Learn Romanian: Câinele așteaptă carnea, dar pisica o mănâncă. - The dog waits for the meat, but the cat eats it.

In English, we say "wait for", but the Romanian verb a aștepta (to wait) connects directly to the thing you are waiting for. You don't need an extra word for "for"; you just say the dog waits the meat (așteaptă carnea).

Where is the word for "the" in câinele, carnea, and pisica?

In Romanian, the word for "the" is attached to the end of the noun. Câine (dog) becomes câinele (the dog). For feminine words, carne (meat) adds an -a to become carnea, and pisică (cat) changes its final -ă to an -a to become pisica.

What does the little word o mean right before mănâncă?

O means "it" in this sentence. In Romanian, short words like "it", "him", or "her" that receive the action are placed right before the verb. Here, o is placed before mănâncă (eats).

Why is the word for "it" (o) the same as the word for "her"?

In Romanian, all nouns have a gender. Because carne (meat) is a feminine noun, you must use the feminine pronoun o to refer back to it. You use this exact same word when saying "her" about a woman.