Ëì

coLLoaulAL

PE RS IANLei la Moshir i

Gontents

Introduction 1

Abbreviations 3

The Persian Alphabet 4

Pronunciation 6

Stress and Intonation; Consonants; Vowels; Diphthongs; Alter-ation of Vowel Sounds in Colloquial Speech; Capital Letters andFunctuation

Lesson 1 11Articles; Gender; -elast, hast, nist; Word Order; Plurals; lnter-rogatives; And; Phrases and Expressions

Lesson 2 19

Subject Pronouns; T\e ezãfe; Adjectives; Comparison of Adjec-

tives; Demonstratives; Phrases and Expressions

Lesson 3 7Ã

Verbs I: the infinitive; tenses formed from the past stem - simplepast, imperfect and past participle; The Verb 'to be'; Phrasesand Expressions

Lesson 4 38Verbs II: tenses formed from the present stem - present tense'

subjunctive, imperative, Noun of the Agent; Phrases andExpressions

Lesson 5 49

Use of the Particle rã; Compound Verbs; Compound Tenses -perfect, pluperfect, future, past subjunctive, passive; Phrases andExpressions; Summary of Verb Endings

Lcsson 6 OtAdverbs and Adverbial E:rpressions; Prepositions; phrascs andExpressions

ksson 7Numben; Phrases and Expressions

Lesson 8 79The Calendar; The Seasons; The Days of the Week; The pointsof the Compass; Telling the Time; Currency; Expressions ofTime

Lesson 9 97Pronouns - possessive pÍonouns, interrogative pÍonouns, indefi-nite pronouns, khod, colloquial use of pronominal suffixes;Colloquial Use of the ezãfe; Conjunctions; phrases andExpressions

Lesson 10 96Subordinate Clauses - relative clauses, indirect statements,wishes and commands, result clauses, conditional sentences,possibility; Impenonal Constructions; phrases and Expressions

I*sson 11Word Fornation

Irsson 12Polite Phrases and Conventions; Other Expressions

Situational Phrases and Conversations:

AppendixNumbers; Currency; The Calendar

Exercise key

English-Persian glossary

Persian-English glossary

110

113At the Airport; At the Travel Agent; Shopping; Asking the Way;The Telephone

t20

r23

r29

185

;j

lntroduction

The country is lran, its people are lranians, but things and thelanguage are Persian. The Iranians themselves refer to theirlanguage as fãrsi because whereas the country as a whole derivedits name from the Aryan peoples who first migrated there, thepredominant tongue came to be that of the people of Fars, theprovince which held Persepolis, the capital of the Persian empireof two thousand years ago.

Persian is an Indo-European language, which means that it isrelated to the languages of Western Europe (when you come tothem, you may like to compare the words for father, rnother,daughter, brother, with English or German). After the Islamicconquest of lran, Arabic became for a time the language ofofficialdom and learning with the result that Persian itself came tobe written with the Arabic alphabet and there was an enormousArabic influence on the language in terms of vocabulary, thoughhardly any in terms of its oasic structure which retained its ownidentity. There is usually a pure Persian equivalent for most Àrabicborrowings, but one or the other has tended to become dominantand more normally used. This is rather like the French borrowingsin English after the Norman conquest. In the 1960s and 1970s aconscious effort was made to reduce the use of Arabic words, butwith the return to an Islamic society and the greater emphasis thatis now placed on the teaching of Arabic and the learning of theKoran in schools, this trend has been reversed. It is probably worthnoting, however, that many words of Arabic origin used in modernPersian have acquired a different meaning or shade of meaningfrom that of present-day Arabic.

Colloquial Persian is the language of ordinary speech and conver-sation. It is not written down, except nowadays in informal corre-spondence between young people. The main difference betweenthe spoken word and the written language is in the alteration ofvowel sounds, the contractions that occur in many forms of the

2 ntnoouctrox

verbs and the colloquial use of the many suffixes. It is quite difficultto draw a definite line between the conversational language andmore formal speech, not because the two forms are interchange-able, but because both forms úll be heard, depending on thecircumstances in which you may find yourself. Native speakersalways address each other in colloquial Persian, but since they donot $'rite as they speak, anything being read, such as the radio ortelevision news, official reports, etc, will be in the correct formswhich would sound stilted if used in conversaüon. It is partly forthis reason that the language cannot be learnt properly withoutsome basic knowledge of the correct forms which are then alteredin speech. I have tried, however, not to err too much in thisdirection.

It may be of interest to note that a number of other languagesare 5poken in the different regions of [ran, chief among which areTurkish in the north-western province of Azarbaijan and an Arabicdialect in the South. There are also Kurdish and Baluchi, and thedialect of the Caspian proünce of Gilan. There is a sizeableArmenian minority in the country, chiefly in Tehran and Isphúan.People who are native speakers of any of these languages will tendto have varying degrees of accent when speaking Persian and thishas little to do with the degree of education of the speaker. Thestandard pronunciation is that of Tehran which is used in this book.

A cassette has been produced to accompany this book so thatyou can hear Percian spoken by native speakers. All material onthe cassette is marked by a I in the text.

Abbreviations

The following abbreviations have been used in this book:

The Persian Alphabet

As a matter of interest, the Persian alphabet is set out below,together with the transcription used in this book. [t is important torealise that the letters change their shape according to the positionthey occupy in the word, and for the sake of simplicity only theinitial forms and the final, unjoined forms of the letters are shownhere.

Name Final, unjoined form Initialform Transcription

arareroru

b

p

t

s

j

ch

h

kh

d

z

r

z

ús

sh

s

z

;

>

)

)

)

I

z

ú

\:-

ec)

)

.)

)

)

,ê

,-f

te

se

jim

che

he

!!edãl

zãl

re

ze

zhe

sin

shin

sãd

zãd

t ï

t

alef

be

pe

t

:

gEf

s[k

EI

m

n

vrolv

h

Y' l r € l

J,v0

L

j

j

í

í

J

t

t

I

.t'

.b

Lú

o

"t.JId

t

c

{s

tã

zeân

Èânfe

Èãfkãf

gãf

lãm

mim

nun

vãv

he

ye

Pronunciation

It is very difficult to render the pronunciation in transliteration ofany language not written with the Roman alphabet. I have tried tokeep the following guide as simple and accurate as possible, butcorrect pronunciation can really only be achieved by hearing andimitating native speech and for this purpose the accompanyingcassette will be found to be extremely valuable, if not essential.

STRESS AI\ID INTONATION

As a general rule the stress in Persian falls on the last syllable ofthe word. The main exceptions to this are in words with the variousverb endings and some sufffrxes, which will be indicated as theyoccur, and words with the negative prefixes. persian makes inten-sive use of prefixes and suffixes, but in general words tend to retaintheir basic stÍess pattern even when the number of syüables isaltered by such additions:e.g. ketàb - *etÀUi - ketàtsm - tetàte send.

Intonation is also used a great deal to give variety of expression,but apart from mentioning the interrogative tone used for ques-tions, the rest can really only be learnt by ear.

r 1. CONSONANTS

(a) Pronounced as in English:bdfg - hard as in geÍhjkI

mnps*asinsi ttvvz

(b)

PRONUNCIATION 7

r - trilled, try saying brrrrkh - as in the Scots /oclrsh - as in sheepch - as in chat, chapzh - like the j in the French jeg! - there is no corresponding English sound; pronunciation

of this letter should be learnt from native speakers. Youcan achieve an approximation by sticking the very backof your tongue to the roof of your mouth and then lettinggo, letting breath and sound out at the same time.

Where any of the above letters appear without the joining lineunderneath, each will have its own value as a consonant.

' - the glottal stop:

The closest to this in English is in the cockney bo'Ie, fot'bottle'. This sound is not as strong in Persian as it is in Arabic.Between two vowels' really only separates them:sã'at (watch, time), etl'at (obedience)

It is slightly stronger between a vowel and a consonant:ta'mir (repair), fe'lan (for the time being)likewise after a consonant at the end of a word:rob' (quarter)

(d) Double consonants (called taúdid in Persian):

The sound of the consonant is reinforced, so that eachconsonant is almost pronounced separately, rather like theEnglish word boo/c-case:nqiiãr (carpenter)It is rather like coming down on the first letter then taking offagain from the second.

(c)

r 2. volvElsã - as in wash, or the o in onr-asinhate-asinendi - as in deed

bâbã (daddy)bad (bad)

lhâne (house), esm (name)in (this)

8 rnonuxcrenon

o - as in the French rzotu - as in oalr

r 3. I'TPHTHONGS

â - as in raidorv - as in mow

bororg (big), do!!t r (girl)

faulu (peach)

ânek (spectactes)mowz (banana)

Where two vowels appear togetheÍ in the text with no connectingline on top, each vowel will have its own value and must bepronounced separately.

I Pnonunciatbn Exerciscs

â ãlu (plum); ãb (water); ãrd (flour); bãtâ (up); bad (wind)a ast (is); abru (eyebrow); namak (salt); bad (bad)e esm (name); emãrú (building); nefrat (hate); negãh (look);

!!!ne (house); rânende (driver); entezãr (waiting)i in (this); iqie (here); imãm (faith); bebin (took!); bidãr

(awake); bimãr (ill); abi (blue); zendegi Qife)ouel

oftãd (he fell); otãgh (room); bozorg (big); d@tar (grrl)un (that); hulu (peach); utu (iron); ãrezu (wish)ânok (spe^ctacles); ôrven (verandah, balcony); môaen(square); bôrne (between)

r 4. aLTERATTON OF VOWAL SOITNDS IN COLLOQTIALSPEBCH

(a) The vowel ã almost always becomes u before an n andfrequently also before an m:lhãne (house) becomes khune, nãn (bread) becomes nun,âmad (he came) can become umad.

(á) Vowels followed by two consonants at the end of a word arelengthened, as inhast (there is); goft (he said); nist (there isn't); seft (hard).In general, throughout this book, the first time a word is used,it will be shown thus: colloquial or usual spoken form/literaryoÍ correct form. Thereafter the colloquial form will generallybe used unless the style or sentence renders it necessary to do

PRONUNCIATION 9

otherwise. By correct or literary is meant the form as it iswritten down and which will not normally be used in ordinaryspeech, but which one will hear if things are being read out,on radio and television ne\trs, for example. [n explanations ofgrammatical points, the correct forms will also be used' Theglossaries will show the correct form.

I Pronunciation Exercise

rãst (right); dorost (correct); rãh (way); barâdar (brother)khãhar (sister); ãkhar (last); kãkh (palace); nimrokh (profile);ekhtiyar (will)shahr (town); qleno (swimming); shotor (camel); ãsh (broth)glerã (why?); glatr (umbrella); ãchâr (spanner); mãgh (kiss);nuch (sticky)

zh neghâd (race); moghe (eyelash); Zhâle (a girl's name)gh gharb (west); taghriban (approximately); oghãb (eagle);

aghrab (scorpion); meghdâr (quantity); dorugh (lie); mag$ub(defeated); glad (height); ânghadr (that much)

' sã'at (time); etã'at (obedience);ta'mir (repair); fe'lan (for the time being); jor'at (courage)e'terâz (protest); e'tebâr (credit); rob' (quarter)

zh ezhãr (statement)sh eshãg! (Isaac); eshãt (dianhoea)

honunciation Exercise: Doubled Consonants

pp tappe (hill); lappe (yellow split peas)

ii nqijãr (carpenter)tt etteÍãgh (happening); ettehãd (unity)chch baghche (child)w dowom (second)rr kharrãt (woodcarver)yy $ayyÕt (dressmaker, tailor)

rkh

shch

10 ProNUNcrATroN

CAPITAL LDTTERS AIìID PI,JNCTUATION

Persian is written from right to left using the Arabic script. ThePersian alphabet has four additional letters that represent soundsthat do not exist in Arabic. In transcription these are p, ú, g andzh. The letters of the alphabet change their shape according to theposition they occupy in the word, but capitalisation as such doesnot occur. The transcription used in this book, therefore, does notuse capital letters either. Exception has been made in the case ofproper nouns in the reading passages as it is felt that this will makethings easier for the student.

Punctuation marks were not traditionally used in Persian as thesentence structure really renders them unnecessary. They are,however, now taught in schools and used in modern Persian, thoughin a much more limited way than in English, and this has beenincorporated in the transcription.

Lesson One(darse awal)

Read aloud:

drr bür-c/büz rípoqferc bsst-ast/b6tc asthevã garm.e/gnnm actâb sord.clsrrd a$nuuhin ttu-últt'p úmãdsr mehrabm-e/mehrabônastpedar llpst-ast/lchaste astpeaa*ozorg pir.e/pir stzan Javuo-e{avãn astmúdarbozory marlz.e/msÍiz astpesar g!âtun*/snâten sstd@tar kugbik*/tnçlak ast

!!ud!!âne bozorg-e/astâb sad nisthavã garm nistmard pir nistgLazã khub-elastotobus por-e/astotËg! khãü-e/astotãgh tamiz nist

@derd@targarmghlzãhavãjavun/ javãnkhtli

11.)3.4.5.6.

7.8.9.

10.

The doo'r is openThe window is closedThe weather is hotThe water is coldThe bread is frestrThe mother is loving

The father is tiredThe grandfather is oldThe woman is youngThe grandmother is illThe boy is mischievousThe girl is smallThe house is bigThe water is not coldThe weather isn't hotThe man is not oldThe food is goodThe bus is fullThe room is emptyThe room isn't clean

11.t2.13.14.15.1ó.17.18.19.zfr.

Vocabulary:eb-e/astbadbastebãzbozorgcherúchp

waterisbadclosedopenbigìvhywhat?

thingdoorgirVdaughterwannfoodweatheryoungempty

kuchik/huchak small

12 rnssox oxs:

!haste tiredkhune/hhãne house

roombuswindowfatherboy/sonoldcoldchairmischievous

freshoronewoman

khubkojã

mâdarmardmarizmehrabun/mehrabânminnun/nânnistolva

Notc:

but:

goodwhere?

mothermaniilloving, kind

tablebreadis not, isn'tand

mãdarpedarbozorgmadãrbozorgpedarbomrgnave

otãÈ.otobuspaqierepedarp€sarpirsardsandalishâtun/rhâtâ"tãa,eyãyekzan

motherfatherbiggrandmothergrandfathergrandson/granddaughter

ARTICLES

Persian has no articles as such:khune - house, the housepedar - father, the father

In a sentence, the noun on its own generally conveys the meaningof the definite article:

\hune bozorg-e - The house is bigpedar pir-e - The father is old

The indefinite is expressed by the addition of an unaccented i atthe end of the noun except where the noun ends with an i, in whichcase no distinction is made:

khuneipedari

BUT sandali

- a house- a father- the chair/a chair

LESON ONE 13

In colloquial usage, this l is largely replaced by the use of -ycl('one') before the noun:

yck $une - a house (one house)yck tends to get fuÍth€r shortened in speech to ye, so you will hear:

yekhune -ahouseyeterU -abookyeoügh -aroomyctãksi -ataxiye miz - a tableyesandali -achairyemrgas -af lyye nafar - a person (someone)

GENDER

As in English, nouns in Persian do not have a specific genderbeyond that indicated in their meaning:

pesar úôltun-e - The boy is mischievous

rnâdarbozorg mariz-e - The grandmother is illsandali bozorg-emiz bozorg-eotãg! bozorg-e

.E/AST; HAST; NIST

-elast = is hast = there is

The third person singular of the short form of the verb 'to be' (seeLesson Three) is ast or hast.In spoken Persian ast is shortened to e after a word ending in aconsonant, and is transcribed as -e in this book to help distinguishit from other e endings.After a vowel, ast is shortened to st and transcribed -st. Where aword ends in e after a congonant, hotrrever, such as baste (closed),tãze (fresh), then ast is not shortened. The e of the word is elidedinstead and will be shown by a hyphen:

dar bast-ast (dar baste asÍ) - The door is closednun tãz-ast (nun tdze ast) - The bread is fresh

dolhtar khub-epedarbomrg pir-e

- The girl is good- The grandfather is old

- The chair is big- The table is big- The room is big

14 r,BssoN oNs

Ast and hast are not interchangeable and their correct use will bestbe learnt by examples and observation.As a general rule, hast (a) conveys the idea of ,there is', or (á) ismore emphatic than ast, depending on the context:

hotel khub-e/khub astnun hast

- The hotel is good- There rs bread

hrst will also be used to ask 'is there?' (any bread, a room etc.):nun hast? - Is there any bread?

(See'Interrogatives' below)

The negative of both ast and hast is nist - see sentence 14 at thebeginning of this lesson.

WORD ORDER

Look again at the examples under the heading GENDER. Noticethat the verb (-e) is at the end of the sentence or phrase. The usualword order in Persian is: subject - object (direct, then indirect) -verb. The verb normally comes at the end of the sentence, e.g.:

verbmtu bozorg + (ast) - The table is bigpcsar snâtun 4 (ast) - The boy is naulhtyd@tar !!ub -e (ast) - The girl is good

PLURAT,S

l. As a general rule and particularly in colloquial use, the pluralof nouns is formed by the addition of the suffix -hã, which thencarries the stress:

miz - mirhã (table, tables)sandali - sandalihÕ (chair, chairs)paqjere * paqjerehã (window, windows)otobus - otobushâ (bus, buses)tâksi - tâksihã (taxi, taxis)

Nate: ln colloquial usage, in fact in speech in general, as opposedto the written word, the h of -ha is often not pronouncedexcept when the word itself ends in the sound e:otobusã tãksiã sur paqierehã

LESTPN ONE 15

2. The sufftx -ln is used to form the plural of nouns denotingpeople, animals, birds etc.For euphony, such nouns ending in o or u will also add v, thosein s n'ill add y and those in e will add g before the suffix:

msrd - mrrdtn,tnpedarâghr

- ztnln- p€drfn- rgliyin

(man, men)(woman, women)(father, fathen)(gentleman, gentlemen)(listener, listeners)(one sheep, sheep)(chicken, chickens)(bird, birds)

shenrvande -glcnavandegingudand - guúndrnnorx!, - morg!ânFmnde - poranAcgfn

The plural suffix -ln is not interchangeable with -hã, but mostwords, such as mldrr, pcd.r, for which the correct, grammaticalplurals are miüdartn, pedrrin, do in fact take -hn to form theplural in colloquial usage:

ndrrhr (cotJ. nffarf)pedsrüfl (pdút)pcrerf .dollterl

This is the form we will us€ most in this book, but do not expec'teven this to be entirely consistent. A common example of theinconsistencies that you will en@unter is in the phrasê 'ladieeand gentlemen'- khânumhl va Íg[tytn, whiú shona the ttpodifferent forms of the plural which are in use. $lnum is theeveryday word for 'lady' or 'Mrs', and is always [nmunhl inthe plural, whereas qÈfyln is the correct grammatical plural of

@.

3. The Arabic plural sufâx -it is also used, but not colloquially:bÕg! - bÕglrÍ (garden, gardens)A form of broken plural is also used:

nrrnz€l - qrürrl (house, hOuses)But for both these examples and rnany others like them, bÕÈhãand menzrlhl are more common in colloquial usage. The orherforms are mentioned so that you may recognize them for whatthey are should you encounter them.

16 Lessox.oxs.

4. Use of tlre singular and plurall , . .There aÍe tÌvo points of differehce to be noted,here betweenPersian and English:(a) Persian usel the singular when considering the noun col-

lectively or in a general sense:Ifies are dirty - magas kasif-eBooks are good - ketãb khub-e

(â) The singular is also used after ttum-6ers and after the wordÈand'how many?':

five bookssix boyshow many books?

- panj ketãb- shish pesar- chand ketãb?

INTERROGATTVES

Questions are asked either lvith the use of interrogative wordswhich are usually placed immediately before the verb or the nounto which they refer, or, in the absence of any interrogative word,by raising the tone of the voice towards the end of the sentence toindicate a question. The chief interrogative words are:kojã where? kuúi what? che

Èe ju"

where?what?how?glerã why?

ki who?kudunr/hodãm which?kô when?chetowr how?

I hava úetowr+?hotel kojâ-st? (kojã ast)kudum hotel?ki-e Qt r o n o un c e d kiy e\?

nun hast?

chand how many? (+noun tn smgu-lar)

- What's the weather like?- Where is the hotel?- Which hotel?- Who is it? (e.9. when answering

the door, though it is more politeto say btle)

- Is there any bread?

Note that kojã ast (where is?) is always contracted to kojã-st andki ast (who is?) is always shortened to ki-st (coll. ki-e, pronouncedki-ye).

