Learn Romanian: Soarele este mare și cald.

Soarele este mare și cald.

The sun is big and warm.

Breakdown of Soarele este mare și cald.

to be (sunt, ești, este, suntem, sunteți, sunt)

Questions & Answers about Soarele este mare și cald.

Why is there a -le at the end of soarele?

In Romanian, the word for "the" (the definite article) attaches to the end of the noun instead of coming before it. The basic word for "sun" is soare. Because it is a masculine noun ending in -e, the suffix for "the" is -le, giving us soarele (the sun).

The word mare can also mean "sea". How do I know it means "big" here?

It is all about the context! Here, mare is used after the verb este (is) to describe the subject, so it acts as the adjective "big". If it were the noun "sea", you would usually see it with an article, like marea (the sea) or o mare (a sea).

How do the adjectives mare and cald match the noun soarele?

Adjectives in Romanian change to match the gender of the noun. Because soare is masculine, cald is in its basic masculine singular form (it would change to caldă for a feminine noun). Mare is a special type of adjective that ends in -e, meaning it keeps the exact same form for both masculine and feminine singular nouns.

Can I shorten este in this sentence?

Yes! In spoken and informal Romanian, este is very frequently shortened to just e. Saying Soarele e mare și cald sounds very natural.