Learn Romanian: Eu citesc patruzeci de pagini.

In Romanian, whenever you count things using a number from 20 onwards, you must insert the preposition de between the number and the noun. You can think of it as saying 'forty of pages'. If the number were under 20, you would just say the number and the noun directly without de.

How is the number patruzeci put together?

It is literally made of two words: patru (four) and zeci (tens). Romanian builds its multiples of ten exactly like this, so forty is simply 'four tens'.

What is the singular form of pagini?

The singular is pagină (page). It is a feminine noun, and feminine nouns ending in -ă very often change to an -i or -e in the plural. In this case, the -ă changes to an -i to make pagini.

Why does the verb citesc have that -esc ending?

The dictionary form of the verb is a citi (to read). Many Romanian verbs that end in -i add this special -esc chunk before the final ending when you conjugate them for the eu (I) form in the present tense.