexible, but this is the standard neutral version. Other orders are possible in special contexts for emphasis, but a learner should stick with:

Viața este importantă.

It is in the nominative, because it is the subject of the sentence.

In this sentence:

• Viața = the thing being talked about
• este = the verb
• importantă = what is being said about the subject

So this is a straightforward subject + copula + adjective sentence.

It is an adjective.

It describes the noun viața, even though it comes after este.

This is called a predicate adjective in English grammar terms:

• Life is important
• important describes life

Romanian works the same way here, except the adjective changes form to match the noun:

• important / importantă depending on gender and number

It can express life in general, and that is a very natural reading of the sentence.

Even though viața is formally definite, Romanian often uses the definite form in broad, general statements where English may simply say life.

So Viața este importantă is a normal way to say Life is important.

Not usually.

O viață means a life or one life, so it sounds more like you are talking about an individual life rather than life as a general concept.

Compare:

• Viața este importantă. = Life is important.
• O viață este importantă. = A life is important. / One life is important.

So for the general statement, Viața este importantă is the better choice.