Portretul este minunat.

Because Romanian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun, not before it.

• portret = portrait
• portretul = the portrait

So the ending -ul here means the.

This is very common in Romanian:

• băiat = boy
• băiatul = the boy

Este means is.

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

So:

• Portretul este minunat.
• The portrait is wonderful.

In normal standard Romanian, este is the natural choice here.

Because portret is a neuter noun, and in the singular, neuter nouns usually take the same adjective form as masculine singular nouns.

So:

• portret minunat = wonderful portrait
• portretul este minunat = the portrait is wonderful

If the noun were feminine singular, you would use minunată instead:

• cartea este minunată = the book is wonderful

It is neuter.

Romanian neuter nouns behave like:

• masculine in the singular
• feminine in the plural

That is why in the singular you get:

• portret frumos
• portret minunat

And in the plural:

• portrete frumoase
• portrete minunate

In standard Romanian, with a sentence like this, you normally keep este.

So:

• Portretul este minunat. = normal, complete sentence

In very informal speech, people may sometimes drop forms of to be in certain contexts, but for learners, it is best to use este here.

This is the most natural and neutral word order:

• Portretul = subject
• este = verb
• minunat = predicate adjective

Romanian word order is somewhat flexible, but Portretul este minunat is the standard way to say it.

You may sometimes see altered word order for emphasis in literature or speech, but as a learner, this is the safest pattern to follow.

Not only. Minunat can also mean things like:

• wonderful
• marvelous
• lovely
• great

The exact English translation depends on context, but wonderful is a very good basic meaning.

A simple learner-friendly approximation is:

por-TREH-tul ES-teh mee-noo-NAT

A few helpful notes:

• r is usually rolled or tapped
• u is pronounced like oo in food
• e is usually a clear eh sound

So the whole sentence sounds something like:

por-TREH-tul ES-teh mee-noo-NAT

Yes. E is a very common short form of este in everyday Romanian.

So both are correct:

• Portretul este minunat. = slightly more formal/full
• Portretul e minunat. = very common in speech

A learner should understand both.

The structure is:

Subject + to be + adjective

So here:

• Portretul = the portrait
• este = is
• minunat = wonderful

This is a very useful Romanian pattern:

• Orașul este frumos. = The city is beautiful.
• Filmul este interesant. = The movie is interesting.
• Portretul este minunat. = The portrait is wonderful.