Breakdown of Cea mai frumoasă regină nu avea nicio fiică.
nu
no / not
avea
to have
frumos
beautiful / beautifully
fiica
the daughter
Questions & Answers about Cea mai frumoasă regină nu avea nicio fiică.
Why is it Cea mai frumoasă regină instead of Regina cea mai frumoasă?
Both are correct, but putting the superlative before the noun (Cea mai frumoasă regină) adds stylistic emphasis to her beauty. Note that when the adjective comes first, the noun (regină) drops its definite article, because the demonstrative article Cea already makes it specific. If you put the noun first, it would need the definite article: Regina cea mai frumoasă.
Why use the imperfect tense avea instead of the perfect compus a avut?
The imperfect (avea) is used here because not having a daughter was an ongoing, continuous state in the past, which is typical for setting the scene in a story. If you used a avut, it would sound more like a single, completed event rather than a general fact about her life during that time.
Why is nicio written as a single word, and why is there also a nu in the sentence?
Romanian uses strict double negation. Whenever you use a negative adjective like nicio (no / not any), the verb must also be negated with nu (nu avea). As for spelling, nicio is written as one word when it means 'no' or 'not any'. It is only split into two words (nici o) when used as a conjunction meaning 'neither a' (for example, neither a daughter nor a son).