Learn Romanian: E câinele aici?

Romanian frequently drops subject pronouns (like he, she, or it) because the verb usually tells you who is doing the action. E is the short form of este (is). Since we mention câinele right after, adding an extra word for 'it' is unnecessary.

How do you know to add -le to the end of câine instead of -ul?

In Romanian, the word for 'the' attaches to the end of the noun. For masculine and neuter singular nouns, you usually add -ul. However, if the base word already ends in -e (like câine), you add -le instead. This makes it câinele.

Could I change the word order and say E aici câinele?

Yes, absolutely. Romanian word order is very flexible. Both E câinele aici? and E aici câinele? are correct and mean the same thing. Putting aici at the end just puts a tiny bit more focus on the location.

Why don't we need a helper word to turn this into a question?

In English, we often swap words around or add helper words to ask a question. In Romanian, you can use the exact same word order as a normal statement and just raise your voice at the end! So E câinele aici. with a flat tone simply means 'The dog is here'.