Breakdown of Unde sunt orașele și drumurile?
fi
to be (sunt, ești, este, suntem, sunteți, sunt)
și
and
unde
where
orașul
the city
Questions & Answers about Unde sunt orașele și drumurile?
Why does the word for "the cities" end in -le?
In Romanian, the word for "the" attaches to the end of the noun. The singular word for "city" is oraș. To make it plural ("cities"), we add -e to get orașe. Because it is a neuter noun, the plural definite article ("the") is -le. Attaching it gives us orașele ("the cities").
How do we build the word drumurile from its singular form?
The singular word for road is drum. Just like oraș, it is a neuter noun, but it takes a different plural ending: -uri. This makes drumuri ("roads"). To say "the roads", we add the same neuter plural article -le to the end, giving us drumurile.
How do I know whether to use -e like in orașe or -uri like in drumuri for neuter nouns?
Unfortunately, there isn't a strict rule for which neuter nouns take -e and which take -uri. It is best to memorize the plural form when you learn a new neuter noun. However, as this sentence shows, both forms will always use -le to mean "the" in the plural!
Doesn't sunt mean "I am"? Why is it used here for "are"?