Learn Romanian: Trenul merge mereu repede. - The train always goes fast.

Trenul merge mereu repede.

The train always goes fast.

Breakdown of Trenul merge mereu repede.

to go / to run (of a machine)

Questions & Answers about Trenul merge mereu repede.

Why does the verb end in '-e' instead of '-ă' for 'the train goes'?

The verb a merge (to go) belongs to the 3rd conjugation, which means its dictionary form ends in -e. Unlike the verbs you learned earlier that end in -a and take an -ă for the 'he/she/it' form, 3rd conjugation verbs use -e for the 'he/she/it' form. So, el merge means 'he/it goes'.

How does the word trenul show that it means 'the train' and not just 'a train'?

In Romanian, the word for 'the' (the definite article) attaches to the end of the noun instead of coming before it. The base word is tren (train). Because it is a neuter noun, we add the ending -ul to get trenul (the train).

Why is mereu placed after the verb in this sentence?

In English, we usually put 'always' before the verb, like 'always goes'. In Romanian, adverbs of time like mereu typically come immediately after the verb. So merge mereu is the most natural word order, literally translating to 'goes always'.

Would repede change its ending if we talked about plural trains instead of just one?

Not in this sentence! Here, repede is used as an adverb telling us how the train goes (fast or quickly). Adverbs in Romanian never change their form to match gender or number. It would still be repede even if we said 'the trains go fast'.