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La Crăciun, toată familia este împreună.

La Crăciun, toată familia este împreună.
At Christmas, the whole family is together.
From Lesson 125:Celebrations (Crăciun, ziua de naștere)·Romanian

Questions & Answers about La Crăciun, toată familia este împreună.

Why do we use la before Crăciun?
In Romanian, the preposition la is commonly used with holidays, festivals, or special events to mean 'at' or 'for'. This is why you say la Crăciun (at Christmas), la Paște (at Easter), or la nuntă (at the wedding).
Why is it toată familia and not just toată familie?
When you use the word for 'all' or 'the whole' (tot, toată, toți, toate), the noun that follows must have a definite article attached to the end of it. Here, the base word familie becomes familia (the family). So, toată familia literally translates to 'whole the family'.
Why is the word for 'whole' spelled toată here instead of tot?
The word for 'all' or 'whole' changes to match the gender and number of the noun it describes. Because familia is a feminine singular noun, you must use the feminine singular form toată. If you were talking about a masculine singular noun like orașul (the city), you would use tot orașul.
Does the word împreună change if we talk about multiple people or families?
No. Împreună is an adverb meaning 'together', which means its form never changes. Whether you say the family is together (familia este împreună) or the brothers are together (frații sunt împreună), the word stays exactly the same.
Why is the verb este singular when a family is made up of multiple people?
Even though a family has many members, familia is a singular noun representing one single group. Therefore, it takes the third-person singular verb este (is), just as 'family' usually does in American English.

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