Word
Unde este fratele lui?
Meaning
Where is his brother?
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Unde este fratele lui?
fi
to be (sunt, ești, este, suntem, sunteți, sunt)
unde
where
fratele
the brother
lui
his, its
Questions & Answers about Unde este fratele lui?
Why does lui come after the word for brother, instead of before it?
In Romanian, possessive words usually go after the noun they belong to. Instead of saying "his brother" like in English, Romanian structure is more like "the brother his" or "the brother of him" (fratele lui).
Does the word lui change depending on what he owns?
No! The word lui means "his" and it is invariable, meaning it never changes form. Whether he owns a masculine word like fratele (the brother), a feminine word like sora (the sister), or multiple things, you will always just use lui.
Why is the word for brother fratele here instead of just frate?
When you use a possessive word after a noun in Romanian, that noun must have the word "the" attached to the end of it. The word frate just means "brother", while fratele means "the brother". You always need that "the" ending before adding a word like lui.