Learn Romanian: Câinele nu este mare.

Câinele nu este mare.

The dog is not big.

Breakdown of Câinele nu este mare.

to be (sunt, ești, este, suntem, sunteți, sunt)

Questions & Answers about Câinele nu este mare.

Where exactly does the word nu go in a Romanian sentence?

To make a sentence negative, you put nu directly before the verb. Here, it goes right before este to mean "is not". It is much simpler than English, which often needs extra helper words like "do" or "does".

The dictionary says dog is câine. Why is it written as câinele here?

In Romanian, the word for "the" attaches to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word in front. For masculine nouns that end in -e, like câine, you add -le to the end. So, câine is "dog" and câinele is "the dog".

Can I use e instead of este?

Absolutely! Both e and este are forms of the verb "to be" meaning "is". este is slightly more formal, while e is very common in spoken Romanian. Câinele nu e mare means exactly the same thing.

Would the word mare change if the subject was feminine?

No, mare is a type of adjective that keeps the exact same form for both masculine and feminine singular nouns. It only changes if the noun is plural, where it becomes mari.