LESSON ONE I7

In colloquial use, the noun following th€ interrogative word gletakes the indefinite sufâx "l and as well as just 'what', cte can alsomean'what soÍ of':

I che ketibi? - What sort of book?lÌVhat book?

The word ãyl, which is placed at the beginning of a sentence, isused to indicate that a question follows, but this is not colloquialand is seldom used in ordinary speech.

AIïD

The word for'and'is va, usually shortened in speech to o (vo aftera word ending in a vowel):zen o mord - man and womanpir o javun - young and oldpcsrr o dolltsr - boy and girlpcElrf vo Slterl - boys and girlsb@org o kç!$ - big and littlenrmrl o lefd - salt and pepper(Note the order in the first two phrases which is different from thatused in English).

I PHRASES AND EXPRESSIONS

salim (oa more formal andIcss universar, salim aÉlkum)

hâle glomâ gleúowr.e?khubam, mersiõu uq1â"

khodefez/lúodã hâfezttr"U t"Hiã"

Hello, How do you do?, generalgreet@ - used where we wouldsay either good morning, g@dafternoon or good anening. Thcsimple arutwer ro salãm is alsosalâm. You will also hearalôkum assallm.How are you?I am well, thank youGood morning (/ess colloquial,than just salâm)Goodbye (lit. God, the Keeper)Good night (on gotng to bed, oralso used in conjunction with

18 LD,ssoN oNE

balenakhôrrii*tô,tI!ãú.ü!"0

EXERCISES

A. Put into Persian:1. The food is good2. T}lc \ilateÍ is hot3. The window is not open4. Hello5. How are you?6. I am well, thank you7. Goodbve

a house, a chair, a manWhere is the hotel?Which hotel? TheEsteghlalFive booksThe bread is freshIs the girl small?

14. The weather is not warm15. The house isn't big1ó. The water is cold17. The mother isn't bad18. fathers, windows, boys19. young and old20. Is the room clean?

!!odã hâÍez on taking leave,ofsomeone at night)YesNoNo (more formal)Emphatic no, i.e. certainly notAll right, O.K. (Properly speak-ing this ir !!ôü khub - verygood)

B. Read aloud and translate:l. nun tãze nist2. havã gaÍm-c -3. havã garm ast4. pesar bozorg-e5. miz kojã-st?6. dar bãz-e7. panjere bast-ast?8. kudum panjere?9. dokhtar shâtun nist

10. mãdarbozorg manz-e11. magas kasif-e12. havã chetowr-e?

8.9.

10.

11.t2.13.

Lesson Two(darse dowom)

Read aloud:I 1. in otãgbe man-e

2. forudgãhe Tehrãn bozorg-e3. bãgle mã ghaqhang-e4. bilite havãpêrmã khâli gerun-e/gerãn ast5. behtarin hotele shahr kojã-st?6. istgãhe otobuse Shemrun/Shemrãn kojã-st?z. vtãryam az Fãte;; khâli-6ozorgtar-e8. in chamedune shomã-st?9. na, un chamedun mãle man-e

10. ketãbe man kuchiktar az ketâbe Hasan-ekuchiktarin ketâbam ruye miz-e

11. fãrsi az ingilisi ãsuntar-e/ãsãntar astTehrân bozorgtarin ghahre lrãn-e

12. mãshine man az mãshine Hasan behtar-emãshine Hosein az hame behtar-e

13. lebãse Fãteme az lebãse Maryam tamiztar-elebãse Zahrã az hame tamiztaÍ-e

1.4. nune emruz tãzetar az nune diruz-etãzetarin nun mãle maghãzeye Akbar ãghâ-st

15. Maryam az Ali bozorgtar-eHasan az hame bozorgtar-e

16. in nun azuntãzelaÍ-e17. in kafú az in yeki bozorgtar-e

Vocabulary:ãÈã mister, sir b€ toiisun easy behtar betteraz than, from bilit ticketbãg!. garden úamedun suitcasebarâdar brother dir latebaraye for diruz yesterday

20 ressox lvo

emnuffrslforudglhs[sÊEqnghavrpôrmfinhdlisilqiâhfshksdfketibkhlhrrE!ôrtlebôsnagbfzemrn

todayPersianairportlovelyaeroplanethisEnglishhereshoedirtybooksisterverydress, clothesshopI, me

mÍlefmãshlnmcdfdruyesorbâzscfidshrhrshgjl'dâhShemrÕn/Shemrun

hrn|r

tappeun/itruqjíÍqii

belonging tocarpencilonsoldierwhitetovm, citybraveblackname of thenorthern partof Tehrancleanhillthatthere

*See Lesson Nine (l)

Proper names:Boys: Mohammad, Hasan, Hosein, Akbar, Ali, RezâGirls: Maryam, Fãteme, Zahrã, Shirin

SUBJECT PRONOTJNS

The subject pronouns are as follows:

singularman 0)to (you)u (he, she)

pluralmãshomâishãn

(we)(vou)(they)

There are two points to be noted here:(a) the subject pronouns are only used for persons, therefore the

3rd person u, ishân (he, she, they) cannot be used to denoteinanimate objects. 'It' is expressed by the demonstrativepronoun tn Qtlural unhã) or not separately at all, as the verbending will indicate the subject of the verb.

I,ESSGN TIVO 2I

(à) ghe 2nd person plural úomã (you) is generally used as thepolite form of address between strangers, .when childrenaddress adults, as a sign of respect, etc.The singular form to (you) is used between friends, by childrenand young people among themselves, by adults addressing chil-dren or superiors addressing inferiors. The distinction here issimilar to that between tu and vous in French. It is best to useshomã in all cases at first.

THE EZÃFE: C

The ezãfe is a final e sound, rather like a suffix, after a word endingin a consonant, or ye after a word ending in a vowel. It has severaluses:

(a) To express the possessive:khuneye pedar - the father's house (/it. house-of

the father)r bilite otobus - the bus ticket (ticket-of the

bus)' barâdare Maryam - Mariam's brother! khâhare Hasan - Hassan's sister' dare khune - the door of the house

gharlhe ma$in - the wheel of the carlebãse mard - the man's clotheschõdore zan - the woman's veilNote the word order which is quite different from the Englishusage of 's which is what it conveys:

khuneye mard - the house-of the man.It is the thing which is possessed which takes the ezãfe, notthe possessor, as in English.

(b) When an adjective qualifies a noun - again note the wordorder: noun + ezafe - adjective:hotele hhub - the good hotellebãse tamiz - the clean dressbarãdare bozorg - the big brotherfarghe bozorg - the big carpetnune tãze - the fresh bread

?2 LESSON TWO

rcstoÉrc khubdaste rlst

- the good restaurant- the right hand (note: this can

also rnean on the right)If the noun is qualified by more than one adjective, the 'quali-fyng' ezãfe is also added to each adjective except the finalone:

lhuneye kç$ke sefidnunc garne tâzeÍrrgle boaorge gerun

- the small white house- the hot fresh bread- the large expensive carpet

If the noun is plural, then the ezãfe is added onto the pluralending and since this is generally -hã, the ezãfe n'ilIbe ye andnot e:$unehâye boúorgbaghclehiye kuchik

- large houses- small children

(c) For possessive adjectives - there are no sepüate possessiveadjectives as such (my, your, their etc.) in Persian. Themeaning'my book', 'your book'etc. is rendered exactly as thepossessive in (a) above, using the subject pÍonouns instead ofthe noun:skgular: kettbe man my book (tr. book-of I)

kcttbc 3o your book (fanilior\ketÍbc u his/her book

phtrol: k&e mr our bookt& süooi your book (polite,Lalbc Mn their book

Much more @mmon, however, especially in speech, is the useof the pronominal suffixee:.em (ny) qtn (colJ. -cmun) (our)-at GoA. 4) (your) .etin (colL +tun) (your).orh (coll .ç!) @is/her/ {Êh.tn (cott. <g!un) (their)

its)The colloquial form for'my b@k', 'your book', etc. will there-fore be:kenbem my book ketâbemun our bookkettbet your book kettbehn your bookketibeg! his/her/its ketãbcglun their book

book

LESSON rwo 23

likewise:buâdsrem barãdaremunberãdrret brãdaretunbülda@ barãdareglun

but where a word ends in a vowel, the formal pattern will be:

llurelllflnc

!!ân€anllrn€ctE$mshwhich is fuÍher shortened in speech to:

fhurm$umtkhunrsh

lllneyenen!!!reyetmllrncyeglrn

$mmunI$ncronllunrúun

Where the noun qualified by the possessive adective is alsoqualified by an adjective or adjectives, then the pronominalsuffix is added to the final adjective:For exanple your brother - borãdereíat

bw your big brother - bsridsre bozorget/etyour big, thin brother - barãdare bomrçlâghorcú/úyour smdl, naughty son - pesrne kryLike

sM/ú

ADJECTIVES

Adjectives remain unchanged whether the noun they qualify issingular or plural. As a general rule, they follow the nouns theyqualify and the noun takes the eziife ending to relate it to theadjective:

nune tãre - fresh breadnunhâye tãze - fresh bread(s)dolltare bozorg - the big girldokhtarhâye bozorg - the big girlsmarde pir - the old manmardhãye pir - old mensarbãze $ojã' - the brave soldiersarbâzhãye shoja'- the brave soldiers

24 r.rsson rwo

zene jrvur -úe young woman*nh$yeJavun - the young uromen

Departure from this rule is used for stylistic effect, in specialexpressions or ones which are much-used which will be pointed outas ìr,e encounter them. For example, marde pir, the old man, isoften iendered as piremard, likewise zane pir becomes pinezan.

Notice that the above phrases are definite - thebig girl, etc. Wherethe noun qualified by the adjective is indefinite, the indefinite suffixi is added to the qualifiing adjeaive:

d@tare bozorg - the big girldo$tare bozorgi - a big girlmarde pir - the old manmarde piri - an old rnan

If there is.more than one adjective, the indefinite i is added to thelast one:

fargle bozorge geruni - a large expensive carpetThe indefinite suffix i is never stressed.

COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES

The comparative and superlative of adjectives are formed by theaddition of the suffixes -tar, for the comparative, and -tarin, forthe superlative, to the adjectives. ,Than' is rendered by the prep-osition az:Thus:Maryam az Fãúeme kuchlktar-e - Maryam is smaller (or younger)

than Fãtemeotobus az tãksi bomrgúar-e - The bus is bigger than the taxi

The comparative follows the noun:lluneye bozorgÍar nune tãzetarmarde behtar pesare kugliktarhavãye sardtar mãshine Uentar

but the superlative comes before the noun:bozorgtarin khune tâzetarin nun

behtarin mardsardtarin havã

LEssoN rwo 25

kuÈiktarin p€srrbehtlrin mõúin

Here are the comparative and superlatives of some of the morecommon adjectives:

garmtaÌsardtarbozorgtarkuchiktarsakhterâsuntertãzetarkohnetarkutâtarbdendtarnrzdlkterdurtarbrdtarbehtar

garmtarin (hot)sardtarin (cold)bozorgtarin (big)kug$ktarin (little)satltarin (difficult)âsuntarin (easy)tãzetarin (fresh, new)kohnetarin (old - of thing)kutâtarin (short)bolandtarin (long, tall)nazdiktarin (near)durtarin (far)bldtarin (bad)behtarin (good)

glrrnsardbozorgkug$ksakhtâsârúuntÃrekohnekutâbotandnszdikdurbodkhub

Note: (a) khub changes its stem in the cornparative and superla-tive, using the form beh-

(á) sstltü is, of cqurse, sakht-tar, but the second 't' isdropped in speech. The combination 'dt' is alsopronounced very close together.

(c) when there is no point of comparison for the superlative,i.e. when we want to say'the biggest'without specifyingthe biggest of which things, a very common way ofexpressing the superlative in Persian is by using theconstruction az hame (than all) + the comparative, e.g.az hame bozorgtar

Maryam az hame behtar-e - Maryam is the best

DEMONSTRATIVES

The demonstrative pÍonouns are:in - this (one) inâ/inhã - these (ones)un/õn - that (one), it una/anha - those (ones), they

26 rcssox nilo

These proneuns may refer to either people or things:

'Note: -and = are, and will be explained in Lesson Three.

If, therefore, we urant to say 'this bread is fresher than that', wewill say in nun az un tlzctar+. ükewise:h krf$h az un kuúiktar.e - This shoe is smaller than that onetn otâÈ ez un behtar-e - This room is better than that one

The demonstÍative adjectives are also ln and un but when used assuch they do not vary in the plural:

in bozong.e '

un $ub-cinhl bocorgondrunhã khub-ad

in der - this doorun ketib - that bookln !!une - this house

mersikhôü mamnunbi zahmatlotfen

this is bigthaVit is goodthe* Qrcople or things) are bigthose/they are good

in darâ/hã -these doorsun ketãbã/hã - those booksin khunehã - these houses

II PHRASES ANI} F,XPRESSIONS

hsr úe andtar - As soon as possiblec}ie bettar - So much the bettermcsle in ke - It looks as if, I thinkbesm ellâhe rahmãne rahlm - In the Name of God, the

Compassionate, the Merciful.This Arabic phrase slwuld belcarned and recognised for it iswidcly wed - to begin prayers,speeches, letters, docwtunts, etc.

besmellã - In the Name of God. ?ìhts ,rthe short form o/besm ellãherahmãne rrhim and is generallyused bdore starting anything. Itis also widcly used, in speechonly, as a blessing upon an actionto follow.

- Thankyou- Thank you- Please (lit. without trouble)- Please

rFII

LESSON r1tlo n

Note: ln speaking Persian, even in colloquial usage' people aremuch more formally polite than is customary in English.There is therefore a much greateÍ variety of polite phrases

and expressions. These are covered in gÍeater detail inLes,son Twelve.

EXERCISES

A. Put into Penian:1. My house is bigger than Hassan's house2. Ttle biggest house is on the hill3. My car is smaller than Hassan's car4. Fateme's dress is cleaner tban Maryam's5. This dress is the cleanestó. The hotel is clean7. My room is small8. This is your book9. That table is dirty

10. That is my black suitcase

B. Read atoud and translüe:1. túlite glomã ruye miz-e2. lebãse dokhtare bozorg sefid-e3. mãdare Maryam mariz-e4. in dar bãz-e5. un pesar úâtun-e6. barãdaram az hame behtar-e7. tam'.l,tarin hotel8. chamedune man siãh-ef. istgãhe otobus kojã-st?

10. behtarin hotele shahr kojã-st?

C. Put into Persian:1,. My book2. My big book3. Your house is small4. His car is big5. The garden door is oPen6. The girl's dress is clean

28 LEssoxTnro

7. My môther's room isn't big8. Your father's car is small9. My brother's house is on the hill

10. Hassan's sister is ill

D. Read aloud., putting in the ezãfe:1. ketâb Hasan (Hassan's book)2. khune mard (the man's house\3. khãhar man (my srsrer)4. khune man (my house)5. barãdar (hislher brother)ó. hotel !!ub (rfte good hotet)7. bilit otobus (the bus ticket';8. ye faç! bozorg (a big carpet)9. ketãb shomã $tour book)

10. char!! mãshin (the wheel of the car)

Lesson Three(darse sewom)

Read aloud:I 1. havãpêrmã dir resid/rasid. dustam unjã/anjã nabud. bã tâksi be

hotel raftam.!bâü dur nabud. otãgham bozorg o tamiz bud.sobune/sobhãne lhordam. ba'd neshastam ye nãme neveshtamo kami ruznâme-khundam/khãndãm. dustam bã mãshineshumad/ãmad. manãesh n""ãke hotel bud. bã ham bemanzeleú raftim.

2. búãr bud. derakhthã glargle shokufe budand. sedãye gonji-shkhã az hame taraf miumad. nasime molãyemi mivazid. bach-

LESSON TITNEE 29

ghehâ tuye kuche midowidand/midavidand. man tuye otãghambudam o barãye dustam nãme mineveshtam.

Vocabulary:uabãba'dbachchehãbã hambahârberâyebudbudandderakhthãdurdustgonjighkgharghehamejãkamikhordamkhundammanzelmiãmad

midowidand

fromwiththenchildrentogetherspringtowas\ileÍe

the treesÍarfriendspaÍïowcovered inallplacea littleI ateI readhome, househe/she/it wascomingthey wererunning

mineveghtammivazid

molâyemnabudnâmenasimnazdikeneshastamneveútamraftamraftimresid

ruznãmesedãsobune/sobhâneshokufetaraftuyeuqiíâqiã

I was writingit was blow-ingmild, gentlehe was notletterbreezenear Qtrep.)I satI wroteI went\ile rtrenthe/she/itarrivednewspapersound, voicebreakfast

blossomsidein @rep.)there

Notes: nazdike and tuye are prepositions which take the ezafe (seeLesson Six).barãye usually means 'for', but it is more colloquial tosay ba.râye dustam name mineveshtam than be dnstam . . .although be is the usual word for 'to'

30 ussox rrrREE

VERBS I

A. THE INIIhIITTVE

The infinitives of all verbs end in dan, -trn or -idan and each verbhas two stems, the present stern and the past sfern, which form thebasis for the mnjugation of the various tenses.

The infinitive itself can be used as a noun, e.g.:

Taking the -an off the end of the infinitive will always give the pastStem, and taking the -dan, -tan or -idan off will usually give thepresent stem, but as so many verbs have an irregular present stem,each new verb should be learnt as tfl'o elements: infinitive, froniwhich the past stem is regularly formed, and the present stem.Once thes€ two elements are known, the conjugation of almost anyverb simply follows the rules. Each new verb will therefore beshown thus: infinitive (present stem) e.g. rÕndan (rân).Ìüire shall take the verbs raítan (to go), rãndan (coll. rundan) (todrive) and rasidan (colL rcsidan) (to anive) as models:

rundrn sq!!t ekhordrn ãsrn.e

Infiütiveraftsnrundür€sidrn '

Driving is dif6cultEating is easy

Present stemr|vrunne3

B. TENSES FORMED TROM TIIE PAST STEM

1. The simple past (or preterite)

Since the past stem is closest to the infinitive, the natural order forlearning the tenses in Persian begins with the simple past.To form the simple past (I went, I drove, I arrived etc.), we startwith the infinitive. If we take the -an ending off this, we are leftúth the past stem:

raftan (to go) - raÍtranden (to drive) - randresidan (to arrive) - rcsid

To this we add the personal endings

Singularlst person .rtrl (I)2nd person .i (you)3rd person (he/she/it)

The simple past is therefore:

Singular-1st person: raftam (I went)2nd person: rafü (you went)3rd person: mft (he/she/it went)

e.g. be madrese rafraz madrese tmadbe edfre rtftâmaz cd$re ãmadim

ressorrnREe 31

Plural-lm (we)

-id (you).snd (they)

Pluralmtrm {we went)raftd (you went)raftand (they went)

Note: T\e stress is on the sy'lable before the personal ending, andnot on the ending itself. 'and'is generally pronounced 'an'.

Likewíse:nrndam (I drove) rundim (we drove)nrndi (you drove) rundid (you drove)rund (he/she/it drove) rundand (they drove)

residam (I anived) restdim (we arrived)residt (you arrived) r€stdid (you arrived) ,resid (he/she/it arrived) Í€ddand (they anived)

The simple past of all verbs is formed in this way.

Note that because the penonal endings already indicate who isdoing úe action, the subject pronouns are not used in simplesentences:

He/she went to schoolHe/she came from schoolI went to the officeWe came from the office

When, however, the idea of. who is doing an action is to be stressedor contrasted or reinforced in some way, then the subject pÍonounsare used as well:e.g. u be madrese raft ammã barãdares! der khune mund/mând

He/she went to school but his/trer-brotheiltayed at home(mundan/mãndan : to stay; present stem: mun/mãn)

32 mssox rHnEE

mâ az cdâre ãmadim ammâ unhã mundand\Ve left (came from) the office but they stayed

If the subject is a proper noun, the verb still carries the personalending:

Hrsan be madrese raft - Hassan went to schoolMaryam o Hasan bc - Mariam and Hassanmadrese raÍtand went to school

The negative is formed by adding the verbal prefix na- to thebeginning of the simple past; the negative prefix then carries thestress:

naraftam (I did not go)narafti (you did not go)narundam (I did not drive)narundi (you did not drive)naresidam (I did not arrive)

Here are a few more examples of the infinitive and the past stem:

gereftanãmadandãdankharidankhordanneshastankhundanneveshtanúodan

gereftãmaddãdkharid

!!ordneshastkhundneveshtshod

to taketo cometo giveto buyto eatto sitto readto writeto become

The most common use of the simple past is to express a completedaction in the past. It is also the narrative tense - i.e. the tense usedto describe or report on actions which have taken place.

