"Mama Monicăi este tânără."
Translation:The mother of Monica is young.
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Why does "of Ana" become "Anei", but "of Monica" becomes "Monicăi"? Is this because "-cei" would significantly alter the sound of the name itself?
I am not sure what the actual rule is, but yes, it just sounds wrong. It's the same with 'Anca' -> 'Ancăi'. Also, names ending with a consonant and newer names of foreign origin use the masculine article.
From "Learn Romanian with Nico" by Nicoleta Meitert, Page 90: Female names that end in a change a to ei
Female names that end in ca change ca into căi
Female names that don't end in a don't change, but are instead preceded by lui
Male names are also preceded by lui
Examples: Pisica Mariei = Maria's Cat Pisica Biancăi= Bianca's cat Pisica lui Carmen= Carmen's cat Pisica lui Alex= Alex's cat
Thank you. I just came here to aske why I had Mama lui Carmen in the previous sentence (masc) and now Mama monicai (fem)
It's effective a rule that you need to understand it.In Romanian Ana becomes Anei Monica-Monicai,Mariana-Marianei and others.
And "Olgăi" came to mind too, so it must be to avoid the "ce" and "ge" sounds. I forgot what they were called, but they were similar to "ci," "gi," "che," "ghe," "chi," and "ghi."
I provided more details on that rule here: https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/19992906
