Breakdown of این دختران خواهران او هستند.
او
he/she
این
this
بودنbudan
to be
خواهرkhâhar
sister
دخترdokhtar
girl / daughter
Questions & Answers about این دختران خواهران او هستند.
Both دختران and خواهران end in -ان (-ân). Can I use -ها (-hâ) instead?
Yes! While this lesson focuses on the animate plural ending -ان (-ân) which is used for people and living things, you can also use the standard plural -ها (-hâ). In everyday spoken Farsi, دخترها and خواهرها are actually much more common.
If the sentence is about 'these girls', why is the singular word این (this) used instead of the plural اینها (these)?
In Farsi, when a pointing word like این (this) comes directly before a noun, it always stays singular, even if the noun is plural. You only use the plural اینها when it stands alone as a pronoun (like saying 'These are my sisters' without the word 'girls').
How does او mean 'his' here when it usually means 'he' or 'she'?
Farsi doesn't have separate words for possessive pronouns like 'his' or 'her'. Instead, it uses the regular pronoun او (he/she) linked to the noun with an Ezafe (the hidden 'e' sound connecting words). When spoken, it sounds like خواهرانِ او (khâharân-e u), which literally means 'sisters of him'.
Why does the verb هستند (are) have to be plural here?
Because the subject of the sentence, دختران (girls), refers to living people. In Farsi, plural people and animals take a plural verb. If the subject were plural things (like 'these chairs'), you would normally use a singular verb like است (is).
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