Learn Romanian: Pisica albă doarme pe canapeaua neagră. - The white cat sleeps on the black sofa.

Pisica albă doarme pe canapeaua neagră.

The white cat sleeps on the black sofa.

Breakdown of Pisica albă doarme pe canapeaua neagră.

Questions & Answers about Pisica albă doarme pe canapeaua neagră.

Why does it say Pisica albă instead of Albă pisica?

In Romanian, descriptive adjectives like albă (white) usually come after the noun they describe. Also, notice that the adjective changes to match the noun. Because pisica is a feminine word, we use the feminine form albă instead of the masculine form alb.

How do we say the word for 'the' in pisica (the cat)?

Instead of using a separate word for 'the', Romanian attaches it to the end of the noun. For feminine words ending in -ă like pisică (cat), we drop the -ă and add -a, making it pisica (the cat).

Why does canapeaua end in -ua instead of just -a like pisica?

The 'the' ending changes depending on the last letters of the base word. Feminine nouns that end in -ea, like canapea (sofa), form 'the' by adding -ua to the end. So canapea becomes canapeaua.

Why is there a 'the' ending on canapeaua when it follows the preposition pe (on)?

Normally, nouns right after prepositions like pe (on) drop their 'the' ending in Romanian, so 'on the sofa' would just be pe canapea. However, because there is an adjective (neagră) describing the sofa, Romanian rules say the noun must take its 'the' ending again. That is why it becomes pe canapeaua neagră.