Note also the following use of the simple past for an action whichis about to be completed:

- I'm coming (in answer Ío 'hurry up', or 'are youcoming?')

ãmadam

LESSON THREE 33

rrtrm - We're off; we're going

In both the above examples, the simple past is being used inresponse to questions or commands which imply that the action isoverdue and ought already to have taken place. The answer to astraightforward question 'are you coming?' would be in the presenttense as in English.

2. The imperfçc1

The imperfect is formed by the addition of the verbal prefix mi- tothe simple past, with the stress on this prefix:miraÍlam (I was going) miraÍüm (we were going)minÍü niraÍtdmireft mlrúand

mirundam (I was driving) nlrundlmmlntndi mirundtdnlntnd mhmdrnd

mirecidrm (I was dting) mlreddtmmlreddi mlresididmircsid miresidand

The imperfect is used to express continuous, habitual or recurrentactions in the past:e.g. pedaram har ruz be edãre miraÍt

My father used to go to the office every dayFâteme har ruz az madrese miâmadFateme used to come from school every dayman hamishe be masjed miraÍtrmI always \rent to the mosqueHasan har ruz az edâre miãmadHassan came frorn the of6ce every dayMaryam nun mipokhtMariam was baking breadmonghi nãme mineveshtThe secretary $'as \ilriting a letter

The imperfect is also used in certain kinds of conditional sentences(See Lesson Ten)"

34,rrssox rrrnsr

In the imperfect tense, the negative prefix is ne- and the stress istransferred to this prefix:

(I was not going)(you were not going)(I was not driving)(you were not driüng)

rdtérundér€sidé

Plural-im-id-and

(we are)(you are)(they are)

neniraÍtamnemiraÍtinemimndamnenirundi

3. The past participle

The past participle consists of the past stem plus an e on the endwhich carries the stress. and this will be transcribed thus: é for thesake of differentiation:

raÍlan raÍtntndan nrndresidsn r€sid

It is used in the formation of the compound tenses (perfect andpluperfect) which will be covered in Lesson Fïve. It is also usedadjectivally.

C. ïhc verü 'lo be'

(a) We have already encountered the use of ast, shortened to .eoÍ .str meaning 'is' (Lesson One). In fact the verb 'to be' has twoforms'in Persian. The present tense is always expressed:(i) by the use of the following personal endings which are addedto the preceding word (except in the case of the 3rd person singularwhere ast stands on its own) and can also be called the short formof 'to be'.

Singular-am (I am)-i (you are)ast/-e (he/she/it is)

Thus:$ub (good)

llubam (I am good)

$ubi (you are good)khub asU-e (he/she/it is good)

khubimkhubidkhuband

(we are good)(you are good)(they are good)

LESSON I.|NEE 35

If one remembers the basic rule.about word srder - i.e. gubiÊct;object, verb, then it will not be difficadt to decide where to putthese endingp.

Some examples of the use of the short form for 'to bsr:borfdanm kuchiÌ.cdustem müiz-cdar bÕz.cketlb ruye mtz.enthir hâzer.eúãm hfzer.emrn tuyc hanum.empecrregôtrn-ad

SOmCnlm-etcsh[rmr

ingilisi hrstid?!!âreji hss6d?

My brother is littleMy friend is sickThe door is openThe book is on the tableLunch is readySupper is readyI am in the bathThe boys are naughty

Note, however, the two colloquialisms:

I am hungryI am thirsty

gü{lsne means 'hungry' and tcglne m€ans 'thiÍsÇ', therefore úeooÍrect forn should in fact be güom.on, |fum, but thesehave been oontracted to gorwn, fu and then had the 3rdpersoÍr singglar + added also.

; . .!(ii) by the use of the more eurphatic fornr hd, also referred to inLesson One, which is conjugated as follows (remernber, thepersonal endings do not take the stress):

hasdmhasmhastand

The form in (i) above is much more common in colloquial use toexpress the simple present tense of 'to be', hast having the slightlymore emphatic meaning already explained, bnr hast etc. is normallyused after a word ending in i, e.g.:

hastsmhasdhst

Are you English?Are you a foreigner? (lit. areyou foreign?)

Both these forms survive in the present tense only, and althoughthe infinitives astan or hrsten are to be found in Persian dictionariesand grammar books, they are no longer fully conjugated.

36 ressox rgnes

A plural subject denoting rational beings takes a plural verb, butinanimate objects and irrational beings take the singular:

e.g. bachchehã iqiã hastand - The children are here!!âhar o barâdaram dar - My brother and sister are inTabriz-and Tabrizketâbã iqiã nist - The books aren't hereruznâmehã iqiâ-st - The newspapers are herekefshã hãzer nist - The shoes aren't ready

For the negative in both cases the negative of hast is used:

nistam (I am not) nistim (we are not)nisti (you are not) nistid (you are not)nist (he/she/it is not) nistand (they are not)

(b) All other tenses of the verb 'to be' are expressed by the verbbudan (bã$) which is conjugated as follows:

Preteritelsimple pastbudam (I was) budim (we were)budi (you were) budid (you were)bud (he/she/it was) budand (they were)

As with the preterite of other verbs, the negative prefix is na- whichis stressed:

nabudam, nabudi, etc.

ImperfectThe forms mibudam, mibudi etc. are regularly formed but seldomused except in certain kinds of conditional sentences and not at allin coÌloquial speech. These are literary and only given here for thepurpose of recognition should you encounter them.

Present tenseThis is formed quite regularly from the present stem (bash),

mibãsham mibãshimmibãshi mibashidmibâshad mibashand

but it is not normally used to express 'I am', .you are' etc. It is infact so rarely used as such that if you ask the average lranian the

present tense of budrn, you willhast etc.

I PHRASF,S ANI' EXPRESSIONS

ingFlldenghr d|eh

mãshâtlâ

ãftãb budbârun gereftdorost úod

!!ub qlod/bad glodlharãb qlod

EXERCISES

A. Read aloud. and then translate:1.. otãgham bozorg o tamiz bud2. dustam az edãre ãmad3. Maryam subune \hord4. manzele dustam dur nabud5. ingilisi hastid?6. otobus por bud7. tâksi khãli bud8. Hasan har ruz be edãre miraft9. neshestam o kami ruznâme khundam

10. bã dusteqh be hotel raft11. gherã ãmadi?12. nasime molãyemi mivazid

rrssoN nüEE 37

probably be told hrúm, hts$,

God willing. A much-usedphrase in reference A funretime./it. what_Qod wills; a rnuchused verbal talisman. It isalways said if one has paidsorneone a compliment, orpraised something. It's verymuch like'touch wood' onlywith a religious elernent. ìlasabe sLub is also said ('touchwood'), but not as much.The sun was shiningIt started to rain/it. it came nght; said of asatisfactory outcomeIt turned out welVbadlyIt was spoilt, it went wïong

I

I

3E LEssoN THnEE

B. Put into Percian:1. The plane arrived late2. My room was large and clean3. My friend was there4. We came yesterday5. The secretary was writing a letter6. Did you write a letter?7. Is your daughter's school there?8. Did you go to his house?

C. Make the sentences in exercise B negative

Lesson Four(darse chahãrom)

Nore: Passage 1 is a little conversation and to pÍeserve the flowand feeling of the text, the usual colloquiaUliterary formathas not been followed. It is given instead in the vocabulary.

Read aloud:

l. kojã miri?mil!ãm beram mive bekharammanam bâhet miãmpas zud bag!

"hun ziãd vaght nadâram

piãde miri?bale

2. Maryam har ruz be maghãzeye Akbar ãghã mire/miravad. darunjã chãi o shir o kare vo panir mikhare/mikharad. ba'd benunvãi mire vo nun mikhare. diruz az ghassãbi gusht kharid.emnrz unjâ nemire. ãire davãkhune barãye dokhtareshdavã mikhare. ba'd be m"nreìãh mire vo Ue Uactr-chehãsh/bachchehâyash sobune miOeÃiAahaa.

Vocabulary:bÕh€t/bã to@

bebellrranberamchniglundavâdrvâlluneilurr @rep.)gushtÈrssãbihrrkar€!!üidkojãnagüezenrnam/nrnhrm

with yoube!(imperuive)tothat I may buythat I may goteabecausemedicinepharmacyinmeatbutcher'seach, everybutterhe/she boughtwhere?shopme too

LEssoN roun 39

nide/mtdehaó he/she/it givesni!$n/ I wantmikhâhsmnillerd he/she buysmi!!9radmiri/minvi you gomirelmiravad helshe goesmive fruitnsdãnm I haven't gotnemire she doesn't

gonunvâi bakerypanir cheesepllde on footshtr milkvaght timedrd a lotztd earlyztd ry be quick

Norz; bôhet: colloquial form of bÕ to (with you)rnrnlrn: colloquial form of man ham (me too, I also)

VERBS II

TENSES FORMED FROM TIIE PRESENT STEM

1. The present tense

The present tense is formed by the addition of the verbal prefixmi- to the present sÍern, followed by the personal endings whichare the same as for the simple past, except for the third personsingular which is -ad. The endings will therefore be:

40 rsssox Foun

Singular PluralLst person: -am -im2nd penon: -i -id3rd person: -ad -and

In regular verbs, if we take the -dan, -tan or -idan off the infinitive.we will be left with the present stem, but as already mentioned inLesson Three, many verbs have an irregular present stem which iswhy this should be learnt with each new verb.

The present stem of raftan is rav, of rundan, run, of residan, res,therefore:

mi * rav * am : miravam (I go)mi * run * am : minrnam (I drive)mi * res * am : miresam (I arrive)

As with the imperfect, the stress is on the verbal prefix mi-.

From raftan (rav), we will therefore have:

miravam (I go) miravim (we go)miravi (you go) miravid (you go)miravad (he/she/it miravand (they go)

goes)

from rundan (run):

mirunam (I drive) mirunim (we drive)miruni (you drive) mirunid (you drive)mirunad (he/she/it mirunand (they drive)

drives)

from residan (res):

miresam (I arrive) miresim (we arrive)miresi miresidmiresad miresand

In speech, the -ad ending of the 3rd person singular of all verbsformed from tire present stem is shortened to -e when the stemends in a consonant. Therefore:

miresad becomes mirese (he/she/it arrives or is arriving)mirunad becomes mirune (he/she drives or is driving)

LFSSON IOUR 4I

When the present stem ends in h, v, or a vowel, however, (a) ayis sometimes inserted after the vowel and (b) tenses formed fromit aÍe contracted still further. These have to be learned individuallyas there is no general rule to indicate when this takes place.

(i) mfran - pÍesent stem: nYmlravam, mlravi, mirevad, etc become:

mlrem mlrimmiri miridntre mlrtn

(ü) inodrn (i) - to comemilyam, miii, mirlyed, miiim, mlãld, milyend, become

(iii) drdü (dch) - to give; lircrary form: mtdrhrm, mldrhl etc.

(Note the exceptional úange of the vowel e to a when the verb isconjugated)

tn|ttmdüdnifn

miimmlrynild

midrmmidimide

midimmididmidan

The stress remains on the first syllable.

The negative is formed by adding the prefix ne-, which then carriesthe stress: e.g.

nemiram, nemiri, nemire etc

The present tense in Persian renders both the simple present andthe present continuous in English.

Hasan mi'ãil (miãyad\Maryam mirebaúmiâdMaryam mã$in mirunemongbi nime minevise

b!run nemiâd

Hassan comeVis comingMariam goes/is goinglt snows/is snowingMariam drives a carlis drivingThe secretary writeVis writ-ing a letterIt doesn't rain/isn't raining

42 LEssoN FouR

It is also used for an action which began in the past and continuesinto the present:

paqi ruz+ ke dar hotel-em - I have been in the hotel for fivedays (and am still there)

(Note: ke = 'that' and will be covered rnore fully in Lesson Ten)

ez diruz tâ hiln minevise - He has been writing since yesterday

In colloquial usage, the present is also used for the future:e.g. fardâ bilit mikharam - I'll buy a ticket tomorrolv

It will always be clear from the context whether or not the futuretense is meant.

2. The Subjunctive

The subjunctive is formed from the present stem \yith the additionof the prefix be- and the penonal endings. Othenvise it follows thesame pattern as the present:

be + present stem + personal endings = subjunctive

e.g. mndan - (ron):

berunam (that I may drive) berunimberuni beruntdberune/ad berunand

raftan - (rav):

beravam (that I may go) beravimberavi beravidberavad beravand

which will be shortened in speech to:

beramberibere

berimberidberand

Note that the subjunctive of budan (bãsh), .to be', is formed fromthe present stem plus the personal endings but without the be-:

bâshamb@ibãshe/-ad

bãshimbãshidbashand

LESSON FOUR 43

The present subjunctive is used a great deal in Persian. Here aresome of its uses:(i) The first and third persons singular and plural are used in

questions which are expressed in English by 'shall Awe?'etc.:

beram khune? Shall I go home?berim bãzãr? - Shall we go to the bazaar?berim sheno? - Shall we go swimming?bere kharid? - Shall he/she go shopping?

(ii) The first person plural is used in the sense of 'let's':

berim khune Let's go homeberim bÕzãr - Let's go to the bazaarberim gleno Let's go swimming

(iii) The subjunctive is always used after the verbs:

!!ãstan (!Iãh) - to wantand tavãnestan (tavân) - to be able

nilil!âm Brãghln berunam - [ want to drive a carmitunam mâshln berunam - I can drive a car

In each case both khãsúan and tavãnesúan and the verbexpressing the action agree with each other in person andnumber, and this usage should be noted as it is quite unlikeEnglish:

mikhtun (lst pers. sing. present) beram (lst pers. sing.subjunctive)

I want (lst pers. sing. present) to go (infinitive)

mi!!ãm beram bãzâr - I want to go to the bazaarmi!!âd bere khune - He wants to go homeni!!ãm beram mive - I want to go and buy somebekharam fruit

In order to say 'I do not want to go', 'I cannot drive' etc,the stressed negative prefix ne- is put before the appropriateform of khâstan or tavãnestan:

nemikhãm beram I don't want to gonemitune berune - He can't drive

44 LESSON FOUR

(iv) The words bãyad (must, ought to) and"qhãyad (perhaps,maybe) also take the present subjunctive when referring tothe present or future:

bãyad beram khune - I must go homebâyad kafú bekharam - I must buy some shoesghãyad beram mosãferat - Perhaps I will go away (on a

Journey)g!âyad manzel bãshe - Maybe he's at home

(v) Whenever the verb gozãshtan (gozãr) which also means 'toput' is used in the sense of 'to permit', 'to allow', the verbfollowing it is in the subjunctive:

(Note that in spoken Persian, the go is also dropped fromthe present stem of gozãshtan so that tenses formed from itsound as though the stem were zãr.)

bezãr beram - L,et me gobezãr bebinam - Let me seenemizãram beri - [ won't let you go

(vi) The subjunctive is used in a variety of subordinate clauseswhich will be covered in lrsson Ten.

3. The imperative

The imperative singular is formed by adding the prefix be- to thepresent stem:

rundan (run) - berun - drive!residan (res) - beres - arrive! (get there!)

The following exceptions should, however, be noted:

(o) If the present stem ends in av, this becomes o in the impera-tive singular:

shenidan (shenav) ---+ besheno -+beshno (hear!)

(b) If the imperative singular ends in o, the prefix be- sometimesbecomes bo-:

raftan (rav) --+ bero ---r boro (go!)These cases have to be learned individuallv.

LESSON FOUN 45

(c) The verb buden does not take be-:

budan {bâsttl + bãsh

The plural takes the -id ending of the second person plural:

b€runid beresid berid bãshid

The negative imperative, 'do not . .' is formed by the use of theprefix na- instead of be/bo-:

-narunnaresmronabãsh

narunidnaresidnaridnabâshid

Apart from the actual numerical plural sense, i.e. for commandsto more than one person, the imperative plural is also the morepolite form when addressing a single person in the same \ilay asshomâ (see Lesson Two, Subject Pronouns (b)).

NOUN OF THE AGENT

A noun denoting the person doing the action concerned and there-fore called the noun of the agent is formed from the pÍesent stemof some verbs.

This is done by adding the suffix -ande to the present stem. A pointto notice here is that the vowel changes that take place in the otherspoken forms of such verbs do not usually apply to the noun of theagent.

e.g. rândan (rãn) - to drive: rânande - driver (pl. rânandehâ)forukhtan (foruü) - to sell: forushande - salesperson (p/.forughandehâ)khãndan - G!an) - to read, to sing: ktanande - reader, singer(p/. khtuandehã)shenidan - (shenav) - to hear: shenavande - hearer, listener(p/. shenavandegãn)

M LEssoN FouR

Some common verbs:

ãmedan (â)bordan (bar)ãvarden (ír) (coll. âvorden)goftan (gu)budan (bãg!)shoden (shav)kardan (kon)dildan (deh)gereftan (gir)

!!ãndan (!!an) (col/. khundan)bastan (band)nqlpstan (neq$n)isúedan (ist)didsn (bin)glenidan (sheno)khordan @o")Elibidrn (khãb)nushidan (nush)dãshtsn (dâr)zadan (zen)

Ìo cometo taketo bringto sayto beto becometo doto giveto taketo readto close, to shutto sitto stand, to stopto seeto hearto eaídrinkto sleepto drinkto haveto hit

Notes:1. Strictly speaking, llordan means 'to eat', but it is also generally

used to mean 'to drink':e.g. ghszã khordam

âb khordsm

In fact, the term for'drinking-wateÍ' is ãbe khordan.

2. nug!$en is seldom used in colloquial speech, but the nounderived from it nushâbe is commonly used to refer to non-alcoholic drinks of the bottled fizzy kind which are available invariety and very popular.

Thus in a restaurant or even in a shop one might ask:nugllbc chi dãrid? - What do you have in the way of drinks?

or one might be asked:

nushâbe chi mikhãid - lühat drink would you like?

I ate foodI drank water

LESSON FOUR 47

3. The verb dãútan does not take mi- or bc-. Its present tense is:

singular pluraldãram (I have) dãrimdãri dãriddâre/ad dârand

The imperfect is the same as the simple past:

dãshtam: I had, I was having

The present subjurictive is:

dâshté bãsham4àshté bashi etc.

which is also the form of the past subjunctive (see Lesson Five).

The imperative of dãshtan is dag!É baç!.

I PHRASES AND EXPR&SSIONS

kojâ miri? Where are you going?kojã mirid? Where aÍe you going? Qtolite)bã chi miri? How are you going? (/rr. with what

are you going?)bã táksi miram I'm going by taxivãllâh Honestly, in truthba$e OK (spoken form of bãslutd = let it

be, the 3rd person singular of thesubjunctive o/ budan)

tslodã nakone God forbid!bejomb Be quick! hurry up! (from

jombidan, to move); get a moveon!

48 LEssoN Foun,

EXER,CISES

A. Read aloud then translate:1. havã sard-e, barf miãd2. monúi nãme mineúse3. har che zudtar miram4. mikhãm piãde beram mive bekharam5. Maryam az davãkhune barãye pesaresh davã mikhare6. mã barãye sobune nun o panir o chãi mikhorim7. dustam natunest bã mâ biãd8. fardã miram edãre9. dar-o beband

B. Put into Persian:L. Hassan goes to the office every day2. She does not go there every day3. It is raining4. Are you English?5. No, I am Iranian. I am not English6. He wants to come to my house7. I'll go tomorrow8. Why did you Qtlural) come?9. Where is he going?

10. Where are you going tomorrow?

C. Put the following into (a) the present tense; (b) the imperfect;(c) the subjunctive'

L. raftam2. goftim3. rundid4. khordand5. shod

D. Give the imperative singular of the following:1. to say2. to hear3. to eat4. to run5. to come

Lesson Five(darse panjom)

Read aloud:mosãfer be istgãhe otobus resid. az gishe chandtã biiit kharid chundar lrãn bilit o/rã dar otobus nemifruúand. mardom unhã ro/rãaz gishe mikharand. otobus resid. hame savãr shodand. dar ba'ziotobusa bilit o be rãnande midand, dar ba'zihã-ham be shãgerd-ghofor. otobus rãh oftãd. jã kam bud o chand nafar istãdé budand.be istgãhe awal nazdik shodand. ye nafar sedã zad: ãghã negahdãr. otobus istãd. rãnande dar o bãz kard. chand nafar piãdeshodand, dar basté shod o bãz otobus rãh oftad. rãnande be sã'atashnegãh kard - kami dir shodé bud.

