Reflexia este ciudată.

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

So:

• reflexie = reflection
• reflexia = the reflection

That final -a is the Romanian equivalent of English the here.

The dictionary form is reflexie.

This sentence uses the definite singular form:

• reflexie = reflection
• reflexia = the reflection

This is very common in Romanian. Many feminine nouns ending in -ie form the definite singular in -ia.

Este means is.

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

So:

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

In this sentence, Reflexia este ciudată literally means The reflection is strange.

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

So both are correct:

• Reflexia este ciudată.
• Reflexia e ciudată.

The version with este may sound a little more full or formal, while e is very common in normal speech.

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

Here:

• reflexia is feminine singular
• so the adjective must also be feminine singular
• therefore: ciudată

Compare:

• un lucru ciudat = a strange thing
• o reflexie ciudată = a strange reflection

So ciudat is masculine/neuter singular, while ciudată is feminine singular.

It can mean any of those depending on context.

Ciudat / ciudată is a very common Romanian adjective for:

• strange
• weird
• odd

So Reflexia este ciudată could be understood as:

• The reflection is strange
• The reflection is weird
• The reflection is odd

The exact English choice depends on tone and context.

A rough pronunciation is:

reh-FLEK-see-ah ES-teh chyoo-DAH-tuh

A few helpful notes:

• x in reflexia sounds like ks
• ci before a vowel here sounds roughly like chy
• ă is a special Romanian vowel, a short neutral sound, similar to the a in sofa

So the last word ciudată ends with that Romanian ă sound, not a strong English a.

Ă is one of the special Romanian vowels. It is pronounced like a short, relaxed central vowel, similar to the unstressed a in English sofa or about.

So in ciudată, the final -tă is not ta like in Spanish or Italian. It is more like tuh, but very short and neutral.

This sound is extremely common in Romanian, so it is worth getting used to early.

This is the normal, straightforward word order:

• Reflexia = subject
• este = verb
• ciudată = predicate adjective

So the sentence follows the same basic pattern as English:

The reflection + is + strange

Romanian word order can sometimes be moved around for emphasis, but Reflexia este ciudată is the most neutral and natural order.

Because Romanian usually uses a postposed definite article: it attaches to the end of the noun.

English:

• the reflection

Romanian:

• reflexia

So instead of adding a separate word before the noun, Romanian builds definiteness into the noun itself.

In a normal standard sentence like this, no—you should keep it.

Romanian does often omit subject pronouns, but not the verb to be in ordinary statements like this.

So:

• Reflexia este ciudată. = correct
• Reflexia ciudată. = not correct as a complete sentence in standard Romanian

If you want to say The reflection is strange, you need este or e.