Welcome to the circus! Before we learn how a trainer makes animals perform, let's look at the basic setting and vocabulary for taming wild animals.
| The tamer works in a big circus. | رامکننده در یک سیرک بزرگ کار میکند.râm-konande dar yek sirk bozorg kâr mikonad. |
| The tamer himself tames the wild bear. | رامکننده خودش خرس وحشی را رام میکند.râm-konande khodash khers-e vahshi râ râm mikonad. |
Forming Causative Verbs
To turn an intransitive verb into a transitive one (where the action is done to a direct object, like making an animal dance), Farsi uses a simple causative formula:
Present Stem + اندن or انیدن
While both suffixes exist, اندن is the most common in modern Farsi. Here is how you transform a few common verbs to talk about a circus act:
| Base Verb (Intransitive) | Present Stem | Causative Verb | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| رقصیدن (to dance) | رقص | رقصاندن | to make dance |
| پریدن (to jump) | پر | پراندن | to make jump / fly |
| دویدن (to run) | دو | دواندن | to make run |
Let's see the trainer put these causative verbs into practice. Notice how the animal is now the direct object (taking the marker را) because the trainer is acting upon it.
| He knows how to make the bear dance. | او میداند که چطور خرس را برقصاند.u midânad ke chetor khers râ beraghsânad. |
| The trainer makes the tiger jump from the cage. | مربی ببر را از قفس میپراند.morabbi babr râ az qafas miparânad. |
| They made the horses run in the circus. | آنها اسبها را در سیرک دواندند.ânhâ asb-hâ râ dar sirk davândand. |
Prefixed Verbs
This exact same rule applies to prefixed verbs. For example, برگشتن means "to return" or "to come back" (intransitive). Its present stem is برگرد. By adding اندن, we get برگرداندن — "to bring back" or "to return something" (transitive).
| The tamer could not bring back the monkey. | رامکننده نمیتوانست میمون را برگرداند.râm-konande nemitavânest meymun râ bargardânad. |
| I brought the bird back to the cage. | من پرنده را به قفس برگرداندم.man parande râ be qafas bargardândam. |
The Final Show
Once the trainer masters these causatives and gets the animals to perform perfectly, there is only one thing left for the audience to do: applaud the tricks!
| The spectators applaud this amazing trick. | تماشاگران این شیرینکاری شگفتانگیز را تشویق میکنند.tamâshâgarân in shirin-kâri shegeft-angiz râ tashviq mikonand. |
| If he makes the elephant dance, we will applaud. | اگر او فیل را برقصاند، ما تشویق میکنیم.agar u fil râ beraghsânad, mâ tashvigh mikonim. |