Vocabulary:awal firstbãrz(adverb) againba'zi somebasté closed (pasr

participle)

Èand someghandtã severalgrshe boothham alsohame everyone, allistgâh stopistgâhe otobus bus stop

mardom peoplemoeãfer passengernafar personnegah dãr stop!nazdik úod approachednemifnrshand they don't sellpiãde qlodand they got offrãnande driverrãh oftãd set offsavãr shodand they got onsedâ zad (zan) (he) called outsedã noise. voice

stopped

Nole.' nemifrushand: the verb is forukhtan (forush); the u is elidedin speech in tenses derived from the present stem.Tenses formed from the past stem behave normally.

New verbs: savãr shodan (gbav): to get on, to mountrâh oftâdan (oft): to set off, to start up

50 ressox rrw

- nâzdtk shodan (qhav): to approach, to nearsedâ ladrn (zan): to callnegú d&htsn (dâr): to stop, to holdpüide gloden (g!av): to get off (a bus etc.\bsstan (band): to closeistãd8tr (lst): to stand, to stop

USE OF TIIE PARTICLE RÃ

One of the characteristics of Persian is the use of the particle râafter the word or phrase that is the definite direct object of theverb.

Up to now we have used very simple basic sentence patterns Ìvhichhave tended to express states of being rather than actions:

but if we want to say 'he closed the door', then 'he' is the subjectand'the door'is the definite direct object - the speciôc thing towhich the aetion is being done - in which case it will.be followedby the particle rt.

râ is changed in speech to ro (following a word ending in a vowelsound) and o (following a consonant), though this is not necessarilyvery consistent, and you may notice such inconsistencies in thisbook.

dar o bastchãi ro ãvordbilit o kharidghazõ ro !!ord

If the direct object is a group of words, the rã comes after thegÍoup:

dsr hste astcEl hâzer.c

otobuse hotel o didammoãvene vazir o didsedãye radio ro shenid

Where a noun to which a

The door is closedThe tea is ready

He closed the door- He brought the tea

He bought the ticketHe ate the food

I saw the hotel busHe saw the deputy ministerHe heard the sound of theradio

pronominal suffix has been added

LESSON FIVE 51

(kctÕbam, ketâbet, etc.) is the direct object of the verb, then therâ is added after the suffix:ketãbam o gom kardsm - I lost my book (gom kardan: to lose)and if such a noun is qualified by an adjective, it follows theadjective:ketãbc sefidan o gom kardam - I lost my white book

Personal pronouns are definite and therefore take rã when theyare the direct object of the verb:

man+rt=m8rtto+ú=tortetc.

In speech these forms úll be:rnrno mÍFotoro shomÕno

$enrran mano zod - My sister hit me

A direct object can, however, be indefinite, in which case theres,ill be no rã:

the ye can also be left out:

bilit kharidketâb âvordchãi khord

Note: One does not, however, say dar bast to mean 'he closed adoor'. In colloquial speech one always says dar o bast, asthe door is considered to be a definite object in this case.The phrase dar bast is used adjectivally and is explained atthe end of this lesson.

COMPOUND VERBS

Persian has relatively few simple verbs, therefore another featureof the language is the extensive use that is made of compoundverbs. These consist of a few common verbs such as 'make'. 'do'.

ye blüt llaridye ketâb Ívordye g!ãl !!ord

He bought a ticketShe broug[t a bookHe drank a orp of tea

He bought a ticketShe brought a bookHe drank some tea

52 rnssox rrvs

'become', etc. coupled with a noun, adjective, adverb, verbal nounor preposition. In each case the verb is conjugated but the quali-fying word remains unchanged throughout.

The verbs used most in compounds are:

kardan (kon) - to do, to make, for transitive verbsshodan (shav) - to become, for intransitive verbs

e.g.: bãz - openkardan - to dobãz kardan - to open

dar o bâz karddar bãz shodbachche man o khaste kard - The child made me tiredfhaste qbodam

or, in the present tense:

dar o bãz mikonedar bãz mishe

- He opened the door- The door opened

- I got tired

- He opens the door- The door opens

bachche men o khaste mikone - The child makes me tired- I get tired

Compound verbs are used as if they \ilere a single verb, i.e. theygenerally come at the end of the sentence and the separate partsare placed together.

They are conjugated normally, the only difference being in theimperative, where the verb does not take the prefix be- so thatwhereas the imperative of kardan used on its own will be bekon,in a compound it is kon:

dar o bãz kon - Open the door

Look again at this phrase from the reading passage at the beginningof this lesson:

ãghã negah dãr (the verb is negah dãshtan)

and note that when dãshtan is being used as a compound verb, itsimperative is formed regularly.

The following are some more verbs generally used. to formcompounds:

LESSON.FIVE 53

dishtan (dÕr) to have, to possessdôdrn (deh/deh) to gve

SereÍtsn (gir) to take, to getzadan (zan) to hit, to strikekhordan (!!or) to eatâmadan (ã) to comeãvardan (àr') (coll. ãvordan) to bring

Some examples of compound verbs are:

(a) with adjectives:

boland - long, tall, highboland kardan - to lift (also to lengthen)boland shodan - to get up

khub - goodkhub úodan - to get well, to get better

Note that in general the English 'to get . . .' will be rendered by acompound verb with úodan.

kutâ - shortkutã kardan - to shorten

dorost - correct, right, properdorost kardan - to make, fix, mend (a much-used compound verb)

sandali ro boland kard He picked up the chairaz jash/jayash boland shod She got up from her placemariz khub shod The patient got betteremtahãnam khub shod I did well in my examdâmanesh o kutã kard - She shortened her skirtghazâ ro dorost kard She got the mealtalhtekhãb o dorost kard She made the bedmâshinesh o dorost kard He fixed the car

(b) with nouns:

gushgush kardangush dãdan

ear- to listen- to listen

54 rnssoN nvn

hammâm (col/. hamum) - bathhamun karden to have a bath

dush showerdush gereftan to have a shower

farãr kardan to escape (see also dar raÍtanin section (c))

dast handdast dãdan to shake hands

zamin ground, land, earth (not soilwhich is khak)

zamin khordan - to fall down (ftr. to eat theground)

be a$bãr gush kard - She listened to the newsbâ dustegh dast dãd He shook hands with his friendbqlgle zamin khord The child fell down

(c) with prepositions:

bar (on, up, off)

ber dãshtsn to remove, to pick up, to takebar gdtân to return, to comeigo back

ketâb o bar dâsht - She picked up the bookfardã bar migardam I'll come back tomorrow

dar (in)

dar âvonilan to take off. to take outdar raftan to escape (more colloquinl

thanÍarir karden), to getaway, to go off (guns etc.), tosnap (elastic), to ladder(stockings)

dar kardan to let off (a gun etc.)

lebãsesh o dar ãvord She took off her dressgorbe dar raft The cat got a\ilayjurãbam dar raft I laddered my stocking (/ir:

my stocking ran away)

(d) with prepositional phrases:

az bôrn raftanaz dast dâdan

rafté-am (I have gone)rafté-irafté ast

rãndé-am (I havedriven)rândé-irãndé ast

LEssoN FïvE 55

to cease to existto lose {a person throughdeath, a contract, a job, etc.;to lose things ,s anothercompound gom kardan; to getlost ir gom qbodan)

rafté-im (we have gone)raÍté-idraÍté-and

rãndé-im (we have driven)

r:andé-idrãndé-and

COMPOUND TENSES

The compound tenses of single verbs are the perfect, the pluperfect,the future, the past subjunctive and the passive. They are formedwith the use of the verbs budan (bãsh) oto be', khãstan (khãh) 'towant' and shodan (shav) 'to become', which therefore act asauxiliary verbs.

1. ïhe Peúect

This is formed from the past participle with the addition of theshort forms of the verb 'to be':

The past participle consists of the past stem with an accented esound (transcribed é) on the end: raftan - raft - rafté.

The forms of the perfect tense are:

-im-id-and

-am-iast

The perfect tense is generally contracted in speech so that it soundsvery much like the simple past, except that the stress is now'on thelast syllable and not the first:

56 Lsssoì{ FrvE

raft-amraÍt-iraÍt ast

rând-amrãnd.idrãnd ast

raft-imÌaft-idraft-and

rãnd-imrãnd-idrãnd-and

In the third person singular, it is also quite common in speech touse the past participle on its own when in fact the perfect is meant:-

otobus rafté The bus has gone

The negative prefix is na-, which then carries the stress:

otobus narafté The bus hasn't gone

The perfect tense is quite common in colloquial Persian. It usually.refers to actions which have recently been completed or whichstarted in the past but which haven't yet been completed:

ketâb o ãvordé-am I have brought the bookruznãme rã khundé-arn - I have read the newspapertãksi âmadé ast The taxi has comeMaryam khãbidé ast Mariam is sleeping

2. The Pluperfect

The pluperfect is formed from the past participle, which does notchange, and the simple past of budan:

rafté budam (I had gone) rafté budim (we had gone)rafté budi rafté budidrafté bud rafté budand

The use of the pluperfect in Persian is much the same as in English,except that it is also used as a descriptive tense in the past: istãdébud : was standing, stood.

3. The Future

The future tense is formed by using the present tense of the verbkhãJtsn (E!ãh) 'to tvant', minus the usual verbal prefix mi-,followed by the past stem of the verb:

The future propeÍ is used in formal speech (radio and televisionnews or announcements, for example) but in colloquial speech thepresent tense is used instead, as already indicated in Lesson Four.

Note that whenever khãstan is used in its own sense and not as anauxiliary, it behaves quite normally in the present tense:

chãi mikham - t want some tea

khãham raft (I will go)khãhi raftkhãhad raft

-it tra--n""am khune

LEssoN FIvE 57

khãhim raft (we will go)

lhâhid reftkhâhand raft

4. The Past Subjunctive

The past subjunctive is formed by using the past participle followedby the present subjunctive of the verb budan:

raÍté bãsham (I may have gone)rajté bãshiraÍté bãgle/baglad

The past subjunctive is used:(a) after bâyad and shâyad when they refer to the past:

bâvad rafté bãsheshãvad in o didé bâshi

koglté qlodkoshté misham

I want to go home

rafté bãshimrafté bãúidrafté bãqband

He must have gonePerhaps you've seen this

he/she/it was killedI shall be killed etc.

(b) to express doubt about something in the past:

mitarsam gom shodé bâshe I'm afraid it may have got lost

(c) as the present subjunctive of dâshtan (see Lesson Four).

5. The Passive

The passive is formed by using the past participle followed by theappropriate tense of the verb ghodan (qhav) 'to become':

e.g. from koútan (kosh) to kill:

I

58 rnssox nvr,

Use of the passive is very restricted in Persian and it is not used ifthe active can be used instead.

PHRASES AND EXPRESSIONS

dar bast Exclusive - in relation to the hireof cars, taxis or even buses; if theyare ô* bast it means no one otherthan the person hiring them (ormembers of their party) wíll usethem. The phrase ts relevantbecause ordinary taxis, forexarnple, are by no means daÍbrrst. They pick up several passen-gers as they go, depending onwhether their dutinations fit theroute the taxi happens to betaking.lit. the imperative o/farmudan'tocommand'. Thisk avery commonword, used'1,. when givtng or showing

someone sornething to mean'here you are'

2. in the sënse of 'after you'3. in the sense of 'come in'4. by people serving the public in

shops, offices etc. to mean'what can I do for you?'

Please, when asking someone todo something (from khúeghkardan 'to request politely', 'toask a favour'). khãhesh mikonamcan be used at the beginning or atthe end of a sentence or phrasee.g. !!âheú mikonarn dar rã bãzkonid: please open the door.Tell me, " . . e.g. begu bebinamemruz kojã mirim tell me, whereare twe going today

befarmãid

khãhesh mikonam

begu bebinam

LESSoN Fryl 59

begid bebinrm polite form of beg! bebinam

I Some useful commands:

bar gard/bar gerdid Come back! ffamiliarlpolite)boro/b€rid Gol (familiarlpolite)bÕz kon/bãz konid - Open!dar o bcbond Shut the door!dar o bebandid Shut the door! @olite)b€E[iilbcg$núd Sit down! (familiarlpolite)boland gìo Get up!, Stand uP!boland shH Get up!, Stand up! (politÒ

EXERCISES

A, Read aloud and translate:1. rãnande dar o bãz kard2. pesaram dar o bast3. ketãb o ãvord4. bilite otobus o az sishe kharid5. pesare shâtun 51ôtfi tumin mikhore6. be hotel raftam o hamum kardam7. havã khâli sard shodé vo har ruz bãrun miãd8. lebãsam o dar ãvordam9. dar o bãz kon. nazdike ãb naro. panjere ro beband

10. dir residam o otobus rafté bud

B. Put into Persian:1. He closed the door; she brought the tea; they ate the food2. He bought a newspaper; she drank a cup of tea; we had some

food (i.e. we ate)3. They saw the hotel bus4. We saw the dePutY minister5. My friend opened the door. He said: "Come in"6. Someone called out: 'Stop'7. Do not open the door8. Please close the window9. The bus has gone

1.0. Has the taxi come?

60 ressox rrve

SUMMARY OF VERB ENDINGS

PRESENI.' mí- * present stem +

IMPERFECT: mi- * past stem +

PRETERITE: past stem +

PERFECT: past participle +

PLUPERFECT: past participle *

FUTUREPROPER: khãham

khãhi

E!ãhad

PRESENTSUBJUNCTNE' be + present stetn +

PASTSUBIUNCTNE: past participle +

-sm -fun-i -id-ad -and

-am -im-i -id- -snd

-am -im-i -id- -and.ltrl -im-t -idast -and

btdrm budimbudi büüdbüd büünd

khÕhim + past stcmEllhidkhihand

-am -im-i -id-ad -and

bãsham bãshimb@i bâúidbâglad bãshand

IMPERATM: be/bo + present stem

NEGATNE IMPERATM.' na- + present stem

The -ad of the 3rd person singular present and subjunctive is short-ened to -e in speech.

Lesson Six(darse shighom)

Read aloud:pãyeta!!-te lrãn Tehrãn-e. Tehrãn shahre bozorgi-e va taghribannoh meliun nafar jam'iyat dãre. bigltqre unhã dar ghesmathãyejonubiye shahr zendegi mikonand. bishtare edãrehã dar ghesma-thãye markaziye shahr-and. esme ghesmate shomãliye shãhr Shem-run-e. Shemrun dar dãmaneye kuhâye Alborz-e. bishtare khune-hãye bõzorge Tehrãn dar Shemrun-and chun havaye unla O"ttãbestun khonaktar az ghesmathãye digeye shahr-e. asrhãyetãbestun mardom ba'd az kãreshun barãve sardesh o tafrih o este-fade az havãye behtar be mâd-anha vo iarËnaye-qnemrun mirando gardesh mikonand. bishtar bã mãshine shakhsi mirand, gar chebã otobus o tãksi ham mishe raft. havãve Tehrãn dar tãbestunt1êrti garm va dar zemestuã-khâh sard-e. bãrun kamtar azEnge-lestãn mibâre. dar zemestãn gãhi barf ziãd mibãre. dar jonubeTehrãn, dar shahre ghadimiye Rey, pãlãyeúgãhe Tehrãn va glandkarkhuneye dige gharãr gerefté. dãneúgãhe Tehrãn dar vasateqhahr-e. har hafte mardom barãye namãze jom?e be unjã mirand.

Vocabulary:asrhãbãrunbnridan (bâr)

d,ãncglgãhdâmanedige/digarEngelestânesmgãhigardeghgar gheghadini

evemngsrainto fall (of rain,

snow etc\universityfoothillsotherEnglandnamesometimesoutingalthoughold

gharâr gerefté is situatedglesmathã paÍs, sectionsjam'iyat populationjonub southkâr workkãrfhune factorykuhâ mountains

lhonak coolmarkazi centralmeliun millionmibãre it fallsnafar personsnamez prayers

62 rmsox slx

noh ninepãlãyeshgâh refinerypãyetakht capitalshakhsi personal

úomâü northerntãb€stun/ãn summer

dir ãmadzud raftkhub mikhunebad mirunerâst borodorost beshin/beneshin

tafrihtaghribanvasat(e)zemestun/ânzendegi

mikonand

recreationapproximatelymiddle (of)winterthey live

Notes: migbe raÍt: one can go; in addition to 'become', ttíe verbshodan also has the meaning of it is possible', and is usedin this kind of impersonal construction.

namâz: the name for the prayers which every practisingMoslem must say five times a day. It is one of themost important of the practical religious duties -others are fasting, almsgiving and pilgrimage. OnFridays it is customary for the noon prayers to besaid in congregation in the mosque. The word forordinary prayer is do'ã, the verb is do'ô kardan(kon)

ADVERBS AI{D ADVERBIAL EXPRF,SSIONS

Adverbs or adverbial expressions of time usually come before thoseof manner and place. If a sentence contains all three, then theorder will be: time, manner, place e.g.:

har nrz bã tSksi bc ednrc miram - I go to the office by taxi everyday

1. Most adjectives are used as adverbs in Persian without anychange:

- He came late- She weníleft earlv- She reads well- He drives badly- Go straight on- Sit properly

LESSON SIX 63

2. Many nouns of time and place are also used adverbially:

It is also very common in speech for these nouns to be put in theplural when being used adver.bially:

He reads the paper in themorningsI read books at nightHe goes to classes in theevenings

3. Other adverbs of time and manner are:

sob dars mikhuneshab kâr mikoneruz mikhãbeasr bãrun ãmadzohr namãz mikhuneghorub ãb pâchi mikonesahar pâ mishe

ketâb o bezar iqiãuqiâ naraftamaz pelle bâlã raft

sobã ruznãme mikhune

shabâ ketãb mikhunamasrã kelâs mire

He studies in the morningHe works at nightHe sleeps during the dayIt rained in the eveningShe says her prayers at noonHe does the watering at duskShe gets up at dawn (pd

$odan)Put the book hereI didn't go thereHe went up the steps

todayyesterdaythe day before yesterdaylast nighttomorrowthe day after tomorrowalwaysnowmonthlythis yearlast yearstillnot yetneverneverright now; just

(a) Time:emruzdiruzpariruzdishabfardiipsfardãhamiúehâtãmâhyuneemsãlpârsãlhanuzhanuz. . . na-hiúvaghthar gezaltân

64 rsssox srx

râ hãlibÕrhicãhiyek dafe

cnrnu miram $uneyedustam

diruz maghâze baste budpaÌiruz raftam bâzãr

dishab dir khãbidamfardâ zud boland mishampasfardã mirarn sahìni

hamishe ketãb mikhunehamishe mire masjedhâlã vaghú nadãrammajaleye Dãneshmand

mâhyune dar miãdemsâl biirun ziãd umadpãrsãl mive farâvun budhanuz baú miãddustam hanuz nayãmadedustet hanuz nayãmade?higlvaght havâpômã savãr

nashodé budhar gez torâ farãmush

nemikonamal'ãn miãmal'ân telefon kardtã hâlã khub kâr kardétã hãlã telefon nakardébãrhã be manzele man ãmadé-

budgâhi u rã mibinamyek dafe tãrik shod

up to no\r'; yetoften, many timessometimessuddenly (/r't. one time, one)

I'm going to my friend's housetoday

The shop was shut yesterdayI went to the bazaar the day

before yesterdayI went to bed late last nightI'll get up early tomorrowI'll go to the hairdressers the

day after tomorrowHe's always readingHe always goes to the mosqueI've no time now'Daneshmand' appears

monthlyIt rained a lot this yearFruit was plentiful last yearIt's still snowingMy friend hasn't come yetHasn't your friend come yet?He had never been on a plane

I'll never forget you

I'm coming right nowShe just telephonedlt has worked well up to nowShe hasn't telephoned yetHe had come to my house

many timesI see him sometimeslt suddenly went dark

Note: 'often' is frequently rendered in colloquial speech by titrôli('very') which is like the English use of ,a lot':khôü b€ manzele man âmadé - He has come to mv house

a lot

4. Some adverbs are derived from Arabic and usually end in -an:

(b) Manner:

ãhesteyavaqhtonddbettetenhõbâ hamintowruntowrgbetowr

úond naroyavig! boroÕh€ste beÉnidtanhi birun narobiâ bã ham berim gadcghunlowr nist

aghallanÈpbhnmovaglattantaÈribanfetlrrn

masalanaslanbelakhare

aghallan sadtÉi mãshin tuyesaf bud

injâ ghablan madrese bud

edãreye bargh fyuzemun omovaglattan dorost kard

taghriban pa4jâh nafarâmadé budan

fe'lan nemitunam biãm

LESSON,STX 65

slowlyslowlyfastcertainlyalonetogetheÍthus, in this way, like thislike thathow

Don't go fastGo slowlyDrive slowlyDon't go out aloneLet's go somewhere togetherIt's not like that

at leastformerlytemporarilyapproximatelyfor the time being, for themomentfor exampleat allat last, finally

There were at least a hundredcars in the queue

This [place] was formerly aschool

The electricity boardtemporarily mended ourfuse

There were about fifty peoplethere

I can't come for the moment

6ó'.rmsox srx

PREPOSITIONS

There are two groups of prepositions used in Pe rsian, those withoutthe ezãfe and those which are connected to the noun by means ofthe ezãfe. Some of these have already been used in the readingpassages at the beginning of the lessons.

