Question Words and Word Order
In Persian, question words use in-situ word order. The question word stays exactly where the answer would be in a normal sentence. To ask "What are you reading?", you literally say "You what are reading?"
Here are the essential question words:
| Persian | Meaning |
|---|---|
| چه | what |
| کجا | where |
| کی | when |
| چرا | why |
| چطور | how |
| کدام | which |
Asking "What" and "Where"
Notice how the subject comes first, followed by the question word, and the verb at the end.
| What are you reading? | شما چه میخوانید؟shomâ che mikhânid? |
| What does he eat every day? | او هر روز چه میخورد؟u har ruz che mikhorad? |
When asking about locations, کجا sits where the destination normally goes.
| Where are they going today? | آنها امروز کجا میروند؟ânhâ emrooz kojâ miravand? |
| Where is the university? | دانشگاه کجا است؟dâneshgâh kojâ ast? |
Asking "When", "Why", and "How"
The same word order applies when asking about time, reasons, or methods.
| When is the teacher coming? | معلم کی میآید؟mo'allem key mi âyad? |
| When do you go to the university? | شما کی به دانشگاه میروید؟shomâ key be dâneshgâh miravid? |
| Why don't you have money? | شما چرا پول ندارید؟shomâ cherâ pul nadârid? |
| How do they live here? | آنها اینجا چطور زندگی میکنند؟ânhâ injâ chetor zendegi mikonand? |
Asking "Which"
کدام (which) directly precedes the noun it is asking about.
| Which hotel is excellent? | کدام هتل عالی است؟kodâm hotel âli ast? |
| Which student doesn't have a book? | کدام دانشجو کتاب ندارد؟kodâm dâneshju ketâb nadârad? |
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