Learn Romanian: Mărul verde și mărul galben sunt aici. - The green apple and the yellow apple are here.

Mărul verde și mărul galben sunt aici.

The green apple and the yellow apple are here.

Breakdown of Mărul verde și mărul galben sunt aici.

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

Questions & Answers about Mărul verde și mărul galben sunt aici.

Why does mărul end in -ul instead of just being măr?

In Romanian, the word for "the" attaches to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word before it. The base word for "apple" is măr. Because it is a neuter noun ending in a consonant, we add -ul to the end to make it mărul (the apple).

Why do the colors come after the apple (mărul verde) instead of before it?

Unlike English, Romanian usually places adjectives (describing words like colors) after the noun they describe. So, "the green apple" is phrased literally as "the apple green" (mărul verde).

Why do we use the masculine form galben for a neuter noun like măr?

In Romanian, neuter nouns are a mix of the other two genders: they act like masculine nouns when there is just one (singular), and like feminine nouns when there are two or more (plural). Since we are talking about one single yellow apple, galben takes the masculine singular form.

Why is the verb sunt (are) used if we are talking about singular apples?

Even though each apple is singular on its own, the word și (and) connects them to create a combined, plural subject. Because there are two apples in total, you must use the plural verb sunt (are) instead of the singular verb este (is).