Learn Romanian: Anul începe în ianuarie. - The year begins in January.

In Romanian, the definite article (the equivalent of 'the') is attached to the end of the noun instead of coming before it. The base word for year is an. Because it is a masculine noun, you add the ending -ul to make it anul (the year).

Is începe the specific verb form used for 'it'?

Yes. The dictionary form of the verb is a începe (to begin or start). Because the subject of the sentence is anul (the year), we use the third-person singular (he/she/it) form, which happens to also be începe.

Why isn't the month ianuarie capitalized here?

Unlike in English, the names of the months, days of the week, and seasons are not capitalized in Romanian unless they appear at the very beginning of a sentence.

Do we always use în before months?

Yes! Just like in English, Romanian uses the preposition în (in) before months of the year. You will use this same pattern for all months, such as în februarie or în martie.