Who governs
Președintele (the president) is a masculine noun in -e, like fratele: plural președinți. In Romania the president is elected directly by the citizens, and the laws go through the parlament. Its seat in Bucharest, the Palatul Parlamentului, begun in the 1980s, is one of the largest administrative buildings in the world.
| The president is elected by the citizens. | Președintele este ales de către cetățeni. |
| The law is approved by parliament. | Legea este aprobată de către parlament. |
| The Palace of the Parliament is very big. | Palatul Parlamentului este foarte mare. |
Peace
Pacea is feminine (pace → pacea). The everyday phrase a lăsa în pace means to leave someone alone.
| After the war came peace. | După război a venit pacea. |
| Leave me alone! | Lasă-mă în pace! |
The set and the station
Televizorul is the set in your living room; televiziunea is broadcasting, or a TV station: you work la televiziune but you watch la televizor. Canalul (plural canale) is both a TV channel and a canal.
| My brother has been working in television for ten years. | Fratele meu lucrează la televiziune de zece ani. |
| What channel is the game on? | Pe ce canal e meciul? |
News for you
Vestea (plural vești) is news that reaches you: good news, bad news, news about someone. Știrea is a news item in the media.
| I have good news for you! | Am o veste bună pentru tine! |
A billion
English billion is miliard in Romanian. Like milion, it is followed by de: un miliard de euro, două miliarde de lei.
| The project costs a billion euros. | Proiectul costă un miliard de euro. |
| Over eight billion people live on Earth. | Pe Pământ trăiesc peste opt miliarde de oameni. |