Prepositions always come before the noun to which they refer.

Prepositions without the ezãfe are:

fromwithfortowithoutup to, to, as far asexceptinon (in compounds)

az has a wide variety of meanings:

In Lesson Two we saw its uss to express 'than'in comparisons:

ú,bÕberiycbchitãtüzdarbor

u

n4[irc mrn az n$lncio bozorgúsrr

The most common meaning of az, however, is 'from':

e.g.:

az dustam nãme dâshtam

az hotel telefon mikonam

mive ro az bâzãr kharidam

az Tehrian tâ Tabriz sheshsadkilometr-e

kilide otâg! o az man gereft

- My car is bigger thanyours

- I had a letter frommy friend

- I am phoning fromthe hotel

- I bought the fruitfrom the bazaar

- It is six hundredkilometres fromTehran to Tabriz

- He took the key ofthe room from me

or 'of':kami az in b{!or - Have some of this

bÕ: witbdastam o bÕ Õb o sibun sbosúen - I washed my hands

with soap and waterMaryan b0 !$harq[ rgft mafr,ese - Mariam went to

school with her sisterbÕ duefam rrnrm meümni - I went lo a party with

my friend

az kojl rmdé-id?

az can also mean 'through/in':

az dar ãmad

az der vâred sbod

bÕ hm südllortubâ mo'&vm vdr sohbot larüem(oohbot krrds - to speak)

hrãye: forloftan barâye mon yek chli biãrid

kgr kardan barãye man siakhl+

barãye chi âmadi?

be: tobe man telefon konketâb o beh€$ dãd

be Irãn umad

behem negã kard/be man negãkard

lrssox'stx ó7

- lVhere have youcome from?

Helshe came through/in thedoorHe/she entered through thedoor

- lYe ate together- I spoke tothê deputy

minister

- Please bring me a cupof tea

- Work is difficult forme

- What did you comefor?

- Telephone me- He gave him the

book- He/she came to lran

(umaüemad: bothforms are used)

- He/she looked at me

68 LEssoN srx

Note that in colloquial speech the forms be mtn, be to, be u etc.,become shortened as follows:

behem to me behemÕn to usbehet to you behetãn to youbch€E[ to him/her beheshãn to them

bi: without

bi is most often used almost as a prefix, rather on the lines of theEnglish suffix -/ess:

tavq[ioh - carebi tavqijoh - careless

kÕr - workbikãr - without work, also, having nothing to do

adab, terbiat - politenessbt.dab - rudebi trrblNt - mde

men ghazâye bi namak mi$oram - I eat unsalted food

tâ: as far as, up to, toaz manzel tã edãre piãde raft - He walked from the house to

the office

joz: except

joz fardâ har ruz âzâd hastam - I am free every day excepttomorrolv

dar: inmo'allem dar kelãs bud - The teacher was in the classroom

dar is more generally formal except in certain expressions (seephrases and expressions at the end of this lesson). In colloquialspeech tu (or tuye, with the ezãfe) is much more widely used torender 'in':

LESSÓNSIX @

biã tu Come inbefarmãid tu - Come in (more polite)nãme ro tuye kifam gozÕshtam - I put the letter in my

bag

Prepositions which take the ezafe and which are derived fromadverbs and nouns are:

bedune: without - bedune hejãb birun narobirune: outside - birune ghahr kãrkìune ziãd-etuye: inside, in - tuye oteg!!ôtfi garm budpãine: below - pâine pellehâ istãdé budbalãye: above; up - pesar balãye derakht buddombãle: behind, after - dombãle man biãpoqLte: behind - poshte miz neshasté budjeloye: in front of - jeloye man bãzesh kardpishe: with - tamãme ruz Pighe man buddame: on the edge of, at - dame dar montazeret mishamzire: under - kafshâ ro zire takht

gorãlht"-ruye: on - zarÍe mive ruYe miz'enazdike: near - Karaj nazdike Tehrân'epahluye: beside - dustam pahluye man neúasté

budkenãre: beside - kenãre rudkhune ghadam

zadim

Vocabulary:hejãb: prescribed Islamic covering for womenpellehã: stepsmontazer shodan: to wait forzaú: dishrudkhune: riverghadam zadan: to stroll

70 LEssoN srx

T PHRASES AND EXPRESSIONSmrgar, coll. mage preposition, literally meaning

exceptmage nagoftam naro Didn't I tell you not to go?mage nayumad Didn't he come?mage nabud Wasn't itlhe/she there?.

wasn't it so?mage kãret trmum naghod Wasn't your work finished?

dar havãye ãaâd In the open airdar ham bar ham Muddled, all mixed up

togetheraz bas ke So much so thataz sob úã úab From morn till nightkame kam At the very leastdar har hil In any case, at all eventsbe har hãl In any case, any\payhar towr shodé Come what mayazesh badam umad I took a dislike to himcherã Yes (in ü$wer to a negative

question)

EXERCTSBS

A. Read aloud and translate1.. man o dustam pariruz raftim sinemã2. fardã biã bã ham berim kharid3. dishab cherã unghadr dir ãmadi?4. taghriban bist daghighe sabr kardam ammã otobus nayãmad5. pedaram hanuz az mosãferat bar nagashté6. cherã bã ham naraftid7. edãram nazdike bãzâr-e8. sãle dige miram dãneshgãh9. pãrsal bã mâqhin be Torkiyye raftim

10. otobuse shahr sob o asr :ìz jeloye khuneye mã rad mishe11. ãghã, kafshe mano nadidid?

gherã - zire takhtetun-e12. begu bebinam, joz to kese digei ham umadé bud?

LESSON SEVEN 71

B. Put into Persian:1. The glass was on the table2. The child went slowly up the stairs3. I finished my work yesterdaY4. We went to Paris last Year5. My friend drives well6. My daughter came home late7. The train travels very fast (use raftan)8. Put your bag here9. How did you come?

10. They flew to London last year (say 'went by plane')

C. FilI in the blanks:l. - man biã2. nãme ro - vazir bede3. ketâb o - unjã nakharidam4. pedaram man kafsh kharid5. - kojã ãmadi?6. mãglin o - gãrq$ goziishtam7. dustam telefon kardam

Lesson $even(darse haÍtom)

Read aloud:I Irãn keshvare bozorgiy-e. hodude yek melyun o gheghsado si hezãr

kilomeG morabba' masãhat dãre vo bishtar az panjãh melyun

nafar ham jam'iyyat. tagh:riban yek panjome unhã dar Tehrãn

zendegi mikonand' ghahrhãye bozorge dige Mashhad, Tabriz,

Esfahãn, Shirâz o Ahvez hastand. inhã har kudum az hamdige

khâfi dur-and. masalan az Tehrãn tã Tabriz yã Esfúãn ú"ths"d

Flo-"tt ráh-e. dar shomãle Irãn daryãye Khezer gharãr gerefté va

dar jonub Khalije Fãrs' chand reshte kuhe bozorg ham az sh"tÈ

72 r-essox savEN

be gharb va az shomãl be jonub keglidé rhodé. megldãre ziâdi azghesmathãye markazi va sharghiye lrãn kaúr-e vã zendegi darunja khâli sakht-e. faghat mantagheye sãheliye Daryãye Khezerbãrandegiye kãfi dãre va havãye martube unjã barãye keshte berenjo chãi monãseb-e.

Vocabulary:bãrandegi rainfallbereqi ricedaryâ sea -'daryâye the Caspian

Khezer seadur farfaghat onlygbarb westgLarer gerefté is situatedghesmat sectionhamdiçhezârhodudejam'iyyatjonubkãfikavir

each otherthousandaboutpopulationsouthsufficientsalt desert

keshvar countryk€lhidé shodé are stretchedkqlt cultivationkilometr kilometerllal1i sulfkhal[ie Fãrs the Persian

Gulf

NTJMBERS

Unlike the script which is written from right to left, numbers arewritten from left to right as in English (See Appendix).

The cardinal numbers are:sefryekdo

mantaghemarkazimartubmasãhat

masalanmelyunmetrmonãsebmorabbã'paqiãhrâhreshtesãheliúa"e!sheúsadshomãlyek pa4jomzendegizendegi

mikonand

regroncentralmoistarea (in terms

of quantity)for examplemillionmetÍesuitablesquare (area)fiftvway, roadrangecoastaleastsix hundrednortha fifthlifethey live

1.012

3se4 chãr/chahãr5 panj

LESSON SEVEN 73

6 ürlb 30 si7 haft zm gleVchehel8 haqlt 50 panjú9 noh 60 ghast

10 dah 70 haftãd11 yâzÀah 80 ha$tãd12 davãzdah 90 navad13 sizdú lfi) sad (a hundreQ14 ghârdah/chahãrdah yeksad (one hwdreQ15 punzdah 101 sad-o-yek16 ghunzdah 102 sad-o'do17 hivdah 121 sad-o-bist-o-yek eÍc18 higldah 200 divist19 nuzdah 3ü) sisad20 bist 4{X) chãnad/çhahãnad2l bist-o-yek 5(X) punsad etc.22 bist-o-do l0ü) hezãr23 bist-o-se 1,(m,000 melyun24 bist-o-chãr erc.

Note: Ttrc final h after the vowel (as in noh, dah, ylzdeh, etc. ishardly pronounced at all, but it has been written in to avoidconfusion when forming the ordinal numbers where it lspronounced (see paragraph 2).

(a) When speaking of things, the word dune/dãnc (&ï. grain,seed) is often used as an itemiser ye dune ketãb kharüam.For people, nafar Qterson) is used: ye nafar âmad.

(b) When speaking of numbers of things (i.e. more than one),the suffix -tâ is added to the cardinal number and the nounremains in the singular:

Hasan beheú dotã ketãb dad - Hasan gave him two bookssetã chamedun dâram - I have three suitcases

BUT for people and time (hours, days, months, years etc)the number stands alone:

uran do ruz ur{ã mundam - I stayed there for two daysemghab paqi nafar - I have five guests thismehrnun dãram evening

74 rrssox snvsN

berõdüam se sõI dar - My brother was in Englandcngelestãn bud for three yearsHasan pa4l si'at drr - Hassan stayed at Akbar's$uneye Akbar mund house for five hours

(c) chandtíglend - how many?/how much?In the same way, when asking 'how many?' (things), the questionis asked using úandtâ:

chandtn ketãb dãri? - poqitãMaryam chendtâ ketâb dâre? = shishtÕchadtã nrm khsridl? - setâ

For people and time, the same distinction ap'plies as in (b)above:

cland nafan umadand? -shbh nafarcband sã'at rãh dãrim? -haÍt sã'atchand nz kãr dãrt? - s€ ruzchand sÕl üqiÔ büdi? - paqi sÕl

@ The expression 'how old are you?' which would, stÍictlyspeaking, be chand sãl dãri/darld? - how many yËrs do youhave? - is always rendered colloquially as:

chand sãlet-c (i.e. chand sãlat ast)Èand sãletun.e Qhand sãletãn ast)

pesaretun gland sãlesh-e? - How old is your son?

(e) úand is also used for'how much?' when asking the price ofsomething:

in ketãb chand-e? How much is this book?bilite otobus chand-e? How much are bus tickets?khiãr yeki chand-e? How much are cucumbers

each? (for things sold singly)gusht kiloi chand-e? How much is meat per kilo?

One can also just name the object, followed by chand-e:

tãksi chand-e? How much are taxis? (i.e. thefare)

portaghãl chand-e? How much are oranges?daftar chand-e? How much are exercise

books?

in chend-e?

LESSON SEVEN 75

How much is this?

A The same expression is used for asking the time:

sÕ'at chand.e? VÍhat is the time? (See alsoLesson 8)

but remember, úand sâ'at? - how many hours? in (c) above.

2. The ordinal numbers are:awal - first. This is an Arabic word and is always used to mean'frrst', not yekom as would be expected, e.g. nne awd - the frntday. yekom is used in compound numbers, such as 'twenty-first'-bist-o-yekom.dowom (coll. = doyyom) - secondsewom (coll. = scyyom) - thirdghúãrom (coll. g!ãrom) - fourthpaqiom etc., the remaining ordinal numbers being formed by theaddition of .om to the cardinal number. Where the cardinal numberis a group of numbers e.g. bbt o-yek, the last number takes the -om: blst-o-yekom, srd-o-bií-o-dowom etc.

3. FraaionsMathematical fractions are expressed by the use of the cardinalnumber followed by the ordinal:

yek dowom U2yek sewom rlzyek g!ârom Yqse paqiom 4shaft davãzdahom - 1ln

The Arabic forms nesf (and its Persian equivalent nim), sols androbt are also commonly used for 'half', 'third' and 'quarter'respectively.

(a) nesf and nim: both mean 'half', but are not necessarilyinterchangeable:

(i) nesf: when used as a noun, nesf always takes the ezafe:

nesfe shab the middle of the night, mid-night

76- LessoN sevtx

nesfe nrz

nesfe pulq!ncsfe ketâb

nesfe klram o tamumkerdrm

j half,day (but not midday,which is mhr)half of his moneyhalf the book

I finished half of my work

(ii) nin: is usually used in expressions of quantity ormeasurement:

nim kilonim sÕtrtnim nomrenim metr

yek o nimblstopaqiontm

lnqi o rob'rob'sã'atye rob'dige

also 'one and a half', 'two and a half', etc. always usenim:

half a kilohalf an hourhalf a mark (or shoe size)half a metre

one and a halftwenty-five and a half

a quaÍter past fivea quarter of an hourin a quarter of an hour,another quarter of an hour

(b) sols, 'a third', is much less commonly used in colloquialspeech where it is preferable to say yek sewom oÍ ye sewom.The word sds is most commonly found in schools where itrefers to a third of úe academic year - the equivalent ofthe English term. Children go to school for nine monthsconsecutively (apart from 13 days'holiday for the new year),and exams are held at the end of each sols, rüth the aggregateof the three sets of marks deciding a pass or a fail at the endof the year.

(c) rob', 'a quaÍer', is most commonly used in telling the time(Irsson Elghq or in expressions to do with time:

'a quarter of a kilo' will usually be referred to as divist opoqii çram (250 grammes) and 'a quarter of a meter' whenbuyrng things by length, such as material, wire, ribbon etc.,srill be referred to as bist o paqi sânt.

LESSON SEVEN 77

4. To say once, twice, etc. , the cardinal numbers are used, followedby dafe/daf'e, bãr or martabe ('times'):

yelyek dafe ye bãr ye martabedo dafe do bâr do martabesc dafe se bãr se martabe

once, one tlmetwicethree times

Notei yelyelr dafe and ye martabe are also used as expressionsto mean 'suddenly' (i.e. 'all at once'); do martabe is alsoused in the sense 'again' as is do bàre.

'twice as much', 'twice as ÍnârÌj', aÍe expressed by the cardinalnumber followed by the word barãbar ('equal'). In colloquialspeech this construction is also used to express 'double', 'triple',etc, i

5. Weights & MeasuresThe metric system is used:

metr - metersãntimetr - centimeter (often shortened to sànt)milimetrkilometr

metre morabbathektãr

geramkilogeram/kilo

do barãbarse barãbarpaqi barâbarsad barãbar

e.g. diruz do metr pãrchekharidambi zahmat se metr o bist opaqi sãnt az in bedid

ernruz se kilo guútkharidamaz Tehrãn tã Karqi ghehelkilometr-e

- double- triple- five times

a hundred times

square meterhectare

- grammekilo

- I bought two metres offabric yesterday

- Please give me threemetres and twentY-fivecentimetres of this

- I bought three kilos ofmeat todaY

- It is forty kilometresfrom Tehran to Karaj

78 LEssoN sEvEN

cband geram kare llzem - I need a few grammes ofdiram butter

Note the difference in the use of the singular and plural in Penianand English - the words kilro, metr etc. are not put into the plural.

r PHRASES AND EXPRESSIONS

Here are some more useful numerical phrases:

doün

sellichirlây*i yekiye-nrz-der.miun

se-ruzdr.miunse.nrz-be-se-ruzyeki dotâse chirtâ ketábyehi do naferdo sc sâ'atnãh be mnhye joft jurãbye livln lb

Double; two-fold (le meanslayer, fold)

Triple; three-foldQuadrupleOne by oneOn alternate days, every other

day (lit. one day in the middle)Every three daysEvery three daysOne or twoThree or four booksOne or rwo peopleTwo or three hoursEach monthA pair of socksA glass of water

EXERCISF,s

A. Read aloud and translate:1. sad o siyo panj nafar dar edãreye mã kãr mikonand2. mãdaram dotã pirhane sefid kharid3. chandtã bachche dãrid?4. barãye man se kilo guút bekhar5. ghandta khãhar barãdar dãre?6. chand nafar tuye otobus budand?7. yek sewome pulegho beman dãd8. paqj shish metr pãrgbe lãzem dãram9. ghâmate khune bist dar sad bãlã rafté

10. az kojã mitunam ye joft kafshe khub bekharam?

LESSON EIGET 79

B. Put into Persian:1. How old are you? (Polite and familiar)2. l'm forty-five3. My son is four years old4. He ate half of the loaf (= breaü5. There are two big mountain ranges in lran6. I telephoned them three times7. He has been to my office tw'ice8. I saw the minister once9. How much are these oranges per kilo?

10. How many people were there in the room?

Lesson Eight(darse hashtom)

Read aloud: ^T EIDE NO\ry RUZ

awale Farvardin ruze awale sil va âde now ruz-e. now n z shoru'esãle jadid va âde ghadimiye lrãn-e. har sãl barãye âd e-darehase tã panj ruz ta'tiland va madresehâ sizdah ruz. dar sã'ate tahvilesãle now khãnevâdehã lebãse now mipushand, sare sofreye haftsindowre ham jam mishand o montazere e'lãne úoru'e sãle jadid azrãdyo miqhand. ba'd do'ãye sãle now rã milhunand, behamdigetabrik mi[and o shirini mikhorand. dar ayy-ame âd mardom bedidane hamdige mirand. awal az fãmile nazdik va bozorgânekhãnevãde .horo' mikonand o be tadrij be didane hameye dustano ãghnãhã mirand. esme in kãr did o bãz did-e glun yekl be didaneãdam miâd ba'd ãdam be bazdid-esh mire. maãseme âd betowrekolli sizdah ruz edãme dãre - ruze sizdahome farvardin esmeshsizda-bedar-e. mardom hame az lhunehãshun birun mirand o darsahrã vo biãbun piknik mikonand. bã in kãr nahsiye ruze sizdahombarãve tamãme sãl dar mishe.

