Questions & Answers about Fata a ajuns la maternitate cu mașina.
Why do we say cu mașina (with the car) when English just says "by car" without an article?
In Romanian, when you state a general mode of transport using the preposition cu (with), the vehicle must take the definite article. So "by car" translates to cu mașina (with the car), "by train" is cu trenul, and "by bus" is cu autobuzul.
Why is there no definite article on maternitate after the preposition la?
In Romanian, nouns following simple prepositions of place like la, în, or pe usually drop the definite article, even when translating to "the" in English. Because the sentence refers to the ward in a general sense, it is simply la maternitate. If you specified which one, like "at the new maternity ward," you would then add the article: la maternitatea nouă.
Does maternitate only mean the physical hospital ward?
It means both the physical place (the maternity ward or maternity hospital) and the abstract concept of motherhood/maternity. In English, we usually specify "ward" or "hospital" to refer to the location, but in Romanian, the single word maternitate is completely standard for the building or department.