Question 1

Why is the adjective جوان (young) placed after پسر (boy)?

Accepted Answer

In Farsi, adjectives almost always come after the noun they describe. They are linked together in speech by a short 'e' sound called the ezāfe. So, 'young boy' is written as پسر جوان and pronounced 'pesar-e javān'.

Question 2

If descriptors usually come after the noun, why does این (this) come before پسر (boy)?

Accepted Answer

Pointing words like این (this) and آن (that) are exceptions to the normal word order! Just like in English, they always come before the noun. They also don't use the ezāfe linking sound, which is why it is simply این پسر (in pesar) without an 'e' sound in between.

Question 3

Why is there an extra letter at the end of ساله (sāleh) instead of just using سال (sāl) for 'year'?

Accepted Answer

When you use the verb است (is) to state someone's age, you add the suffix ـه to سال (year). This suffix turns the phrase into an adjective, so بیست ساله literally translates to 'a twenty-year-old'. If you used just سال, you would need to use the verb 'to have' instead of 'to be' (e.g. 'he has twenty years').

Question 4

Why is the verb است (is) at the very end of the sentence?

Accepted Answer

In Farsi, the main verb of a sentence almost always goes at the very end. While English follows a Subject-Verb-Object pattern ('This young boy is twenty years old'), Farsi builds sentences with the verb last, so it is structured as 'This young boy twenty years old is'.

این پسر جوان بیست ساله است.

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