Learn Farsi: پنج بشقاب روی میز است. - There are five plates on the table.

In Farsi, whenever you use a number, the noun that follows it must remain in its singular form. So, instead of saying "five plates", Farsi literally says "five plate" (پنج بشقاب).

If there are five plates, why does the sentence end with است (is) instead of a plural verb like هستند (are)?

In Farsi grammar, when the subject of a sentence is inanimate (not a living person or animal), the verb is usually singular, even if there are multiple objects. Since plates are inanimate, we use the singular verb است.

Is there an ezāfe (the hidden "e" sound) in this sentence?

Yes! The word روی (on) connects to میز (table) using an ezāfe. When spoken, it sounds like "ruy-e miz". This is how Farsi links location words to the nouns they describe.

I don't see a word for "there" in the Farsi sentence. How does this translate to "There are five plates..."?

Farsi doesn't use a direct equivalent for "there is" or "there are" in this structure. Instead, you just state the subject, the location, and the verb "to be". پنج بشقاب روی میز است literally translates to "Five plates on the table is", which naturally means "There are five plates on the table" in English.