marmorbleikur wrote:(I hope this is the right thread - I'm still trying to find my way around this forum) Hi everyone, I have quite a few pretty simple questions if that's okay. I'm only just starting to learn Persian (I'm as beginner-y as you can get!
) but the book I'm using at the moment is a reference grammar, so there are no exercises to practice with. As a result, I have
no idea whether I'm interpreting things correctly or not! So if anyone can help it'd be greatly appreciated.
Below are some notes/statements, and some questions. Would you mind checking to see if what I've written/summarised is accurate, and could you try and answer the questions? I'm aware I'm asking quite a lot of things, so I don't mind if you only want to answer one at a time.
(And I know I must have made a ton of mistakes with the script - sorry, I'm still trying to master that too!)
1. By default, nouns can be either definite or indefinite (depending on the context), but you can add the suffix -i to make it clear that a noun is indefinite. So:
خرس (xers) - a bear, the bear
خرسی (xers-i) - a bear
2. Demonstrative adjectives precede the noun:
این خرس (in xers) - this bear
آن خرس (ân xers) - that bear
(And I'm assuming that nouns with these demonstratives are definite by default, so you couldn't say این خرسی (in xers-i), right?)
3. Are adjectives used as complements "modified" in any way, in very simple phrases? My book gives a few examples following the pattern of demonstrative + noun + adjective, but doesn't actually say anything.
خرس قهوه ای است (xers qahve'i ast) - the bear is brown
این خرس قهوه ای است (in xers qahve'i ast) - this bear is brown
آن خرس قهوه ای است (ân xers qahve'i ast) - that bear is brown
4. A basic/non-indefinite noun takes the ezâfe when used with an attributive adjective:
خرس قهوه ای (xers-e qahve'i) - the brown bear, a brown bear
این خرس قهوه ای (in xers-e qahve'i) - this brown bear
and any additional adjectives are linked together with the ezâfe:
خرس بزرگ قهوه ای (xers bozorg-e qahve'i) - the big brown bear
این خرس بزرگ قهوه ای (in xers-e bozorg-e qahve'i) - this big brown bear
خرس قهوه ای بزرگ (xers qahve'i-ye bozorg) - the brown big bear
Is there any preferred order when using multiple adjectives? Like how in English "big brown" sounds much more natural than "brown big".
5. There are two ways of using adjectives with indefinite nouns (nouns with the -i suffix). You can add ezâfe to the noun and -i to the adjective, or the final adjective if there's more than one, but adjectives already ending in -i are unmodified:
خرس قهوه ای (xers-e qahve'i) - a brown bear
خرس بزرگی (xers-e bozorg-i) - a big bear
خرس بزرگ قهوه ای (xers-e bozorg-e qahve'i) - a big brown bear
خرس قهوه ای بزرگی (xers-e qahve'i-ye bozorg-i) - a brown big bear
Is the ezâfe still used to link multiple adjectives in the above indefinite construction?
The -i suffix may also be added to the noun, with a series of adjectives being linked by ezâfe or o:
خرسی قهوه ای (xers-i qahve'i) - a brown bear
خرسی بزرگ (xers-i bozorg) - a big bear
خرسی بزرگ و قهوه ای (xers-i bozorg o qahve'i)
خرسی بزرگ قهوه ای (xers-i bozorg-e qahve'i)
Is there any difference between using ezâfe or o? Are there situations where one is preferred over the other?
Sorry again for all the questions. I'm really not a very confident learner so I'm not great at just trying things out without asking first!
(Thank you very much if you can help!)