Learn Romanian: Băiatul bea ceaiul. - The boy drinks the tea.

The infinitive is a bea (to drink), which ends in -ea (Conjugation 2). However, it is an irregular verb! For he, she, and it, the present tense form is bea, which just happens to look exactly like the infinitive minus the a.

Both Băiatul and ceaiul end in -ul. Why do they match?

The -ul suffix is the Romanian definite article, meaning 'the', for masculine and neuter singular nouns. Băiat (boy) is masculine, becoming Băiatul (the boy). Ceai (tea) is neuter, becoming ceaiul (the tea).

Is ceai related to the English word 'chai'?

Yes, they share the same origin and sound very similar! In Romanian, the letter combination ce makes a 'ch' sound, like in 'check'. So ceai sounds just like 'chai', and ceaiul sounds like 'chai-ool'.

Could I drop the ending and just say Băiatul bea ceai?

Yes! Băiatul bea ceai means 'The boy drinks tea' (talking about tea in general). By adding the -ul ending to make ceaiul, the sentence specifies that he is drinking the tea, meaning a specific cup or batch.