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Prietenii sunt aici.

Prietenii sunt aici.
The friends are here.
From Lesson 7:Masculine plural nouns (-i, -ii)·Romanian

Questions & Answers about Prietenii sunt aici.

Why does prietenii have two i's at the end?
The base word for a male friend is prieten. To make it plural (friends), we add one -i to get prieteni. To say the friends, we add a second -i, making it prietenii. This double -ii ending is the standard way to add the word "the" to the end of masculine plural nouns in Romanian.
How do I pronounce the double -ii ending in prietenii?
When a word ends in a single plural -i (like prieteni), the ending is usually a very short, whispered sound that just softens the consonant before it. But when you add the second -i to mean "the" (like prietenii), it becomes a full, stretched out "ee" sound, just like in the English word "see".
I learned that sunt means "I am". Why is it used here for "the friends"?
The Romanian verb for "to be" is a bit unique because it uses the exact same word for "I am" (eu sunt) and "they are" (ei/ele sunt). Since "the friends" represents a "they" subject, sunt is the correct word to use for "are" in this sentence.
What if "the friends" here are a mix of men and women?
In Romanian, whenever you have a mixed group of males and females, the grammar defaults to the masculine plural form. So you would still say prietenii. You only use the feminine plural equivalent (prietenele) if every single person in the group is female.

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