Learn Romanian: Laptopul este al meu, nu al tău. - The laptop is mine, not yours.

Laptopul este al meu, nu al tău.

The laptop is mine, not yours.

Breakdown of Laptopul este al meu, nu al tău.

to be (sunt, ești, este, suntem, sunteți, sunt)

your (sg.) [ta, tăi, tale]

Questions & Answers about Laptopul este al meu, nu al tău.

Why do we need al before meu and tău?

In Romanian, when a possessive word stands alone after the verb to be (like saying is mine or is yours), it needs a linking article. We cannot just say este meu. We must use the possessive article al to link the laptop to the owner.

How do we know to use al instead of a, ai, or ale?

The linking article always matches the gender and number of the object being owned, not the person who owns it. Here, the object is laptopul, which is singular. For masculine and neuter singular nouns, the correct article is al. If we were talking about a feminine noun like a car (mașina), it would be a mea.

Why does the word laptop have -ul added to the end?

Romanian attaches the word the to the end of the noun instead of putting it in front. For most masculine and neuter singular nouns that end in a consonant, like laptop, we add -ul to mean the laptop.

Is the noun laptop masculine or neuter?

It is a neuter noun. In Romanian, many modern borrowed words are neuter. Neuter nouns act exactly like masculine nouns when there is only one, and like feminine nouns when there are multiple. Since there is only one laptop here, we use the masculine singular forms for al, meu, and tău.