Language/Iranian-persian/Grammar/Lesson-3:-Word-order-in-Persian-sentences

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◀️ Lesson 2: Introducing yourself and others — Previous Lesson	Next Lesson — Lesson 4: Present tense conjugation of the verb "to be" ▶️

Iranian Persian Grammar → Unit 2: Sentence structure and basic verb conjugation → Lesson 3: Word order in Persian sentences

In this lesson, we will learn about the basic word order in Persian sentences. As we saw in the previous lessons, Persian has a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) sentence structure. Unlike English, which has a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) structure, Persian places the verb at the end of the sentence.

For example, let's take the sentence "I drink tea." In Persian, this sentence would be structured as "I tea drink," with "I" being the subject, "tea" being the object, and "drink" being the verb. The word order in Persian is flexible to some extent, but the basic SOV structure remains the same.

Let's explore this concept further with some examples:

Don't hesitate to look into these other pages after completing this lesson: Lesson 9: Possessive pronouns & Common Mistakes.

Basic Word Order in Persian

Example 1

Persian	Pronunciation	English
من	man	I
چای	chay	tea
می‌نوشم	meenu-sham	drink

The pronunciation guide shows the transcription of the Persian words in the Latin script and the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet).

The English translation of this sentence is "I drink tea."

Example 2

Persian	Pronunciation	English
پدر	pedar	father
نان	naan	bread
می‌خورد	meekhorad	eats

The English translation of this sentence is "Father eats bread."

As you can see, the basic structure of the sentences in these examples remains the same, regardless of the order of the words. However, the meaning of the sentence can change depending on the word order.

Example 3

Persian	Pronunciation	English
ما	maa	we
فیلم	film	movie
نگاه می کنیم	negaah mee konom	watch

The English translation of this sentence is "We watch a movie."

In this example, we see that the subject "maa" and the verb "negaah meekonim" are separated by the object "film." This illustrates the flexibility of the word order in Persian.

Now that we have seen some examples of basic word order in Persian, let's move on to some more complex aspects of sentence structure.

The Position of Adjectives and Adverbs

In Persian, adjectives usually come after the noun they modify. For example, "kitaab ziba" means "beautiful book," with "ziba" (or beautiful) following "kitaab" (or book).

Adverbs come after the verb they modify. For example, "man dust-daram vali shabihe-ash ra nadaram" means "I like him but I don't resemble him," with "nadaram" (or don't have) following "shabihe-ash" (or resemble him).

Inverting the Word Order

In Persian, it is common to invert the word order in questions, or to use a question word at the beginning of the sentence. For example:

"آیا شما چای می‌نوشید؟" (aaya shomaa chai meenoshid?) means "Do you drink tea?"
"چرا تو ماشین را نخریدی؟" (cheraa to mashin raa nakharidee?) means "Why didn't you buy the car?"

This practice is similar to the use of question tags in English, such as: "You like tea, don't you?"

Conclusion

In this lesson, we explored the basic word order in Persian sentences, and discussed the flexibility of the sentence structure in Persian. We also looked at the position of adjectives and adverbs, and the use of inverted word order in questions. By understanding the fundamental rules of sentence structure in Persian, you will be able to form simple and complex sentences in this beautiful and expressive language.

Sources

With this lesson finished, you may want to explore these additional pages: How to say goodbye & Come.

Table of Contents - Iranian Persian Course - 0 to A1

Course Presentation

Unit 1: Basic greetings and introductions

Unit 2: Sentence structure and basic verb conjugation

Unit 3: Talking about daily routines

Unit 4: Object pronouns and possessive pronouns

Unit 5: Persian culture and customs

Unit 6: Food and drink

Unit 7: Past tense and regular verbs conjugation

Unit 8: Persian literature and arts

Unit 9: Travel and transportation

Unit 10: Imperative mood, infinitives and complex sentences

Unit 11: Persian history and geography

Unit 12: Leisure and entertainment

Other Lessons

◀️ Lesson 2: Introducing yourself and others — Previous Lesson	Next Lesson — Lesson 4: Present tense conjugation of the verb "to be" ▶️

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