Learn Romanian: Marfa este produsă în această fabrică. - The merchandise is produced in this factory.

In the true passive voice, the past participle acts like an adjective and must agree in gender and number with the subject. Because marfa (the merchandise) is a feminine singular noun, the past participle produs changes to its feminine singular form, produsă.

How can I tell that marfa is a feminine noun?

The base dictionary word is marfă (merchandise), and nouns ending in "-ă" are almost always feminine. In this sentence, the definite article "-a" (the) is attached to the end, replacing the "-ă" to become marfa (the merchandise).

In English we often translate this as "the goods are", which is plural. Is marfa always singular in Romanian?

Yes, marfa is a singular noun in Romanian, just like the word "merchandise" in English. Because it is singular, it takes the singular verb este. If you wanted to talk about plural "goods", you would use the plural form mărfurile, and the passive voice would change to match: mărfurile sunt produse.

Could I say în fabrica aceasta instead of în această fabrică?

Yes, both mean "in this factory" and are perfectly natural. As a quick refresher: when the demonstrative (această) goes before the noun, the noun does not take a definite article (fabrică). If you put the demonstrative after the noun, the noun must take its definite article (fabrica aceasta).