Question 1

Why do both profesorul and tabloul end with -ul or -l?

Accepted Answer

In Romanian, the word for "the" (the definite article) is attached to the end of the noun. Because profesor (teacher, masculine) and tablou (painting, neuter) are both singular, they get the standard masculine/neuter "the" ending. You add -ul to consonant endings, and just -l if the word already ends in a u.

Question 2

Is are an -ez verb like the ones we are learning in this lesson?

Accepted Answer

No, are means "has" and is the "he/she/it" form of the highly irregular verb a avea (to have). Even though this lesson teaches regular verbs with an -ez suffix, you will see a avea constantly as a review because it is one of the most common verbs in the language.

Question 3

Why is scump after the noun instead of before it?

Accepted Answer

In Romanian, descriptive adjectives usually come right after the noun they describe. Instead of saying "the expensive painting" as we do in English, Romanian phrasing is "the painting expensive" (tabloul scump).

Question 4

Would the word scump change if the teacher had something feminine?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Adjectives must match the gender of the noun. Because tablou is neuter (which acts like a masculine word in its singular form), it uses the basic masculine/neuter form scump. If the teacher had an expensive book (a feminine word), it would change to cartea scumpă.

Profesorul are tabloul scump.

Breakdown of Profesorul are tabloul scump.

Questions & Answers about Profesorul are tabloul scump.

Learn Profesorul are tabloul scump and more in Romanian