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### Emphasizing with "آنچه"

When sharing life lessons or passing down wisdom, you often want to place special focus on the core message. In English, we frequently do this by starting a sentence with "What..." (e.g., "What he gave me was good advice"). In grammar, this is known as a pseudo-cleft sentence.

In Farsi, you can create this thematic focus using **آنچه** (sometimes written as **آنچه که**).

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The structure begins with **آنچه**, followed by the descriptive clause, a comma, the emphasized item, and finally the "to be" verb. Let's look at how this applies when talking about receiving precious advice (**پند گران‌بها**) or insight (**بینش**).

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### The Value of Mentorship

You can use this exact same structure to discuss the spiritual wisdom (**حکمت**) passed down by a mentor (**مرشد**) to an apprentice (**شاگرد**), or the legacy (**میراث**) they leave behind.

Notice how **آنچه** acts as the subject, neatly wrapping up the first half of the thought before the "big reveal" at the end of the sentence.

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### Focusing on Actions

The focused part of your sentence does not have to be a noun. You can also use this structure to emphasize an action that someone should take, such as acting on or practicing (**عمل کردن**) the advice they have been given.

In these cases, the focused action is typically expressed as an infinitive phrase just before the final verb.

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Focusing with that which (ânche)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prefix

preposition

pronoun

sentence

suffix

verb

Singular pronouns and copula (man, -am)

Plural pronouns and copula (mâ, -im)

Subject pronoun omission

Singular demonstratives (in, ân)

Plural demonstratives (inhâ, ânhâ)

Independent copula (hastam, hast)

Negative present copula (nistam, nist)

Yes/No questions (âyâ)

Regular plurals (-hâ)

Animate plurals (-ân)

Indefiniteness (yek)

Indefinite marker (-i)

Describing nouns (-e / -ye)

Possession (-e / -ye)

Singular possessives (-am, -at, -ash)

Plural possessives (-emân, -etân, -eshân)

Basic prepositions (dar, be, az, bâ)

Spatial prepositions (ru-ye, zir-e...)

Numbers 1 to 10 (yek, do, se...)

Numbers and singular nouns

Numbers 11 to 20 (yâzdah, davâzdah...)

Counting by tens to 100

Telling time (sâ'at)

The verb to have (dâram)

Negative to have (nadâram)

Basic word order (SOV)

Infinitives and present stems (-an)

Present indicative (mi-)

Negative present indicative (nemi-)

Compound verbs

Question words (che, kojâ)

How many (chand)

The definite object marker (râ)

Object pronouns (man râ, to râ)

Singular commands (be-)

Formal and plural commands (be- ... -id)

Negative commands (na-)

The present subjunctive (be-)

The negative present subjunctive (na-)

Must (bâyad)

Might (shâyad)

Wanting to do something (khâstan)

Being able to do something (tavânestan)

Forming the past stem

The simple past of to be (budan)

The simple past tense

Negative simple past (na-)

Attached object pronouns on verbs (-am, -at, -ash)

Comparative adjectives (-tar)

Basic conjunctions (va, ammâ, yâ)

Giving reasons (chon)

Adverbs of frequency and degree (hamishe, hargez, kheyli, kam)

Everyday actions (kâr kardan, bâz kardan)

Non-human plural subjects

Indefinite pronouns (kasi, chizi, jâyi)

Negative indefinite pronouns (hich-kas, hich-chiz, hich-jâ)

Reciprocal pronouns (hamdigar, yekdigar)

Reflexive pronouns (khod-)

Reflexive direct objects (khod râ)

Emphatic pronouns (khod)

The quantifier every (har)

The quantifier all (hame)

The quantifier some (ba'zi)

Another and other (-i digar)

Which (kodâm)

How much (cheghadr)

Comparisons of equality (mesl-e)

Superlative adjectives (-tarin)

Irregular comparatives and superlatives

Ordinal numbers (-om)

Pre-nominal ordinal numbers (-omin)

Fractions and percentages

Prepositions of theme (dar mored-e)

Prepositions of time (ghabl az, ba'd az)

Preposition of exclusion (bedun-e)

Resultative conjunctions (banâbarin, pas)

Hortative construction (biyâ, biyâyid)

The present progressive tense (dâram mi-)

The past continuous tense (mi-)

Negative past continuous (ne-mi-)

Past continuous of to have (dâshtam)

The past progressive tense (dâshtam mi-)

The past participle (-e)

Present perfect tense (-e-am, -e-ast)

Negative present perfect (na-)

Question	Answer
that which / what (relative)	آنچهânche
advice / counsel	پندpand
precious	گران‌بهاgerânbahâ
What he gave me was a precious piece of advice.	آنچه او به من داد، پند گران‌بهایی بود.ânche u be man dâd, pand gerânbahâyi bud.
insight	بینشbinesh
What grandfather gave me was insight.	آنچه پدربزرگ به من داد، بینش بود.ânche pedarbozorg be man dâd, binesh bud.
mentor / guide (spiritual)	مرشدmorshed
wisdom	حکمتhekmat
I am happy that what the mentor passes down is wisdom.	من خوشحالم از اینکه آنچه مرشد انتقال می‌دهد، حکمت است.man khoshhâlam az inke ânche morshed enteghâl midahad, hekmat ast.
apprentice / pupil	شاگردshâgerd
wise	خردمندkheradmand
to act (on) / to practice	عمل کردنamal kardan
What a wise apprentice wants to do is to act on the master's advice.	آنچه یک شاگرد خردمند می‌خواهد انجام دهد، عمل کردن به پند استاد است.ânche yek shâgerd kheradmand mikhâhad anjâm dahad, amal kardan be pand-e ostâd ast.
What you read in this book is a precious piece of advice.	آنچه در این کتاب می‌خوانی، پند گران‌بهایی است.ânche dar in ketâb mikhâni, pand gerânbahâyi ast.
legacy / heritage	میراثmirâs
What we want is the legacy of a mentor.	آنچه ما می‌خواهیم، میراث یک مرشد است.ânche mâ mikhâhim, mirâs-e yek morshed ast.
What you must do is act on a useful piece of advice.	آنچه باید انجام دهی، عمل کردن به پند مفیدی است.ânche bâyad anjâm dahi, amal kardan be pand mofidi ast.
What the master passes down to the apprentice is a very important insight.	آنچه استاد به شاگرد انتقال می‌دهد، بینش بسیار مهمی است.ânche ostâd be shâgerd enteqâl midahad, binesh besyâr mohemmi ast.
What we learn from this experience is a precious piece of wisdom.	آنچه از این تجربه یاد می‌گیریم، حکمت گران‌بهایی است.ânche az in tajrobe yâd migirim, hekmat gerân-bahâyi ast.
What a wise mentor does not hide is the truth.	آنچه یک مرشد خردمند پنهان نمی‌کند، حقیقت است.ânche yek morshede kheradmand penhân nemikonad, haghighat ast.
What stays in the mind is the legacy of a teacher.	آنچه در ذهن می‌ماند، میراث یک معلم است.ânche dar zehn mimânad, mirâs yek mo'allem ast.