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Pe masă sunt douăsprezece pixuri.

Pe masă sunt douăsprezece pixuri.
On the table there are twelve pens.
From Lesson 35:Numbers 11 to 20·Romanian

Questions & Answers about Pe masă sunt douăsprezece pixuri.

Why is the word for twelve douăsprezece instead of doisprezece?
In Romanian, the number 12 changes depending on the gender of the noun. Because pix (pen) is a neuter noun, it behaves like a feminine noun in the plural. Therefore, we use the feminine form for two (două), making the whole word douăsprezece.
How is the word douăsprezece built?
Numbers from 11 to 19 are formed like a small math formula. Douăsprezece is made of două (two) plus spre (toward) plus zece (ten). It literally translates as two toward ten!
The translation says 'On the table', so why is it just masă and not masa with the 'the' attached?
In Romanian, when a noun immediately follows a simple preposition like pe (on), the definite article (the suffix that means 'the') is usually dropped. So we just say pe masă, even though in English we still say 'on the table'.
Where is the word for 'there' in this sentence?
Romanian doesn't use a filler word like 'there' to say 'there is' or 'there are'. The verb sunt means 'are', but it completely covers the meaning of 'there are' all by itself when placed at the start of its phrase.

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