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Băiatul citește romanul fără dicționar.

Băiatul citește romanul fără dicționar.
The boy reads the novel without a dictionary.
From Lesson 49:Telling time (e ora...)·Romanian

Questions & Answers about Băiatul citește romanul fără dicționar.

Why do both băiatul and romanul end in -ul?
In Romanian, the word for 'the' (the definite article) attaches to the end of the noun. For singular masculine nouns like băiat (boy) and singular neuter nouns like roman (novel), you add -ul to the end.
Are both băiat and roman masculine words since they take the same ending?
Not exactly! Băiat is masculine, but roman is neuter. In Romanian, neuter nouns act exactly like masculine nouns when they are singular, which is why they both use the -ul ending here.
Why doesn't the sentence say fără un dicționar for 'without a dictionary'?
In English, we usually need the word 'a' or 'an' after 'without'. In Romanian, when you talk about using or lacking a general object, the preposition fără (without) is often followed directly by the noun, skipping the word for 'a' (un or o).
Why does the verb citește end in -ește?
The dictionary form of the verb 'to read' is a citi. Many Romanian verbs that end in -i add the special ending -ește for the 'he/she/it' forms. So, băiatul citește means 'the boy reads'.

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