Das Verb „a fi“ (sein)

A fi - to be - is irregular, and you need it in your first sentence. Here is the present tense:

Ești and este begin with a "y" sound: "yeshti", "yes-te". Este and its short form e mean the same; e is what you hear in conversation, este what you read in the paper.

Sunt is both "I am" and "they are". With the pronoun dropped, the context decides: Sunt acasă said about yourself is "I'm at home"; in answer to "Where are your parents?" it is "They're at home".

No article before a job or nationality

English says "I am a teacher"; Romanian does not use the article here: Sunt profesor. El e englez. - He's English. Ea e asistentă. - She's a nurse. The article comes back once you add a description: E un medic foarte bun. - He's a very good doctor.

What a fi is used for

• identity and origin: Eu sunt Mihai. Sunt din Timișoara.
• description: Supa e bună. - The soup is good.
• location: Cartea e pe masă. - The book is on the table.

Watch the ones that are not "to be" in Romanian: your age, hunger and thirst use a avea (to have): Am treizeci de ani. - I'm thirty. Am foame. - I'm hungry. *Sunt treizeci and *Sunt foame are the classic English-speaker slips.

The negative puts nu in front: Nu sunt de acord. - I don't agree (literally "I'm not of agreement").