Breakdown of Bancomatul este lângă bancă.
fi
to be (sunt, ești, este, suntem, sunteți, sunt)
banca
the bank
lângă
next to
bancomatul
the ATM
Questions & Answers about Bancomatul este lângă bancă.
Why doesn't "bancă" have the word "the" attached to it, like "bancomatul" does?
In Romanian, when a noun comes right after a simple preposition like lângă (next to), în (in), or pe (on), it usually drops the definite article. So even though we say "next to the bank" in English, in Romanian it is simply lângă bancă, not lângă banca.
How does the word "bancomatul" break down?
The base word is bancomat, which is a neuter noun meaning "ATM" or "cash machine" (a combination of bancă and automat). The -ul at the end is the Romanian definite article meaning "the".
Does "bancă" only mean a financial bank?
It can mean a financial institution, but bancă is also the Romanian word for "bench" (like in a park) or a student's "school desk". You will usually know which one is meant based on the context.
If I wanted to reverse it and say "The bank is next to the ATM", how would the sentence change?
It would be Banca este lângă bancomat. Notice how bancă gets the definite article at the end to become banca ("the bank"), while bancomatul loses its article to become just bancomat because it now comes directly after the preposition lângă.