Question 1

Why does the verb change to rămână here instead of rămâne?

Accepted Answer

After the linking word să, we use the subjunctive form. For the 3rd person (he/she/they), verbs that normally end in -e in the present tense change their ending to -ă. So the regular el rămâne (he stays) becomes să rămână (that he stays).

Question 2

Does trebuie change if we are talking about more than one boy?

Accepted Answer

No, trebuie is a special verb that means 'it is necessary'. It doesn't change its form to match the person doing the action. Whether it's one boy or many, you always use trebuie să.

Question 3

If it was a girl staying alone, would the word singur change?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Because singur (alone) describes the boy, it takes the masculine singular form. If it were a girl, you would use the feminine form: Fata trebuie să rămână singură.

Question 4

The English translation says 'in the hospital', but în spital looks like just 'in hospital'. Where is 'the'?

Accepted Answer

In Romanian, when a noun comes right after a simple preposition like în (in), the definite article (the 'the' ending) is usually dropped. So we just say în spital instead of în spitalul.

Question 5

Just for a quick refresher, how does Băiatul become 'The boy'?

Accepted Answer

In Romanian, the word for 'the' attaches to the end of the noun rather than sitting in front. Băiat means 'boy', and adding the masculine ending -ul makes it băiatul (the boy).

Băiatul trebuie să rămână singur în spital.

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