Weighing Sides
To present conflicting viewpoints or balance the pros and cons of an issue, use the correlative pair از یک سو and از سوی دیگر (literally "from one side" and "from the other side").
| On the one hand, agricultural development is necessary, and on the other hand, water shortage is a serious dilemma. | از یک سو توسعهی کشاورزی لازم است و از سوی دیگر کمبود آب یک معضل جدی است.az yek su towse'e-ye keshâvarzi lâzem ast va az su-ye digar kambud âb yek mo'zel jaddi ast. |
| On the one hand urban planning has benefits, and on the other hand it causes environmental dilemmas. | از یک سو شهرسازی منافعی دارد و از سوی دیگر باعث معضلات زیستمحیطی میشود.az yek su shahrsâzi manâfe'i dârad va az suye digar bâ'es mo'zelât zist-mohiti mishavad. |
Using "Taraf"
A very common alternative replaces سو with طرف (which also means "side" or "direction"). The structure از یک طرف ... و از طرف دیگر ... functions exactly the same way, but is slightly more versatile, adapting perfectly to both formal writing and colloquial, everyday speech.
| On the one hand they want agricultural benefits, and on the other hand they destroy the fabric of the village. | از یک طرف منافع کشاورزی را میخواهند و از طرف دیگر بافت روستا را تخریب میکنند.az yek taraf manâfe'-e keshâvarzi râ mikhâhand va az taraf-e digar bâft-e rustâ râ takhrib mikonand |
Notice how in conversational Farsi, this structure naturally softens to از یه طرف ... از طرف دیگه ...:
| On the one hand he says development is good, on the other hand he doesn't want the noise of urban planning! | از یه طرف میگه توسعه خوبه، از طرف دیگه سر و صدای شهرسازی رو نمیخواد!az ye taraf mige towse'e khube, az taraf dige sar o sedâ-ye shahrsâzi ro nemikhâd! |
Framing Formal Arguments
In academic or journalistic debates—such as discussing the impact of rapid urbanization—speakers often distance themselves from their claims by using objective or impersonal verbs.
Instead of "to be" or "I think," you will frequently encounter the verbs محسوب شدن and به شمار رفتن (both meaning "to be considered" or "to be counted as"). You can also introduce broad statements with the impersonal passive گفته میشود که (it is said that).
| It is said that this conflict is considered a big dilemma. | گفته میشود که این تضاد یک معضل بزرگ به شمار میرود.gofte mishavad ke in tazâd yek mo'zel bozorg be shomâr miravad. |
| In urban development, the destruction of nature is considered inevitable. | در توسعهی شهری، نابودی طبیعت اجتنابناپذیر محسوب میشود.dar towse'e-ye shahri, nâbudi-ye tabi'at ejtenâb-nâpazir mahsub mishavad. |
Once you are comfortable with these objective verbs, you can combine them directly with the "on the one hand / on the other hand" structure to build robust, argumentative sentences:
| On the one hand, urban planning is considered an undeniable need, and on the other hand, damage to nature is inevitable. | از یک سو شهرسازی یک نیاز انکارناپذیر محسوب میشود و از سوی دیگر لطمه به طبیعت اجتنابناپذیر است.az yek su shahr-sâzi yek niâz enkâr-nâpazir mahsub mishavad va az suye digar latme be tabi'at ejtenâb-nâpazir ast. |
