Breakdown of Cine este femeia?
fi
to be (sunt, ești, este, suntem, sunteți, sunt)
femeia
the woman
cine
who
Questions & Answers about Cine este femeia?
What does Cine mean, and is it always at the beginning of the question?
Cine means 'who'. In Romanian, question words like cine, ce (what), and unde (where) almost always go at the very beginning of the sentence, just like in English.
Could I say Cine femeia este? instead?
No, you should keep the verb (este) right after the question word (Cine). While Romanian word order can be flexible, questions usually follow the pattern: Question Word + Verb + Subject.
Why does the word for woman end in '-a' here (femeia)?
The base word for 'woman' is femeie. In Romanian, the word for 'the' (the definite article) attaches to the end of the noun. For feminine nouns ending in -e, you drop the -e and add -ea, making it femeia ('the woman').
How should my voice sound when asking this question?
In Romanian questions starting with a specific question word like cine (who), your pitch should actually go down at the end of the sentence. This is different from yes/no questions, where your voice goes up at the end.
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