Rama este veche.

Because Romanian puts the definite article at the end of the noun.

• ramă = a frame
• rama = the frame

So Rama este veche. means The frame is old.

This is very different from English, where the is a separate word.

Este means is.

It is the 3rd person singular form of the verb a fi = to be.

So:

• Rama = the frame
• este = is
• veche = old

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

Here, rama is feminine singular, so the adjective must also be feminine singular:

• masculine singular: vechi
• feminine singular: veche
• plural: vechi

So:

• un perete vechi = an old wall
• o ramă veche = an old frame

There are two clues:

1. The base noun is ramă, which is a feminine noun.
2. The adjective is veche, the feminine singular form, which confirms it.

In Romanian, gender often shows up through articles and adjective endings, not just the noun by itself.

Yes. In normal speech, Romanian very often uses e instead of este.

So you will often hear:

• Rama e veche.

This means exactly the same thing and is very common in conversation.

In this sentence, veche comes after este because it is part of the predicate:

• Rama este veche. = The frame is old.

If you want the adjective directly with the noun, Romanian usually puts it after the noun:

• rama veche = the old frame

So Romanian often prefers:

• noun + adjective

rather than English-style adjective + noun.

Veche is pronounced roughly VEH-keh.

Important point:

• ch before e or i sounds like a hard k

So veche is veh-ke, not like English ch in chair.

The whole sentence is roughly:

• RA-ma ES-te VEH-ke

The normal, neutral order is:

• Rama este veche.

Romanian can sometimes change word order for emphasis or style, but for a beginner this is the standard pattern to use:

• subject + verb + adjective

So this sentence is the most natural basic form.

You would usually say:

• O ramă este veche.

or more commonly in speech:

• O ramă e veche.

Compare:

• o ramă = a frame
• rama = the frame

The plural is:

• Ramele sunt vechi. = The frames are old.

Breakdown:

• rame = frames
• ramele = the frames
• sunt = are
• vechi = old (plural)

Notice that the adjective changes from veche in feminine singular to vechi in the plural.