Zaban
Chapter 10 of 17 · Explore the Farsi path

How sentences work · Chapter 10 of 17

Work out who did what

A sentence has to tell you who acted and what happened. Learn the usual word order, then the small links that tell you which thing, whose thing, or what it’s like.

≈ 5 min of reading · Practise at your own pace

What’s in this chapter
  • A simple sentence usually goes: who did it → what they did it to → the action.
  • روباهrubâh“fox” is who acted, پرندهparande“bird” received the action, and دیدdid“saw” is what happened.
  • راrâ comes after the particular person or thing receiving the action. Grammars call that person or thing the direct object, and call راrâ an object marker.
  • A short e links a thing to a description or owner. Learn the examples first; the name for this link is ezafe.
  • سگ کوچکsag-e kuchek“small dog” is literally dog-e small.
  • There’s no separate word for “the.” You work it out from the sentence.

A fox did something: it saw a bird. Farsi puts those pieces in the order fox · bird · saw.

The fox saw the bird.

روباه پرنده را دید.

rubâh parande râ did.

روباهrubâh“fox” · پرنده راparande râ“the bird” · دیدdid“saw”. Match the colours to see where each part moved.

Show which person or thing received the action

In “the fox saw the bird,” the bird is what the fox saw. Farsi puts را after that particular bird. This little word helps you work out who did what.

روباه پرنده دید.rubâh parande did.“The fox saw a bird.”
روباه پرنده را دید.rubâh parande râ did.“The fox saw the bird.”
The bird is now a particular bird. راrâ follows the whole “bird” part. The action دیدdid“saw” still stays last.

Who saw what?

  1. روباه پرنده را دید.

    Read it as fox · bird · râ · saw.

    Show answer +
    The fox did the seeing. The bird was seen. راrâ marks the bird as the particular thing receiving the action.

Link a thing to its description

To say “small dog,” Farsi says dog-e small. That short e joins the two words when you speak, but it usually isn’t written. This link is called ezafe.

سگsag“dog” + کوچکkuchek“small”
سگ کوچکsag-e kuchek“small dog”
The e is heard after dog but is not written.
سگsag“dog” + کوچکkuchek“small” + راrâ
سگ کوچک راsag-e kuchek râ“the small dog”
Keep the description with dog, then put راrâ after the whole part.

Use the same link to say whose it is

The short e can also connect something to its owner. Compare “small dog” with “Mina’s dog”: the link works the same way.

خانهkhâne“house” + منman“I; me”
خانه‌ی منkhâne-ye man“my house”
After final ه pronounced e, the link sounds like -ye. This lesson writes it as خانه‌ی منkhâne-ye man; Persian publishers also use other spellings for the same sound.

Say this one or more than one

Start with one thing you can point to. Then add the ending that makes it plural—more than one.

این خانهin khâne“this house”
آن خانهân khâne“that house”
اینin“this” and آنân“that” go before the thing. There is no ezafe between them.
خانهkhâne“house”
خانه‌هاkhâne-hâ“houses”
Add ـها-hâ to mean more than one. It stays attached as part of the word, usually with a half-space.

Check each job separately

  1. روباه پرنده را دید.

    The final word is the action.

    Show answer +
    روباه پرنده را دید.rubâh parande râ did“The fox saw the bird”
  2. سگ کوچک

    Which word is the thing, and which describes it?

    Show answer +
    سگsag“dog” is the thing. کوچکkuchek“small” describes it. You hear the ezafe e between them: سگ کوچکsag-e kuchek“small dog”.
  3. خانه‌ی من

    Who owns the house?

    Show answer +
    منman“I; me” is the owner. The ezafe sounds like -ye here: خانه‌ی منkhâne-ye man“my house”.
  4. این خانه‌ها

    Pointing word · house + plural ending.

    Show answer +
    این خانه‌هاin khâne-hâ“these houses”: اینin“this; these” points to them, and ـها-hâ makes house plural.
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