Farsi with Neda: Lesson 3
Verb endings
- Verbs in Farsi are learned by memorising the present stem and past infinitive
- Verbs in the present are conjugated by adding suffixes to the stem
| Person | Suffix |
|---|
| 1 s | ـَم |
| 2 s | ـِی |
| 3 s | ـَد |
| 1 pl | ـِیم |
| 2 pl (respectful s.) | ـِید/ـِین |
| 3 pl (respectful s.) | ـَند/ـَن |
- The past tense is formed by removing the infinitive suffix (تن or دن) and applying the past tense suffixes
- The past tense suffixes are the same as the present tense, except there is no 3 s ending (the stem is left bare)
To Be: بودن
- This verb is irregular in that it has no present stem
- There are two forms--an enclitic form (the usual form) or an irregular form used to emphasise that something 'exists'.
- In colloquial use, the enclitics are written as suffixes when the following a noun or adjective (but they can't be used after a pronoun)
- In more formal Farsi, the enclitics stand alone, e.g. دختر تو ام
- The emphatic form uses the هست stem. It is irregular in that it uses past tense suffixes.
- هستم
- هستی
- هست
- هستیم
- هستید
- هستند
- If you want to form the negative, you have to use the emphatic present stem, e.g. نیستم
Demonstratives & Prepositions
- این
- this
- آن
- that (written)
- اون
- that (spoken)
- اینان/اینها
- those (written)
- اونا
- those (spoken)
Plurals
- For most nouns, you can suffix ـها to form the plural
- روز
- day
- روزها
- days
- Some words conventionally take the Arabic plural. You have to learn these as you go.
- ایالت
- state
- ایالات
- states
- ایالات متده ی آمریکا
- The United States of America
Days of the Week: روزهای هفته
- for easier memorisation, think of them as offset from Saturday (شنبه).
- روزهایه هفته
- days of the week (written)
- روزای هفته
- days of the week (spoken)
- شنبه
- Saturday
- یکشنبه
- Sunday
- دوشنبه
- Monday
- سه شنبه
- Tuesday
- چهارشنبه/چارشنبه
- Wednesday
- پنجشنبه
- Thursday
- جمعه
- Friday
Where are you?
- کجایی؟ کجا هستی؟
- where are you? (informal)
- کجا
- where
- کجایـ[ـید/ـین]؟
- where are you? (formal)
- کجاست…؟
- where is…?
Where You're From
- اهل کجایین؟ اهل کجا هستین؟
- where are you from? (formal)
- از کدوم کشورین؟ از کدوم هستین؟
- which country are you from? (formal)
- کشور
- country
- کدوم
- which (written)
- کدام
- which (spoken)
- از کدام کشوری؟ از کدام هستی؟
- which country are you from? (informal)
- You can use either از or اهل to express where in these expressions.
- از کجایی؟ از کجا هستی؟
- where are you from? (informal)
- اهل کجایی؟ اهل کجا هستی؟
- where are you from? (informal)
- از نیوزیلندم
- I'm from New Zealand
- من نیوزیلندیم
- I'm a New Zealander
- از ایرانم. از ایران هستم.
- I'm from Iran
- اهل ایرانم. اهل ایران هستم.
- I'm from Iran
- منم ایرانیم
- I'm Iranian too
- ایرانی هستم/ایرانم…
- I'm Iranian
- …ولی مادرم امریکیه
- but my mother is American
- روستا
- village
Digging Deeper
- کجا ی ایران؟
- where in Iran?
- از کدوم قسمت ایران؟
- from which part in Iran?
- قسمت
- part, section
- از /کدام/ قسمت ایران؟
- spoken
- از کدام شهر ایران؟
- from which city in Iran?
- شهر
- city
- شیرازیه
- I'm from Siraz (lit. I'm Shirazi)
Time Expressions
- امشب
- tonight
- امروز
- today
- فردا
- tomorrow
- پس فردا
- the day after tomorrow
- دیروز
- yesterday
- پریروز
- the day before yesterday
Yes and No
- نه
- no (spoken)
- خَیر
- no (written)
- نه نخیر
- no no
- نه خیر
- nope
- بله
- yes
- آره
- yeah (colloq.)
Conjunctions
- وَ
- and
- یا
- or
- ولی
- but, though
- اما
- however