Learn Romanian: Colegii sunt fericiți. - The colleagues are happy.

Colegii sunt fericiți.

The colleagues are happy.

Breakdown of Colegii sunt fericiți.

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

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Questions & Answers about Colegii sunt fericiți.

Why does colegii end with two i's?

The singular word for colleague is coleg. To make it plural (colleagues), we add one -i, giving us colegi. To add the word "the" to a masculine plural noun, we attach a second -i to the very end. So, colegi + i becomes colegii (the colleagues).

Why does the adjective fericiți only have one i at the end if the noun has two?

In Romanian, the suffix for "the" usually only attaches to the noun, not the adjective. The base adjective fericit (happy) gets a single -i to become the masculine plural fericiți so it matches the plural noun. It doesn't need a second -i because the "the" is already handled by colegii.

How do the endings of colegii and fericiți sound different when spoken aloud?

The double -ii in colegii is fully pronounced like a long "ee" sound in English. However, the single -i at the end of fericiți is a "whispered i" (or short i). It doesn't form a full syllable; it just slightly softens the ț sound right before it.

Is sunt the exact same word used for "I am"?

Yes! The verb a fi (to be) uses sunt for both "I am" (eu sunt) and "they are" (ei/ele sunt). Because the subject here is colegii (which is a "they"), we know from context that it means "are".