80 r-Bssox ercnr

Vocabulary:fdrm one; a penonÍplnf acquaintanceryytm time (Arabic

pl-oÍlomn =dav)

be tâdrii graduallybetowre kolli in all, all toldHnbun wilderness;

anywherenot culti-vated orpopu-lated

bozorgân those who areolder, theelders

dowre arounddowre ham together

jen n[land they gatherhrftsin (see below)jadid new

lltnevãde familymarâsem ceremonies

(pt.oïrasm =custom)

mardom peoplemipushand they wearmontazere waiting fornahsi ill luck

âa

e'lãnfãmil

Notes:

no$t

sahrãsãlsanesofre

úiriniúoiu'ta'tiltahvil

sare sofre: Though this phrase can be translated as'at the table',its literal meaning is 'at the table cloth'. This is because thetraditional way of sitting down to eat \ilas, and for many peoplestill is, round a cloth spread on the floor. 'at the table' is sare miz.An ordinary table cloth, not intended for eating off, would be rumizi.

haftsin: literally the seven s's. The Now Ruz table, or cloth, as thecase may be, is set with seven things beginning with the Persianletter sin (s), as well as a number of other things (such as decoratedeggs), each representing desirable elements in the year to come.

sizda-bedar: the traditional outing on the 13th day of the first monthof each year, intended to do away with the ill-luck of the 13th days

festival, feast-day

announcementrelatives

nelvfields; desertyeaÍatcloth (see

notes)s\ileetmeatsbeginningholidayhand-over,

change-over

I

LESSON EICIIT 81

of all the other months. Note that nahsi is not used in the sense of'I had bad luck' - that would be bad shânsi dlshtqm or bad shãnsiãvordam; it has an element of supersfton as iíingitisã migt;d azzirc rÉrdebun nabâyad rad shod, nahs.e - The English say youshouldn't walk under a ladder, it's bad luck.

nabÕyad rad ghod: ldt. you shouldn't pass; impersonal use of bâyad,see I-esson 10.

New verbs: pug$ün (pug!) - to wearmontazer úodan (güil) - to wait (note the use of thisyerá.' montrzere e'llne úom'e sile jadid nishend)edÍme dlç[tsn (dâr) - to continuebbrik goftrn Gu) - to congratulate

THE CALENDAR

The Iranian calendar is based on the Moslem era. It starts u/ith theflight (or hejraQ of the Prophet Mohammed from Mecca to Medinain AD 622. lt differs from the Islamic lunar calendar used by theArab world, however, as it is calculated by the sun and usually has365 days. It is known as stle hejrie glamsi ('the solar hejira year')and is used for all civil purposes. Religious holidays are observedaccording to the Islamic calendar (known as hejrie ehamrri, 'lunarhegira') (see Appendix), so most calendars and diaries will showboth sets of dates, together with the corresponding gregorian date.The names of the gregorian calendar months aÍe pronounced as inFrench, and the Arabic names, with slight variations in one or twocases, are used for the Islamic months.

There are twelve months in the Persian calendar vear(sãle iruni davãzdah mâh dãre):

Farvardin, Ordibeheght, I(hordâd,Tir, Mordãd, Shahrivar,Mehr, Abân, Azar,Dey, Bahman, Eúand.

The first six months have thirty-one days in each, the second fivethirty and Esfand has twenty nine days and 30 in a leap year. Theyear begins on the first of Farvardin which usually corresponds to

82 r.rssox rrcrR

21 March and is the first day of spring. The seasons are reckonedto correspond to three months each, i.e. summer begins with themonth of Tir, autumn in Mehr and winter in Dey.

Dates are expressed thus: rwalc larvardinc hezàro sisedo shastoshÊ - the first of Farvardin 13óó. When no specific y"at i.mentioned, 'the first of Farvardin' is just awale farvardin.

The corresponding European date would be:

blrt o y*m Dârc hczâr o nohsod o - 21st March 1997h.shtãd o hdt

TTTE SEASONS

The seasons are called (be fadã ntrand):b0üâr/hohrr springtfbcshnltnbcstân summerPüh autumnmcsürn/zemcstãD winter

I THE I}AYS OT IHE WEDKThe dap are (be rv.hiye haútc mtgond):

sbglnbeye*shpnbedosngnbescglanbeúe$ünbe (cnshâ@ambe) -panshambe (psqishanbe)Jom'e

dar Irãn ruze jom'e hamc jâ ta'til-e

I THE POINTS OF THE COMPASS

The points of the compass are (be jahãte astiye gbotb-namãmiqand):

shomã|, jonub, mashreg!, mqghreb

and south-east etc. ar€ expressed as follows: jonube shargbi (south-east), shomãle gLarbi (north-west) etc.

SaturdaySundayMondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFriday

LESSON EIGHT 83

TDLLING TIIE TIME

The time is expressed by the use of the word sã'at (hour), plus theezõfe plnrs the cardinal numbers:

sÕ'ale sc - three o'clockcô'aúe drh ten o'clock

Tbe word for 'minute' is .lrl'he/drgüEhÊ; vdo is used for 'past',be is used foÍ 'to':

cü'aüG hdt o büú daEh twenty past ssyenbfut dohhc bc noh twenty to nine

Half an hour is nh sttat aod a quarter of an hour is ye rub' orrobt or rtbt cltrt:

sl'aús drh o trh half past tensÕ'ate ffi o rub' guaÍter psst sir

Note: He eame at sir o'clock = st'rte shbh umsd

F.xonples:$'rl chsnd+? - lVhat's the time?cü'et Fqfe.c lt's 6ve o'cloclEt'sa p.qi o poqf &&e rú - It's fiye paS Êveia'rt p.qf o drh detg[.d lt's ten past fivesâ'at paqf o rob'-e lt's a quarter past fivesÕ'at paqf o btst dstgb-ad lt's twenty past fÍ\€st'at paql o bbt o paqf lt's twenty-five minutes pastddÈ-asú fivest'at prqi o nim.e lt's half past fiyesâ'at bisú o poqi delgle be lt's ts,enty-five to sixshEE est'rt blst drlrrhe be shish.e lt's tÌventy to sixsl'at ye rob'be gltshe.e lt's a quarter to six

Note that instead of saying bist dstÈe be glish it is also verycommon to say ghfu! o büú delgle kem i.e. six Jess twenty minutes,sh!g! o rob' kem and so on. It is also quite common to leave outthe word sl'et ('hour') when replying to sÕ'at cìand-c?, exoept forwhen the time is on the hour:

st'at paqi+, but paqi o paqi drlsh-est, peqi o drh daioh-ast,poqi o rob'-e, ye rob' be peqidpeqi o rob'lssm-e, etc.

'84 r,rssow rrcrrr

The words zohr and nesfe shab ('midday'and ,midnight') arèoftenused instead of davâz.dah, though not exclusively. \Mhen using zohror nesfe shab instead of sã'ate davâzdah o paqi dliqhe, or sâ'atedavãzdah o nim, you would have to say:

paqi daigbe az zohr/nesfe gbab gozaghtenim sã'at az zohr/nesfe glab grzashtcpaqi daighe be zohr mundg eúc.

a.m. is usually rendered as sob, p.m. as ba'd az zohr. If no time isstated, pish az zohr refers t-o the time before noon. Compare thefollowing examples:

The word drgddlgar ('other') is used to render the idea of timeleft, e.g.

ye rob'dige miãd He'll come in a quarter of anhour

nim sâ'at dige ker dâram I've got another half an hour'swork

sã'aúe dúe sob bâyadberen dokúorsâ'ale lnqie ba'd az zohr -bii daftane rnqnfarde pig! azmhr bâyadberem daÍlar€ vakilam

I have to go to the doctor at10 a.m.C"ome to my office at 5 p.m.

I have to go to my solicitor'soffice before lunchtimetomorro\il

I'll be going away in six days'time

This job will be finished inthree weeks' time

The bus is leaving in tenminutes.

This building wasn't here fouryears ago

shiú ruz diç mirammosãferat

in kãr se hafteye dige tamummishe

otobus dah daigheye digeharekat mikone

'ago'is rendered by prsh:

g!ãr sâle pish in sãkhtemuniqiâ nabud

I.ESSON EIGIIT 85

CUNRENCY

The basic unit of cuÍïency is the riel (pronounced riat). Ten rialsmake one toman (toman), and although official monetary figuresare always given in rials, and coins and bank notes are both in rialsonly, native speaken always use the toman for round sums overten rials, so that whereas, for example, a ministry might declarethat they had budgeted one million rials for some purchase orother, a private individual would always refer to the same sum asone hundred thousand tomans (sad ezãrlhezãr toman). Till slips,receipts, etc. are always in rials, but in handing you a bill for 1500rials, the shop assistant will say sad o paqiã ioman or sad o paqiâúoman mishe.

In speech, the words gbenrn (usually only used for one single rial)and ezãr, or zâr after a number ending in a vowel sound, are usedto mean rial, although in fact they are survivors of older currencysystems. You will therefore hear the following:

ye-glerun - 1 rialdozãr-2r ia lsse zãr, chãrezãr, paqiezâr, shishezâr, hafezãr, hashezãr, nozãr,ye toman; yãzdezãr, davãzdezãr, sirdezâr, ghâfdezar,punzdezãr, úunzdezãr, hivdezãr, hizhdezãr, nuzdezâr, dotoman; bist o ye-glerun, bisto do zar etc. until se toman. Fromthis point on it is usual to say se toman o ye-ghenrn, se totrrano do zâr, se toman o se zâr, etc.

Change is called pute $urd and notes are eskenãs.

A list of coins and notes currently in circulation is given in theAppendix.

I EXPRESISIONS OF TIME:

che sã'ati miÕd?sâ'ate doye ba'd az zohrsã'ate seye ba'd ez nafe shab -

At what time is he coming?2 p.m.3 a.m. (You can also say *ye

sú, but the hours nearermidnight tend to be rdenedto rather than to the tnom-W)

8ó LEssoN ErcHr

mãhe gozagltésâh gozagltíparsalglpmbeye pishshambcye gozagltédoshambeye ãyandedoshambeye digesare zohrsare shab

gherâ dir kardi?ma'zerat mikhãm ke dir

kardambebakhshid ke dir kardammesle inke zud âmadamdir nayasã'atam khãbidésã'ate min qglab-e/jelo-e

New words: g!âgerdsãle tahsilimatmulanavãkher

yeksareedãme dãre

Last monthLast yearLast SaturdayLast SaturdayNext MondayNext MondayAt noon, on the dot of noonEarly evening (dffirent use of

the word sare)Why are y-ou late?I'm sorry ['m late

I'm sorry I'm lateIt looks as though I'm earlyDon't be lateMy watch has stoppedMy watch is slow/fast

pupilthe academic yearusuallyaround the end (ot); pl. ofãkhar, the endstraíght throughit continues

EXERCISES

A. Read aloud and translate into English:

Maryam ye ketãb dãre. emruz Hasan behesh dotã daftar dãd.shambe Maryam be madrese mire. madreseylMaty"m bozorg-e.taghriban haftsadtã úãgerd diire. dar har kelâs hodude cheheltãghagerd hast. dar Irãn bachchehã faghat jom'e ta'til-and. azlambetã chãnhenbe bishtare madresehã sã'ate kãreshun az hashte sobtã yek o nime bíA az zohr-e. panjshambehã-faghat 6,Tavãzdahastand. sãle túsili az awale mehr shoru' mishe va ma'mulan tãavãkhere khordãd yeksare edãme Oare. faglat dar awale bahãrham barãye âde now ruz szda ruz ta'tili dãrand.

LESSON NINE 87

B. Put into Persian:1. He's coming on Saturday2. It's twenty past seven3. I have a meeting at eight o'clock4. My exams are in six months' time (use emtahãn dãghtan)5. I'm going to England on business next month6. I have to be at the airport by seven a.m.7. They left for London at eight p.m. yesterday8. What time does the train leave?9. Please don't be late because I have a lot to do

10. I worked every day last week11. Don't you have any change?12. The seventh of Ordibehesht 1366.

Lesson Nine(darse nohom)

Read aloud:I salãm, Maryam, hâlet chetowr-e?

to-i, Susan, salãm, khãli vaght-e nadidamet - kojã-i?haminjãhã. faghat diruz o pariruz dãneshgãh nayumadam chunmãdaram mariz bud.chetowr, mage kese digei nabud pç!e$ bemune?na, nabud. khob, che khabar, diruz chikar kardin?mã kãre ziãdi nakardim. ostãde jadid umadé bud bã hame ãshnãbeshe. modatti ham tuye kelãse mã bud.adabiyyãt dars mide?na, tãrikhemtahãn úi shod?mãle mã bad nabud vali shenidam mãle goruhe to khâli sakhtbud.pas che behtar ke man nabudam. rãsti khabar nadãri rãjebeketâbkhune chikâr kardand?hanuz ke hichchi. migand khode ra'ise dãneshgã ham nemidune

88 ussox ruxr

chikãr kone. albatte benazare man bãyad tuye ta'tilãt-am vãz bãshevú khob, lâbod sarparastiq! moqlkei misheãre, in ke hast. rãsti, tâ yãdam rlarafte, in pugle mãle to-e?e - ãre, ghe !hub, fekr mikardam shãyad injãhã oftãdé bãshe,khâli mfrnrt-ey vãy - sã'at o negâ kon! bâyad beram -_Ebâli dir shod, ghorbãnetokhodãfez

Vocabulary:adabiyyÕt literature khode ra'is the headÍshni shodan to get himself

acquainted raris director, bossche behtar so much the modatti a while

better nadtdamet : to ro nadidé-chikãr (cfte what am

kar) ostád professor (a/soÈikir kardin what did you s.o. good at

(coll. for do sth.)kordid) pushe folder

emtehân exam r{iebe aboutgoruh goup (raje'be\gborbãne to goodbye (see sarparasti supervision

Lesson 12) Susan girl's namekâre ziãdi we didn't do târikh historv

nakardim much tã'tilâ-t-am shortiorm ofketãblhune library, tã'tilât ham

bookshelf

PRONOUNS

Personal pronouns, subject pronouns and the pronominal suffixeshave already been mentioned in Lesson Two.

Other pronouns are as follows:

l. Possessive Pronouns (mine, yours, etc)

LESSON NINE 89

Ttre possessive pronouns are rendered'in Persian by the use of theword mãle, 'belonging to'., and the personal pronoun:

un Éetãb mõle man-e - That book is minein kife pul mãle to-st? Is this purse yours?pedaram keshãvarz-e, My father's a farmer, thetrãktor mãl,e un.e tractor is hismãshine kerem mãle mâ-st The cream-coloured car is

oursin ru sari mãle shomi-st? Is this headscarf youn?otigL kuglikèf mâle unã-st The little room is theirs*otãg! kuchikè: see Colloquial Use of the ezãfe, below.

2. Interrogetive honouns

The word ki? renders 'who?', 'whom', in colloquial Persian. It isconsidered to be definite and therefore takes rã when it is the directobject of the verb:

ki umad? Who came?ki bud? Who was it?kiy-e Who is it?kiyo did? \ilhom did he see?kiyo zad? Whom did he hit?

3. Indefinite Pronouns

(a) hame - all, everyonehame umadand - They all came, everyone came

hame is often used with the ezãfe, to indicate possession:hameye dâneshiuyãn dars - All (of) the students study,mikhunand or all students study

hame also takes the pronominal suffix -ag! in the thirdperson, to give hameag[hamash - all of it:âsemun hamag! âbi bud - The sky was all blueghaze $ub bud? bale, hama$ -Was the food good? Yes,o khordam I ate it all (all of it)

9O Lrssox xtxe

hrma$ is also used to mean 'all the time':EngGlcstân hrv$h hic! !!ub nisú, hamesrh btrun miâd(hevo$ = hrvüVd) - English weather isn't at all good, itrains all the time

(b) kesi - someone; no-one (with a negaive verb)hichkes - no one

kcsi uqiãst? [s anyone there?ked hsst? Is anyone there?ked nht There's no one (there)hichkas nist There's no one (there)hichkt nebud There s,as no one (there)

hiú kudum - none

hiú kudum az ln chizã rlo I don't Ìvantany of theseneni!!!n thingshtctr kudum az in n4ghs!úã - None of these maps isbcdsrd ncm[lorand any good

Note that Persian uses the double negative in such cases.

(c) tnnrnc - the whole of, all

tsmãmc sbpb kãr krrd - He worked all nigtrttamãmc ruz jalese lVe had meetingp all daydãúün

(d) dige/dignr - another

handige one anotheryekdige one another

be hemdige salãm They greeted one anotherkardand

(e) folãn, folâni - so-and-so

folãn kas So-and-sofolãni umad So-and-so camefolÕni ostãde in ker-e So-and-so is very good at this

LESSON NINE 91

(f) be'zi * someThis precedes the noun it qualifies, which is put in the pluraland does not take the ezafe:

bo'd ketlbÕ !_hub nistand - Some books are not goodder be'd jür havÕ pêrti - The weather has got very coldslrd shodc in some places

Note the difference in the use of ba'zi and ghrdti. Èandtâcarries the sense that a few individual items or people arereferred to:

I bought some books - ú8ndtâ kctâb llprilam

ba'zi (pl. ba'ziá) is also used as a noun, in which case it takes az:

be'zigz unhã Some of thembo'zi az kr{lunehâ emruz - Some of the factories areta'dl-snd closed todaybo'dt neshasúand, bo'dã Some people sat doìvn,pÕglodttrd others got upbs'dãrzllrküden Some people don't likefnoglEÈu nãntfd working

!!og! ãmadan (ã), 'to like', takes the pronominal sufâxes:az lrãn lloghlsn miâd - I like lran

bad ãmadan, 'to dislike', behaves in the same way:az ilame durug$u badam miãd - I don't like people who

tell lies

k) kam: few,littlekami:afew,al i t t leyek kami: a little

gLazã kam bud - The food was not enoughkami ãb mib!ãm - I want a little water (some u/ateÍ)ye kami ãb mil!âm - I want a little water (some water)

92' LBsoN NINE ,

4 lftod

In colloquial Persian the word khod which basi,cally means'self ismainly used in the following ways:

(a) s,ith the pronominal suffixes (.am, .at, -ash; -emãne -€tltr'-€!Em) and rl to form a kind of reflexive:

$odet o khaste nakon Glodat - Don't tire yourselfr[ flpste nahon)llodet o nârãhat nakon - Don't upset yourself/

Don't get upset

(ô) when the possessive adjective or personal pronoun refers tothe subject of the sentence, the word khod is used, and incolloquial usage, it is again used with the pronominal suffixes:

ehahme !!odc!bo beman dãd - He gave me his own pen

(c) !!od is also used as an emphatic particle, withthe ezõfe:

!!ode u bud - It was he himselfwhich colloquially will be: khodesh buddaf $ode Landan zendegi - He lives in l-ondon itselfmikone

Here are some more examples:

!!ode!U dar o bâz kard - She opened the door henelflbodam miram - I'll go myself$odet bokon Do it yourself!glerã $odet iemiri? - Why don't you go yourself?

llodgi! !!ãst - He himselflshe herselfwanted (it)

5. Colloquial Use of Pronominal Suffixes

In Lesson Two we saw the use of the pronominal suffixesl -tln,-eú, -et, -emun, -etun, -eshun, to convey the possessive: ketâbam,ketãb@, etc. This use is extended to a variety of other expressionswhich, in English, would not quatify as possessives:

diglab ye restorãne tãze We \pent to a nervrafitim, gharãsh Xnâti nuU nua restaurant last night, the

food was very good

LESSON NINE 93

hndunrsh g1ân 3quU.e, mlkhtl This water meloÍ?s veryye kami behet bedrm? good, do you want

some?in ghazã n8makeB môti ziia.e Ïhere's too much salt in

this foodin naÈÈãsh kerpg! *nôli gluU-e - This painter's work is

very good

(See also the example about the weather under 3(a): havrú)

Yet another use of these suffixes is instead of the personal pronounsplus râ:uno glenrlltam (u rã shenõkhtatn) - I recognised him/herso that we have úenãkhtamesh!!âü vaglt-e noAiae-ef - I Faven't seen you for a long time/for

ages

In compound verbs, the suffixes are usually added to the noun/adjective element of the verb, though compounds with prepositions

I

tend to vary:

mãshinet chi g!od? \ilhat happened about yourcar?

donosteg! kardam (an o I fixed itdorost kardam)barât nãme umade bud, There was a letter for you, diddidish? you see it?âre, ber d$lttnq! Yes, I picked it upirc, baresh d{üttn Yes, I picked it up

coLLoQtiIAL USE OF THE EZÃFE

One of the examples given in (1) above was:o3ãgh kug$kè mãle unã-st - The little room is theirs

You would expect this to have been otãgLe kug$k mãle unâ-st, butin ordinary conversation, when a definite noun is qualified by anadjective, it is very coÍnmon for the ezãfe to move onto the adjec-tive and to take the stress:

Õg!!r bozorgè kojl-st? - Where's the big spanneÍ

94 ressor{ Nnre

nemidunem, tâzcgi nadidemeg! - I don't know, I haven'tvali kugllkè mye rnlr-e seen it lately but the little

one's on the table.

