Feminine Nature Words
Much of the outdoor vocabulary in Romanian consists of feminine nouns. Just like the farm animals you learned previously, these words usually take the suffix -a to mean "the" in the singular.
| I love the sea and the beach. | Eu iubesc marea și plaja. |
| The bear lives in the big forest. | Ursul locuiește în pădurea mare. |
| The dog sleeps on the green grass. | Câinele doarme pe iarba verde. |
Neuter Nouns: The Third Gender
Romanian has a third noun gender: neuter. Neuter nouns are unique because they act like masculine nouns in the singular, but like feminine nouns in the plural.
In the singular, a neuter noun takes the masculine definite article -ul.
| the animal | animalul |
In the plural, neuter nouns behave exactly like feminine nouns and take the plural definite article -le (meaning "the").
| The animals sleep now. | Animalele dorm acum. |
Landscapes and Water
Many common geographical features—like rivers, lakes, and hills—are neuter nouns. Watch how they use -ul in the singular and -le in the plural.
| The small river is very clean. | Râul mic este foarte curat. |
| The lakes and the rivers are big. | Lacurile și râurile sunt mari. |
| The old house is on the green hill. | Casa veche este pe dealul verde. |
| The hills are big. | Dealurile sunt mari. |
| The bird is in the blue sky. | Pasărea este pe cerul albastru. |
A Special Feminine Ending
The word for star (stea) is a feminine noun, but it has a slight spelling change in its definite form. To say "the star," you add the suffix -ua instead of just -a.
| The girl sees the sky and the star. | Fata vede cerul și steaua. |
| The small star is very beautiful. | Steaua mică este foarte frumoasă. |
