Making Guesses with شاید
When playing board games like chess (شطرنج) or backgammon (تختهنرد), a big part of the fun is anticipating your opponent's strategy. To make a guess or express that something "might" happen, Persian uses the word شاید (perhaps / might).
The golden rule for شاید is that it requires the Present Subjunctive. Whenever you state that someone might do something, the main verb takes the subjunctive form (typically marked by the prefix بـ).
| Do you like chess or backgammon more? Perhaps we will play today. | شطرنج را بیشتر دوست داری یا تختهنرد را؟ شاید امروز بازی کنیم.shatranj râ bishtar doost dâri yâ takhte-nard râ? shâyad emrooz bâzi konim. |
| Perhaps the opponent will move that piece with a trick. | شاید حریف آن مهره را با یک ترفند حرکت بدهد.shâyad harif-e ân mohre râ bâ yek tarfand harekat bedahad. |
If you are predicting a sequence of actions, every verb in that sequence takes the subjunctive form:
| Perhaps I will roll the dice and take a risk in every turn. | شاید من در هر نوبت تاس بیندازم و ریسک کنم.shâyad man dar har nowbat tâs biandâzam o risk konam. |
The Negative Subjunctive
To say that something might not happen, make the subjunctive verb negative. The negative prefix نـ takes the place of the usual بـ prefix.
| He plays backgammon well, but perhaps he will not guess your trick. | او تختهنرد خوب بازی میکند، اما شاید ترفند شما را حدس نزند.u takhte-nard khub bâzi mikonad, ammâ shâyad tarfand shomâ râ hads nazanad. |
| Because she plays chess well, perhaps you cannot guess the winner. | چون او خوب شطرنج بازی میکند، شاید شما نتوانید برنده را حدس بزنید.chon u khub shatranj bâzi mikonad, shâyad shomâ natavânid barande râ hads bezanid. |
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