If the noun in such a phrase is the direct object, taking rã, thereis a further change:

ãÈâr bozorgàro kojâ - Where did you put the biggozãllti? (è becomes à) spanner?kif siâhàmo nadidi? _ - Have you seen my black bag?

Notice that in Persian Ìve say nedidi where in English a straight-forward 'have you seen' is more natural. 'haven't you seen'(indicating that you might weil have been expected to havedone) is also nrdidi, but with a different intonation.

CONJI.'NCTIONS

The most common conjunctions are:

va/o: andham: also, andhrm. . . vahanr: both . . . andyâ: oryâ. . . y i : e i ther. . . orna. . . va na: neither . . . norvali, rnrnâ: butmage,/magar: but; with a negative verb, mage has the meaning

'didn't . . .?'

Most of the above have already been encountered in the readingpassages and examples, but here aÍe some further examples:

kãretun o tamum kardid? bale, harn nãmehãye enrruz o mãshinkardam o haur mãle diruz o -Have you finished your work? Yes, I typed both yesterday's lettersand today'syeki az inã ro bãyad entekhãb konid, yâ in yã un -You must choose one of these, either this one or that onena az in tü@am miãd na az un, or na az in khosham miãd naaz un yeki -I like neither this one nor that one

LESSON NINE 95

in restorln ghezã$ khub-e, vali mãle un yeki behtar+ -The food in this restaurant is good, but the food in that one isbettermi$ãstâm barãt gol biãram rmmâ golforushi baste bud -t wanteO to bring you some flowers, but ttFflorist's was shutmage nadidi mâglin ez kudum tlmf miãmrd? -Didn't you see which way the car was coming?

T PHRASES ANID EXPRESSIONS

bedard khordan To be usefulbedardam nemikhore lt's no use to mebedardet mikhore? Is it any use to you?b€dard nemikhore lt's no good; it's no use (of things)fiiyede nadãre lt's no ure (figurative)velegh kon Leave it alone (un o vel kon)velam kon Leave me aloneúomnhâ You people, you lottlod bc llod Of its om accord

Proverbshâm khodã ro mikhâd ham He wants to have his cake and eatkhormã ro it (/rï. he wants both God and the

date)bÕ do tir ye ncshun (zadan) To kill rwo birds with one stone

(/ü. with two shots, one target)siliye naghd beh az halvãye A bird in the hand is worth twonesy-ast (nesye ast) in the bush (tr. a slap in cash is

better than halva on account)ham fâl o ham Í-mãqba Business and pleasure

EXERCISES

A. Read aloud and translate:1. un khodnevis o bar nadãr, mãle man-e2. bishtare in zaminhã mãle dowlat-e3. age gofti diruz kiyo didam4. harghe dar zadam hichki javãb nadãd5. diruz tamãme vaglt dars khundam

96 LESsoN,unrn

6. khodneüs siãhèye rnan o nadidi?khodnevise siãham o nadidi?

7. -emsal

barãye âO mitctram beram kenãre daryã - shenidam unvaghte sãl havãsh khât kbub-e

8. in kãr k!âli ãsun-e, gletowr khodet nemikonish9. mage nãmidunesti emãa tramda 6'til-e?

10. higlvaght in kãr o nakon, khêü badam miãd

B. Put into Persian1. There \tras no one there2. V/hy didn't you go yourself? (give polite and familiar forms)3. Have you seen my white bag?4. That restaurant's food is very bad5. What did you do about your car? I fixed it6. Don't take that folder, it's mine7. I don't like any of these shoes8. I was on the plane all night9. Some shops are closed tomorrow

10. She came in her own car

Lesson Ten(darse dahom)

Read aloud:f (bã sedãye boland belbunid)

ghahrhãye lrãn

mohemtarin úúre Irãn Tehrãn-e, ke pãyetalhte keshvar omarkaze hokumate. khâü az kãrlhunehãye bozorg o kuchik hamdar atrãfe Tehrãn Èarãr gereftand. glahrhãye mohemme digeyeIrân Maglhad, Tabriz, Esfúãn o Shirliz-and. Mashhad, ke darúomãle sh*ghiy" Irãn ast, shahre ziãrati-st ghun ghabre EmãmRezã, emãme hashtome shi'ayan dar unjã-st. havãye Maglhadkhonaktar az havãye Tehrãn-e va mardom ag$ab dar tãbestunbarãye ziãrat o gardeú be unjã miran. nazdike Maglhad, dar Tus,

LESSON lBN Y/

gLabre Ferdowsi, shã'ere bozorge irãni gharãr gerefté ke ghãyadtarjomeye agh'ãre u rã lhundé bãúid. agar javãher dust daútébâshid, firuzeye Maglhad niz ma'ruf ast.

Tabriz bozorgtarin ghahre shomãle glarbiye lrãn-e va mardomeunjã dar asl tork zabãn hastand. albatte hame fãrsi ham harfmizanand chun dar madãres fãrsi tadris mishe. agar ãdam belhãdaz tâhe zamini be Orupã bere, ma'mulan az Tabriz rad mishe vabishtare tejãrate zaminiye bâne lrãn o Orupã niz az rãhe Tabrizanjãm mighe ghun alãve bar jãdde, \hatte asliye rãhâhan niz azunjã rad mishe. Tabriz dãneghgãhe bozorgi dãre. ghiili va noglre-kãriye in shahr ham ma'ruf ast.

Vocabulary:q$hb generallyalãve bor in addition toash'ir poems (pl.of

she'r)dust dãshtan to likeemãm religisug

leaderfiruze turquoisegLabr graveghãli carpetÈmer gereÍté is situatedhokunat governmentjavther jewelke thatmrülres p/. o/madresemarkaz centrema'rú famous

STJBORDINATE CLAUSES

importantpoetpl. of úÊ'e,

Shiites, thesect of Islamwhich is theofficial reli-gion of lran

teachingtranslationtradeTurkish, TurkTurkish-

' speakingtongueoverlandpilgrimage

mohcmgli'erúi'ayân

tdrlstarjomet€Jãrottotttork-zabãn

zabãnzsmlnidãrat

1. Relative Clauses

Relative clauses are generally introduced by the relative pronoun

98'' rcssox rEx

ke which in this context will rrean 'that', 'which', 'rvho', 'whomretc. fre unaccented suffix i is then usually added to the nounbeginning the relative expression (the antecedent).

In this context, this i which we have already encountered as anindefinite suffix (ketãbi - a book) has the effect of singling out thenoun and makiig it definite:

ketâbl ke llrridrn khub The book that I boughtnrbud wasn't any good

!!Õnuni ke pogltc miz bud The lady behind the deskIndlfui bolad nghd didn't know any Englishyãd dâglti ro kc bc u dâdam He lost the note I gave himgom kard

Nouns already ending in I do not take-another one:

sandali ke ãvord shekaste bud-The chair he brought was broken

Note, however, that proper nouns and nouns with personal endingsindicating the possessive do not take the suffix i:

Ifasan ke ketÕbqlo beman g&otz dãd dãnç$u bud - Hassan,who lent me his book. was a studentMashhrd, ke dar glonãle glargliye lrãn.e, shúrc bozorgiy.e -Mashad, which is in the north east of lran, is a big cityun barãdaram ke tuye glerkatc naÍt kâr mikone rafté Ahvãz -My brother who works in the oil company has gone to Ah\raz

2. Indirect Statements

Indirecl statements, questions and reported speech will also beintroduced bv ke:

sãb$une gofr ke shãm hãzer.€

porsid ke istgâhe otobus kojã-st

girãzh behem goft ke mãshinamhanuz hãzer nist

The hostess said thatsupper was readyHe asked where the busstop wasThe garage told me thatmy cÍrÍ wasn't ready yet

Notice the difference in the use of tenses in Persian and English,as repoÍed speech in Persian is in-the same tense as would have

LESSON TEN..99

been used in the original statement. If in doubt about which tenseto use, think what the original statement would be and use thesame tense in the subordinate clause.

3. Wishes and Commands

(a) The subordinate clause in wishes and commands is introducedby kc followed by the verb in the subjunctive:

behgof ke bere (beravad) nun beLhare - He told him togo and buy some breadazeq! !!âst ke biãd o bã khodesh motarjem biãre - He askedhim to come and bring an interpÍeter with himbeman gofl ke zud biâm kãrhâ ro shoru' konam - She toldme to come early and start the work

(b) 'I wish . . .' referring to the future can be said in tlvo $'ays,either:

(i) with kÕshkilk{! ke and the verb in the subjunctive:kãglki biõd - I wish he would come/I do hope he'll come

or:

(ii) with !!odã kone ke@odã konad ke plus the subjunctive:lhodâ kone ke biâd - I do hope he'll come (lir. may Godmake him to come)

!!oda nakone - God forbid - is used as an interjection andalso with the subjunctive like khodâ kone

For the past, kãshki is used with the imperfect or pluperfect:

kãshld umadé bud I wish he had comekãshki in kâr-o nakardé - I wish I hadn't done thatbudarn

4. Result Clauses

These are introduced:

(a) by ungLadr ('so much') and untowr ('like that') in the mainclause, plus ke to introduce the next clause with the verb inthe present or past tense for definite consequences, and in

100 I,ESSON'TEN

the subjunctive for indefinite consequences:

ung[adr $ub gheno kerd ke ncÕbeglpro bord - He swamso well that he won the racegligerd darsesh ounghdr$ub bolad nabud ke ghabul begle- The pupil didn't know his subject well enough to passmen u rã u4gladr !!ub nemQlnrsrm ke in o beh€ begorn- I don't know him well enough to tell him thishayâ untowr htm nist ke beghe bcdune pÕlúo birutr raft - The\peather isn't really such that you can go out without a coat

Note that where u4gladr is used in a time context, forexample to mean 'so often', 'so long' etc., then it is usedwith tt and does not take the subjunctive:

ungLadr teldon krrdam tf beh[lpre gtrq! ãvordm - I kepton telephoning until I got hold of him

by tl ('so that', 'in order to') which usually takes thesubjunctive:

mrn kÍr mlkonam ti zendqiye b€htrrl dfúúe bâúrm - Iwork so that I can have a better lifeqiolkad tl be úeran berse (beresad) - She hunied in orderto get úe train.

colloquially, by ke:

paqiere ro bsz kard ke havã biãd - He opened the windowto let in some airzud ãmadan ke to rã ghabl az mftân bebtnam - I came earlyso that I could see you before leaving

by hrrãye inke. In addition to 'because', barâye inke can alsomean 'in order that' in which case it takes the subjunctiveand usually oomes at the beginning of the sentence:

barãye inke betunamllune Uellpran; meghdâre bigltari pullãzem dãram - I need more monev in order to be able tobuy a houseYou could also say:

meghdãre bisütrri pul lãzem dãram tã betunam khunebellaran

(b)

(c)

(d)

LESSON TEN 101

5. Condiüonal Scntenccs

Conditional sentences are generally introduced by agar (colloquial,age: 'if') and can be divided into those referring to possible con-ditions and those referring to impossible conditions.

(a) ImpossibleconditionsSentences referring to impossible conditions generally takethe imperfect tense in both parts:

agar midunestam ke hãzer nisti nemiumadaú - I wouldn'thave come if I'd known you weren't readyagar fârsi balad budam in ketâb-o nemillpridam - If I knewPersian, I wouldn't have bought this bookagar zud miãmad bã ham miraftim Blarid - If he had comeearly, we'd have gone shopping together

(ó) Possible conütiors(D Sentences expressing a straightfor$,ard possibility, with

little element of doubt, take the present tense in the. 'if'clause and the pÍesent or future tense in the other

clause:

age khÕb-e, bida@nakonsgar moúnrtcn nlsd,nekonage kâr dâri' nayã

busyagsr lbrfb-e behesh drst - Don't touch it if it'snrzrn not working

(ii) Possible conditions referring to the future (where thereis, therefore, much more of an element of doubt) takethe present subjunctive in the'if'clause:

agar biid ba ham mirim bãzâr - If he comes, we'll goto the bazaar togetheragar in kiro barãyc man behoni, $âli mamnunetniqbon - If you do this for me I'll be very grateful toyou

If he's asleep, don'twake himDon't do it if you'renot sureDon't come if you're

1(Ì2 rsssox rBx

agar havÕ khub blglc mirim birÍun - We'll go out ifthe weather's goodagar rãh o gom mkonam, zud miresam - ['ll get therequickly if I don't lose the wayagar beman begi chi llzem dari, berãt nikhrram - Ifyou tell me what you need, I'll buy it for you

'lVhen, however, the action in the 'if'clause is a singleaction which precedes the action in the main clause,the simple past is used:

agar telefon kard, begu ke man mrnzd nistam - If hetelephones, tell him that ['m not at homeagar dustam umad in nãme rr beheq! bede - If myfriend comes, give her this letteragar rafti mocãferat hahsn barãm nãme benevls - Dowrite to me if you go away

(iii) \ilhen the 'if'clause refers to the past, the past subjunc-tive is used:

ag;rr oúobus rafté bÕgle dirtar mireeam - If the bus hasleft I1t arrive later

(iv) \ilhen nagtr or magsr inke is used conditionally (tomean 'unless'), it takes the verb in the subjunctive:

mrn uqil nemlrsm mngar inke to hrm bÕhem biãi - Iwon't go there unless you come with me

ó. FosdHnty

In addition to the use of shlyad (Lesson Four), possibility is alsoexpressed by the use of momkm aí ke followed by the verb in thesubjunctive.

Colloquially this becomes momken-e and ke is often omitted:

nnomken+ biãd He may comemomken-e tasrdof kardé He may have had an accidentbrglemomken-c fardã havü khub It mav be fine tomorrowbügle

LESSON TEN 103

The same construction can also be used for polite Íequests:

momken-e in kâr o barãye man bekoni? - Can you possibly do thisfor memomken-c beporsam chi shodé - May I ask what's happened?momken-e beman begid nazdiktarin istgâhe otobus kojâ-st - Couldyou tell me where the nearest bus stop is?

IMPERSONAL CONSTR,UCTIONS

Look again at the fourth sentence in 4(a) above:

havã untowr ham nist ke beshe bedune pefto birun mfi

bãyd and the appropriate tenses of glodan can be used with thepast stem to give an impersonal construction:

bãyad raft One/you must go, it isnecessary to go

mishe raft It is possible to go, you/onecan go

migbe goft (ke) It can be said (that) . . .

tavãnestan can also be used in this way, but not cplloquially.

I PHRASES AND BXPRESSIONS

na bâbâage goftVagar gofti

bâyad sâ$t

You don't say(ft|. if you said) do you knowwhat, guess what(lit. one has to build) onemust make do, one mustadapt. sãlltan also hac themeaning o/ to make do with,to get along withWell, we managemisãzim, dige

age beduníagar beduni You've no idea . . .i e.g, Agebeduni ch@adr in kãr sakhtbud you've no idea how dif-ficult this was

lO4 ursson rsx

fclr umrm I subjwraive, I don't think . , . Very oftcn.mln nrloam (+ szâ- used futtead of Í&

iutnive\

Íekr nrkonam btãdkhgg! gourglt

ncmlkonm tG. . . which alsotokes tte subjwrctive.I don't think he'll come(|lr. it passed well) Vwe had agood timee.g. dishab ratrm mehmuni,B!ôtli !!og! gozoglt we \ilentto a party last night, weenjoyed ourselves verymuch. !!oq! gozagltm rrconjugated h the third persononly and is used irnpersonnlly:B!og! rnigzare/rnlgozsrod?are you having a good time?

EXER,CISES

A. Read aloud and translatu:1, azam !!ãst ke biãm2. mosãfer porsid te havãpâma che sã'aü pawãz mikone3. baghcle ungladre gerye kard ta khãbeú bord4.a&r belley Oel!ãhi) mituíam biãm aghabet bebaramet

llarid5. agar beman gofté budi ke mãshin nadãri zudtar miãmadam6. jã dãrid agar belhãm yek qla6-ezãfe bemunam?7. momkene fardã nakhâm beram birun8. panjeraro ungladr mohkam bast ke shisbaqb strikast9. agar !!ub kar-koni zud piúraft mikoni (pigbtìlt : progr*s)

10. agar diruz bã mã miãmadi behet khosh migozaght

B. Put into Persian1. He told me he was going to stay at home all day2. She said that she would try and find my purse3. He asked me what I was going to do4. I thought you were coming yesterday5. If I'd known you had this book, I wouldn't have bought it6. If he comes, tell him I've gone

I.ESTK,N ELEVEN 105

7. Can you tell me where I can find a chem.ist? '' .: ,8. lVill it be ready if I come tomorrow?9. I don't think that's right

10. Will I be able to see the doctor if I wait?

Lesson Eleven(darse yâzdahom)

Read aloud:(bâ sedãye boland belbunid)

ghúrhãye Irãn

barãye $arejihã ruzi Esfahãn ma'ruftarin úúre keghvar bud glundar zamãne pãdeshãhãne safaviyye ke taghriban hamdowreye Eliz-ãbete awal budand, pãyetakhte mamlekat bud. Esfúiin ke darkenãre Zãyande rud gharâr gerefté ch*d masjede ma'rúe besyãrdidani dãre va mâdane shahr hanuz az mâdanhãye mashhuredonyãst. ghãü, dastduzi, noglre-kãri, khãtam.kãri va shiriniyemalhsusi benãme gaz hame az towlidâte mohemme in ghúr-and.agrÍ az bãzãr didan konid mitunid bigltare inhã râ dar hãle dorostghodan bebinid.

ghúre ShiÍãz hodude ghãnad kilometriye jonube Esfúãn Éarargerefté. maghbarehãye Hãfez o Sa'di, do shã'ere bozorge digeyeirãni, dar ShiÍãz ast va khode úúr ham zibã o didani-st. bãghhãyebesyãr ehaqhang vabãzãre jãlebi ham dãre. albatte barãye mosãferg!ãyad az hame èhiz jãlebtar didane ãsãre bãstãniye talbte jamg$dva naghshe rostam bãgle ke dar nazdikiye Shirãz ghãrãr gerefté.

bishtare manãtegle naftlhize Irãn dar jonub-and va sahme omdeyedarãmade keqhvar az san'ate naft bedast miãd. sãbeghan palãyegh-gúeÃUaaan-azbozorgtarinpalâyeglgãhãyedonyã-bud.-sãdLrãtenaft az tarighe Khalije Fãrs surat migrre va zendegiye mardome inglesmat az keshvar aksaran be san'ate naft vãbastegi dãre. shúreBandar Abbãs albatte betowre kolli bandare tejãriye bozorgiye va

106 rrssox ELEvEN

e kheili az kãlãhãike az rãhe daryã be Irãn miãnd be unjã vãredmishan.

Vocabulary:ãsãr remains (pI. of me'rú famous

asar) naglhur famousbandar port mft[liz oil producingbÕsttui ancient omde main, majordarlmad income pÕdë!Êh kingdilrni worth sceing Ìüd riverhemdowre contemporary Ttlltc PersepolisjãH interesting Jütrshidkili goods üorlËlÍ productsI!ârej abroad stderÕt exportsl!ãtam.kâri inlaid work sahm sharemsÈbore tomb ssn'tt industrynanât@ regions (pl. oï vâbastegi dere depends on

nantagle) zamãn age, time

WORD FORMATION

C-omprehensive explanations of all the various word formations arebeyond the scope of this book. A few of the more common vari-ations are mentioned here as they should help you to understandwhat you might hear.

1. Abstract Not*tsAbstract nouns aÍe formed bv the addition of an accented i to theadjective:

Elub $ubi (goodness)bad badi (evil)tambd rambali (laziness)zêrrng zerangi (cleverness)bad bakht brd brllti (misfortune)

LESSON ELEVEN 107

Where the adjective ends in the sound e, a g is added for euphonybetween the e and the i ending:

The stress on the i ending of abstract nouns is what distinguishesit from the indefinite i ending.

