Learn Farsi: آیا تو ماشین جدید داری؟

The verb داشتن (dâshtan, to have) is a special, irregular verb in Farsi. Unlike most other verbs in the present tense, it does not take the می (mi-) prefix. We simply use the present stem دار (dâr) and add the personal ending -ی (-i) for 'you'.

Why is the order ماشین جدید (mâshin jadid) instead of 'jadid mâshin'?

In Farsi, adjectives come after the noun they describe. So instead of 'new car', you say 'car new'. Also, when speaking, you connect the noun and adjective with a short 'eh' sound called the ezafe, making it sound like 'mâshin-e jadid'.

Do I always have to use آیا (âyâ) to ask a yes/no question?

No, آیا is actually quite formal and mostly used in writing. In everyday spoken Farsi, people usually drop it and just say تو ماشین جدید داری؟ while raising their voice at the end of the sentence, similar to asking 'You have a new car?' in English.

If the verb داری already means 'you have', do I still need to say the word تو (to)?

You don't have to! Farsi verbs always change their endings to match the subject, so the ending -ی already tells us the subject is 'you'. You can safely drop تو and just say آیا ماشین جدید داری؟ or simply ماشین جدید داری؟. Including the pronoun just adds a little extra emphasis.