Breakdown of Calul este mare și negru.
fi
to be (sunt, ești, este, suntem, sunteți, sunt)
și
and
mare
big
negru
black
calul
the horse
Questions & Answers about Calul este mare și negru.
Where is the word for "the" in calul?
In Romanian, words for "the" (definite articles) attach directly to the end of the noun! The basic word for "horse" is cal. Because it is a masculine word, we add -ul to the end to mean "the horse", giving us calul.
Could I say e instead of este here?
Yes! E is the shorter, much more conversational version of este. Saying Calul e mare și negru is perfectly normal in everyday spoken Romanian and means exactly the same thing.
I noticed mare means "big", but doesn't it also mean "sea"?
Yes, it does! Context usually makes it clear. Here, because it comes after este (is) and is used alongside another adjective (negru), you can easily tell it is being used to describe the horse's size rather than talking about the ocean.
Why does negru end in -u, while mare ends in -e?
Describing words (adjectives) in Romanian have to match the noun. Cal is masculine, and many masculine adjectives end in -u, like negru. However, mare belongs to a group of adjectives that end in -e for both masculine and feminine words. If the noun were feminine, negru would change to neagră, but mare would stay exactly the same!
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