Read the following aloud and notice the difference:

!!ast€gor(x|neteg!ne

marde khubikhubiye mard

kushidan (k"rt lzu$tan (suz)!!ãridan (!!õr)balhshidan (h!hs!)puq$dan (push)

Ebasteg (weariness)goroenegi (hunger)tçlnegi (thirst)

a good manthe man's goodness

2. Verbal NounsVerbal nouns are forrrred by the addition of various suffixes to thepÍesent stem. The most easily distinguishable of these is the suffix-esh:

kushd (effort)suzeg! (a burning sensation)E!@ (itching)brlhsle!! (forgiveness)pusheg! (covering - a wordnow often heard in the contexto/puglqle çlàmi whichrefers to suitable Islamicdress')

3. The CausativeIn colloquial Persian the addition of the suffix -Õndan to the presentstem of the verb gives what is known as the causative verb (becauseit has the meaning of making something happen). This new verbtâkes the usual personal endings:

r€sidsn (res) - rcsãndan (to cause to arrive)dustem mNn{D bâ mâshinesh resund khune - Mv friend took mehome in his car

108 mssox ELEvEN

4. The Gerundive

shahre Shirâz zibã va didani-st - Shiraz is beautiful and worthseeing

The addition of an unaccented i suffix to the infinitive of someverbs gives what is known as the gerundive úhich has the meaningof 'to be done', 'worth doing':

worth seeingdue to go, being about to go,having to godo-ableworth hearing

didaniraftani

shodanishenidani

sedÉiye bolbol shenidani-st -

in kãr úodani nist

The song of the nightingale isworth hearingThis cannot be done

The gerundive of nordan, to die, is often heard in the context oflãglpr o mordani for people or animals that are thin and sickly-looking, or just very thin and therefore look as if they are aboutto die. You would not say mordani of a person who really wasabout to die.

5. Diminutives are formed by the addition of the following suffixesto the noun:

-ak pcsarak, dokhtarak, mardak, zanak, teffak(tefl = infant)

pcsare, dokhtare, marde, zanemardeke (col/. martike), zaneke (coll. nnÊke)bag!Èedariche

When these suffixes are added to nouns denoting people they canalso denote either âffection or contempt. When used for adultsthey are quite often somewhat rude or contemptuous, but it shouldalso be noted that different suffixes will give a different shade ofmeaning to the same word, for example:

do$tarak and pesarak usually convey the straightforwarddiminutive meaning and can be used affectionately, teflak is veryeorÌÌmon and just means lpoor thing'

-c+ke-9!e-icbe

LESTION ELEVEN 109

but:dokhtrre, pcftne, are usually slightly pejorative, and

mlrdak, zamk, are used in a slightly derogatory sense or areat best disrespectful, with martike and zanlke being downrightrude, whereas mlrde, zene, while not altogether polite, willoften be heard in speech and mean little more than'the man','that man', 'the woman', 'that woman':

raftam nunvãi marde goft ke nun tamum shodé - I went to thebakêry and the man said the bread was fiffihed

If one wants to be more polite, one refers to âghãhe, $munc.

Otherwise one should say un lght, un khlnum, for'that man','that woman'.

6. Cotloquial rce of the suffix -eshThe suffix -eg! is also used colloquially as a kind of pronominalsuffix where none is actually needed:

hargli aghabc dustrm ga$tam nabudq!This is given here so that you will recognize it if you hear it.

7. Other word formatiotts(a) The suffixes.gar and -chi tend to denote occupations:

kârgar - worker; zargar - goldsmith; ãhügar - blacksmith;shenogar - swimmer; shekãryli - hunter

(á) nouns can be formed from two nouns put together as in:ruznâme - newspaper; mehmãnkhãne - hotel; davã!!!ne -chemist

or from the combination of a noun and a verb:pilderow - pavement; srrbiz - soldier; kf*üin - workers

or by the combination of a preposition and a noun:hrmsrfor - fellow-traveller; hrmMd - playmate; hamrfh -companion

(c) prepgsrtions and nouns can also grve adjectives: . .

bikar - unemployed; birdab - rude

110 lrssox ELEVEN

EXBRCISES

A. Read aloud and trsnslate:1. kãreú-o bã zerangi pish bord2. az gorosnegi o teúnegi dãlbt mimord3. bedune puúeshe eslãmi tuye kuche nabãyad raft4. agar teran-o az dast dãdi khodam bã mãshin miresunamet5. dar Orupã shahrhãye did;ni t<trâti ziaO ast6. sedãye in khãnandeye jadid vâgle'an shenidanist7. belakhare nafahmidam ke in kãr shodani-st yã na8. diruz raftam aghabe sã'atam, ,nutd" goft keiãzer nist9. rãnandehe cherãgh ghermez-o nadid, zad be ye mãshine dige

10. dokhtare khéìli por ru bud

B. Put into Persian1. I am extremely tired (say: I am dying of tiredness)2. You won't get the job done by being lazy3. Shiraz is beautiful and worth seeing4. I wanted to change the door of my house but the man said it

couldn't be done5. My friend said she would take me home6. The little boy was very tired7. That [awful] boy stuck his tongue out at me (use zabun derazi

kardan)8. The poor little thing is very tired

C. Give the opposítes of khubi; zerangi; khoú-bakhti

Lesson Twelve(darse dauãzdahom)

I (1) POLTTE PHRASES & CONVENTTONS

Persian has an enormous variety of polite phrases and expressionswhich, while they will sound very flowery in translation, especiallyto anyone accustomed to the more brief and basic politeness of

LESSON TWELVE 111

\ilestern culture, are not just literary forms, but are in everydayuse. Here are a few of them:

!$rti gloggvagtam, or khoshvagbtam - I am very fortunate [tomeet you]; used. on being introduced to someone

The same expression can be used when saying goodbye after haúngbeing introduced for the first time:

!!odãfez, !!og!vaÈt úodam, or, khôti!!e!v$t glodan

marharnat ziÕd and lofetun ziãd ('may you have much favour','may you have much honour') are commonly used when sayinggoodbye, as is the expression sãyeye glomn kam nashe oÍ sãyetunkam nsshe which means 'may your shadow never gÍorv less'. Alsoused is ghorbãne shomã, literally'may I be sacrificed for you', and,between closer friends gborbâne to or even ghorbãnat (See readingpassage for Lesson 9).

The more colloquial glorbunet or ghorbunetam, are also used inthe sense of 'be a dear and...'or just'please': dar-o beband,glorbunetam or glorbunetam, dar-o beband - Shut the door,there's a dear or do shut the door please

d"ste $omã dard nakone, or dastet dard nakone ft?. 'may yourhand never ache' is a common way of expressing thanks for aservice performed.

jeye glomã khãli - 'your place was empty' is very often used whenreporting on something that was good or was enjoyed:diruz raftim gardesh, jãye shomõ khãli khôili khosh gozasht - rüÍervent on an outing yesterday; we had a very good time (and there-fore yow place was empty - i.e. it would have been nice if youcould have been there too)

The word befarmãid (Lesson 5, Phrases and Expressions) is usedall the time. In situations where there is no specific answer tobefarmãid,.for example when someone is asking you to go througha door fint by saying befarmãid, it is usual to demur and sayt!ãheú mikonam, shomâ befarmâid or na, !!âheg! mikonam,shomâ befarmãid, at least once. Likewise at a party or in people'shomes you may see people being offered things - fruit, slveets etc.and first they will say na mersi in answer to the befarmãid, thenafter several befarmãid's and khãhesh mikonam's, they will finally

LLz LEssoNTwELvE

accept what is being offered. This kind of process is known as ttrrof.The less well people know each other or the more respect theywish to show, the greater the degree of 6rof. The verb tãrof kerdrnmeans'to offer someone something', but only in the sense of food,drink, etc.

chrylm (which is derived from be ruye g!cg!gn, 'upon my eyes')means 'certainly', 'of couÍse', 'yes, f úll' in anstlreÍ to a commandor request:

be p€düehm salãm ber€sunid - ch$rn - Give my regards to yourfather - Yes, of course (salh resnndan: to send regards, /dÍ. toconvey greetings; the same expression is also used for'give my loveto')

arz kardrn is a polite version of goftan ('to say'), usually used whenreferring to yourself, and farmuden ('to comrnand') is used whenreferring to others: e.g. sÍz kardam - I said, farmudid - you said

tabrik arz mikonam Congratulations; I congratulate you.To be less formal one can sayìbehetuntâbrik migam (or beüet tâbrik migam,for the familiar)

Please accept my condolences; I offermy condolenees. Less formal: beheíbehetun tasllrt mlgam

At the New Year and on joyous religious festivals the greeting is:âAe snome mobãrek

mobârak ('blessed') is also used to @mment favourably on some-thing new:

e.g.: kafthe now pushidi?tre

. noHrak (or mobirak c, or mobâraket btshe)andhârcjadid mobirak - Congratulations on your new job

r (2) o[ItER EXPRESSTONS(a) The use of oathsto reinforce what is being said is quite

' ' common, so you get expressions üke:

tsslirt arz mlkonam

SITUAfiONAL PHRASES AND CONVERSATIONS 113

bellodã (short for be khodã ghassam - I swear to God) -By God, which means little more than ,honestly', ,truly'

vãllã, bevallãhe ïrcre or less like bekhodã

vãllâ is also used as an interjection, rather like 'well':'chi goft?' 'vâllâ, dorost nafahmidam vali mesle in ke goftfardã miãd'. -'What did he say?' 'Well, I didn't quiteunderstand, but I think he said he'd come tomorrow'.

be gbor'ãn - By the Koranbe ghor'ãne mqiid - By the glorious Koran: these

two expressions are slightlysfionger than bel<húã and areobviously usually only usedby Moslems.

(á) The following s\ilear words may be heard, but it is clearlynot a good idea to use them!

gom úo, or boro gom glo - Get lost!pedar sag - lit. your father's a dog; very insulting since dogs

are unclean to Moslemspedar sukhté - Iit. burnt father, i.e. he's in hell, or should

go therekhâk bar sar/saret - lit. earth on your head; drop dead

Situational Phrasesand Gonversations

I AT THE AIRPORT

ghesmate gozarnãme The passport sectionsalãm Greetingskhosh ãmadid Welcomechand vaght mimunid? How long are you staying?do hafte Two weeksãdresctun dar Irân kojâ-st? What is your address in lran?

114 srnreuoNAl pHRAsEs AND coNvEnsATroNs

nehele eghimrtetun drr lrân Where are you staying inkoJi.st? [ran?

hotel tztdi The Azadi Hotelbefatmfid Jelo Move forward pleasebcfarmâid intarú Come this way pleasesÕl,one gomrok Customs hallaqiãme tâSrifãte gomrohi lit: The carrying out of

customs formalities, i.e.going through customs

chi drdn? What have you got/Anythingto declare?

hichi, fr$rt lavãzeme shsllsi Nothing, only personal effectssigâr o na$rub ke nadãrid? You haven't any alcohol or

cigarettes, have you?úeri, sigõr dâram vali Yes I do, I have cigarettes but

maghrub nederam no alcoholna!!ôn No I do notlofen in glpmeduno bsz Please open this suitcase

konidbdarmrid Here you arebarâye in bâyad gomrok bedid You must pay customs duty

on thisarz chi dsrin? What forèign ctrrency have

you got?neÈdÕri dolãr o pond Some dollars and poundsbâyd forme erz por konid You must fill in a curïency

formÈü!! drd Trolleybür bor PorterbÕnde forudgfh The runwayhewpânr tr'khir dtr€ The plane is latedelrl'Õt koJÕ-st? lVhere is the information

desk?befarmiid tuye sef Please join the queuevorud Entrance!!on{ Exitsfbne entelr Waiting room

SITUATTONAL PHRASES AND COì{VERSAfiONS 115

I AT TIIE TRAVEL AGENT :

mikhãm yek jã barnye Landen I would like to make arezery konam reservation for London

besyãr !!ob. barâye che ruzi? Certainly. For what day?shambe ewale ut Saturday August the firstmota'asefilne un parvâz jã Unfortunately there are no

nadâre seats on that flightegar bekhâhid barãye do If you like I can give you

ghombr$ mitunem a seat for the Mondaybchetun jã b€drm

ye'ni sewome ut? You mean August the úird?bde YesbÕshc, ps do shrnbc Alright, Monday thenUâü &ob berlye do g$mbc Very well, I'll make the

Ír;rÊÍrí mikonam. agrr hrm booking for Monday. Ifbe[Fhid mitunem tuye you like I can also put youliste entezãre glambe hem on the waiting list for theúomâ ro bezãram. Saturday.

bale' bi zehmrt in kâr ro Yes, please do so and let mebokonid va rgarjâ bud know if there is a seat.bemen khebar bedln.

esmetun rã befarmâid Your name, pleaseqlomÈreye úelefonetun chand- What is your telephone

e? number?bi zahmet in jãye mano ta'id Could you please confirm my

konid reservation.

otobuse Esfahen che sâ'ati What time does the Esfahanharekat mikone? bus leave?

sâ'ate paqie sob At five a.m.mitunam az hãlã bilit Can I buv a ticket now?

) ncgmramt; bale albatte Yes of course

terane Tabriz az kudurn sakku Which platform does theherekat mikone? Tabriz train leave from?

sakkuye paqi Platform fiveghe sã'eti virede Tabriz At what time does it reach

mishe? Tabriz?

116 srrurrroxAl pHRAsEs AND corìrvgRsATroNs

g!|lUp sobc fardã Six otclock tomorÍowmomrng

biüte turbo teran bartye Do you have any tickets forIì/talllhad dãrid? the turbo train to,Mashad?

motatasefãne tâmõm shodé. I'm afraid there aren't any leftmitunld bâ ghatrre sfr'ol ótr You can take the

"*presberh.bcsyâr khob, ms yek bilite Alright, I'll have a Íeturn,

nrft o bar gaglt beman pleasebcdin

darcjeye yek mi[!!id? First class?balc Yesbefarmnid Here you arech$adr miús? How much is it?divist o paqiâ iomon Two hundred and fifty tomans

I SHOPPING

satrm {g!!/nanum, Good morning, what can I dobdormâtd for you?

sellm, shir drrin? Good morning. Is there anymilk?

pãkati tamãm úodé ammã The cartons are finished butglflshei hast we have bottled milk

bÕshe, pas bi zahmat yeki Alright then, could I have onebeman bedid please

befamüid. glize dige ham There you are. Anythinghzem darid? else?

bale, ye g!$leb kare, diyist o Yes, butter, two hundred andpaqiã gerah panir o yek fifty grammes of cheeseg!ãiye nim kilo'i and a half kilo packet of tea

*e È@adri bãshe? What size butter do youwant?

unam divist o pnjã gerami Two hundred and fiftybãghe $ub-e grammes will be fine

bdsrmãid Here you arefket dârtn Do you have a bag?gleglfdr g_hod? How much is it? :

SITUATTONAL PÍTRA!|ET} AND OONVBNSAIIONS 117

nrvd o poqi úomrn o pqi&ú

bdarmÍdmerci, lgÈâtlrnum$odffez

in Sqgle mehi g!pnd.e?

glpst o paqi toman$ôrü genrn-e rrzuntaresh o. nediridm, mota'asseftrne tamum

shodétakhtrham nadlre?

ashnËEâtqmt, do meh bcdinbdarniid puteçU o bedin

sandogh restdq! o bilridjensetun o begirln

portagLile Hbt g!and-e?

punzda tomanIìos se kib bcdin

I ASKING TTIE WAY

bânke markad az kudumtarrf-e?

sare rwolln chlr râh dostenãst bepiglld, tuye hrmun

$ilbun dasSe rtsúetun-ebebskhshid, ãgbã/khânum,

vezãirrte kçllverzi kojã-st?

ãkhnre hrinln khilbun-ckhTrü Aur-e?

-

Ninety-five tomans five rials '

Here you areThank you sir/madamGoodbye

How much a metre is thismaterial?

Sixty-five tomansIt's very expensive, haven't

you got anything cheaper?No, unfortunately it's all gone

Can't you give me a red-uction?No, I can'tAlright, grve me two metresPay at the cash desk, please.

Bring the receipt and takeyour goods

How much are the orangesper kilo?

Fifteen tomansGive me three kilos, then

How does one get to theCentral Bank?

Turn right at the firstcrossroads. It is then inthat road, on your right

Excuse me, sir/madam,where is the Ministry ofAgrioilture?

It's at the end of this roadIs it very far?

118 SITUATIoNAL pHRAsEs AND coNvERsATIoNs

ne, piãde hrm mitunid berid No, you can walk it if youItant

daste chap bepiglidmostagLim berid

I TIIE TELEPHONE

rllobefarmâid

nakhôrr, ehtebãh-e

bcbskhshid

befarmãidâghã tsshrif dãrand?bale, shomã?man John Smithgushi !üdmatetunsalãm âghâye Smith

seglambe chetowr-e?seshambe che s5'ati?

Turn leftGo straight on

HelloYes?

residence?No, you've got the \ilÍong

numberf'm sorrv

residence?YesIs Mr Haghighi in?Yes. Who's that speaking?This is John SmithHold the line, pleaseHello, MÍ Smith

What about Tuesday?What time on Tuesday?

manzete ârüâye Heghighi? Is that Mr Haghighi's

allo Hellomanzele ãghãye Hagligli? Is that Mr Haghighi's

salem, hãle shomã chetowr-e? Hello, how are you?mersi, be marhematetun, bad I'm not too bad, thank you,

nistam, befarmãid what can I do for you?vâllã, mi$ãstam bebinam kô- Well, I wanted to ask when I

vaght dârid biãm shomã ro could come and see youbebinam

khãheq mikonarn, har sâ'aü Any time you sayke befarmõid msn hãzeram

hsr sã'ati shomã belúÕid/ Any time you sayqleid

st'& prqi khub+? Is five o'clock alright?

STTUATIONAL PHNASES AND CONVEN,SATIONS 119

bale, khôü khub-e Yes, that's finebcsyãr $ú, pas sÕ'ate paqi Very well, then, I'll see you

mibinrmetun. deftare at five o'clock. Do younran{r baladid? know where my office is?

bale Yespas tã seshambe, khodâfez Well, till Tuesday, then$odefez.[!od,e hâfeze shomã Goodbyemerhemat ziâd Goodbve

r IN A TAXI

tâ Shemmn chegladr migirid, How much do you charge toâghã? go to Shemran?

bi zahmst berim môrdune (To) Ferdowsi Square, pleaseFerdowsi

or: môrdune Ferdowsi, loúan

on reaching your destination:gbegladr gbod? How much is it?

Appendix

IìIT]MBERS

The Arabic numerals, which are also used in Persian, are as follows:

\ Y ï t o 1 v ^

1 ì '12345678910

123 = \ Yï 65 = 1o 2695 : Y1lo

The decimal point is represented by a comma.

CURRENCY

Notes and coins currentlv in circulation dre:

COINSI rial (yegheruni)2 rials (dozeri)5 rials (paynzeri)10 rials (ye-tomani)20 rials (do-tomani)50 rials (paqi-tomeni)

NOTES100 rials (da-tomani)zffi rials (bis-tomani)500 rials(paqiâ-tomani)1000 rials (sad-tomani)2000 rials (divis-tomani)5000 rials (punsad tomani)10000 rials (hezãr tomani)

TIIE CALEI\IDAR

In Iran, the Islamic months are called:

moharramsafarrabi'ol awalrabi'os-sãnijanÌãdi ol awaljamâdi os-sãni

rqiabsha'bãnramazânshawãtzigha'dezihqije

The chief civil public holidays are:

I - 4 Farvardin12 Farvardin

13 Farvardin

15 Khordãd

17 Shahriver

Zl Bahman

29 Esfend

ppewox 121

(approxiniaté1ebr-responüng date)

The chief religrous public holidays are:

13 rqiab

27 rqiab

15 sho'bln2l ramrzin1g[swãt

Zi glrwilll dg[r'de

10 dhqij€

It dhqiie

9 mohrrnm

Now Ruz holidays (2L-24 March) .Islamic Republic (1 April)Daythirteenth of. Now (2 April)RuzPopular uprising of (5 June)1Í)63C;ommemoration of (8 September)the martyrs of therevolutionIslamic Revolution (11 February)DayNationalisation of (19 March)the Oil Industry

Birthday of Aü, the Prophet's son-in-lawôrde meb'ss: the anniversary of theday Mohammad began his ministryBirthday of the 12th ImamThe martyrdom of Aliâdc letr: the celebration of theending of the fasting month ofRamadanDeath of Imam Ja'far SãdeghBirthday of Emam Rezã (the 8úlmam of úe Shiites)âae gucrban: the day on whichpilgrims to Mecca make sactificesâae gmatr: the anniversary of úeday Ali was appointed successor tothe Prophettãsu'll: the eve of Imam HusseinÌsmart5ndom

122 APPENDTx

l0 moharram ãslurã: martyrdom of ImamHussein

20 safar arba'in:40th day of the martyrdomof Imam Hussein

28 sdar Death of the Prophet andmartyrdom of Imam Hassan

17 rabi-ol awal - Bfuthday of the Prophet, birthdayof Imam Ja'far Sãdegh