Breakdown of اینان برادران و خواهران من هستند.
من
I
و
and
اینانinân
these people
بودنbudan
to be
برادرbarâdar
brother
خواهرkhâhar
sister
Questions & Answers about اینان برادران و خواهران من هستند.
Why does the word for 'these' look different here?
In this sentence, the word for 'this' (این) gets the animate plural ending ان (-ân) to become اینان. While you could use the standard plural اینها for objects or people, اینان specifically means 'these people'.
How are 'brothers' and 'sisters' made plural in this sentence?
Since brothers (برادر) and sisters (خواهر) are people, they take the animate plural suffix ان (-ân), becoming برادران and خواهران. You could also use the standard plural suffix ها, but ان is very common and natural for people.
How does 'my' connect to both 'brothers' and 'sisters'?
The word for 'my' is من. To link it to the nouns, Farsi uses a hidden linking vowel called the ezafe (pronounced 'e'). When you have a list connected by 'and' (و), the ezafe only attaches to the final noun right before the pronoun. In speech, this sounds like 'khâharân-e man'.
Why is the verb at the end هستند (they are)?
Because the subject of the sentence refers to multiple living people, the verb must match it in the plural form. Farsi strictly requires the plural verb هستند for animate plural subjects, unlike inanimate objects which can sometimes take a singular verb.
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