Colecția este mare.

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

• colecție = collection
• colecția = the collection

So the -a at the end is the feminine singular definite article attached to the noun.

The base form is colecție.

So you can think of it like this:

• colecție = collection
• colecția = the collection

This is very common in Romanian: learn both the plain noun and the definite form.

A helpful approximation is:

ko-lek-TSI-a ES-te MA-re

A few key points:

• ț is pronounced like ts in cats
• c before i here is part of the ț spelling sequence, so focus on -ția sounding like tsee-ah
• este is roughly ES-te
• mare is MA-re

The stress is usually:

• colecȚIa
• ESte
• MAre

ț is a separate Romanian letter. It represents the sound ts.

So:

• ț = ts
• not the same as t

In colecția, the ț helps produce the ts sound in -ția.

This letter is very important in Romanian because changing it can change the word or make the spelling incorrect.

Este is the 3rd person singular present form of a fi = to be.

So:

• eu sunt = I am
• tu ești = you are
• el/ea este = he/she/it is

In Colecția este mare, este means is.

Romanian normally keeps the verb to be in sentences like this, so you would not usually drop it.

Yes. In everyday Romanian, e is a very common shorter form of este.

So both are correct:

• Colecția este mare.
• Colecția e mare.

The first can sound a little more careful or formal; the second is very common in normal speech.

Because mare is the adjective describing the subject through the verb to be.

This is called a predicate adjective:

• Colecția = the subject
• este = is
• mare = big/large

So the structure is simply:

The collection + is + big

That is why mare comes after este.

In the singular, mare is the same for both masculine and feminine nouns.

Examples:

• băiatul este mare = the boy is big
• casa este mare = the house is big
• colecția este mare = the collection is big

But in the plural, it changes to mari:

• colecțiile sunt mari = the collections are big

Colecție is a feminine noun.

That is why its definite singular form is colecția.

A useful pattern is that many Romanian nouns ending in -ie are feminine, though you should still learn nouns individually.

Yes. Depending on context, mare can mean:

• big
• large
• sometimes great

In Colecția este mare, the most natural meaning is big or large.

The plural would be:

Colecțiile sunt mari.

Breakdown:

• colecțiile = the collections
• sunt = are
• mari = big (plural)

So the changes are:

• colecția → colecțiile
• este → sunt
• mare → mari

Normally, no. In Romanian, the definite article is usually attached to the noun.

So English:

• the collection

Romanian:

• colecția

This is one of the biggest structural differences from English, and it is something learners need to get used to early.