Questions & Answers about ما مشکل نداریم.
I learned that negative present tense verbs start with nemi-. Why does "we don't have" start with just na-?
The verb "to have" (dâshtan) is a special exception! In the present tense, it doesn't use the usual mi- prefix. Because there is no mi-, we just attach the negative prefix na- directly to the present stem (dâr). Add the "we" ending (-im) and you get nadârim.
The English translation says "a problem". Why isn't there a word for "a" in the Farsi sentence?
When talking about general categories of things you own, experience, or possess, Farsi often uses the plain noun. You don't need to add yek (one/a) or the indefinite -i ending. It is perfectly natural in Farsi to literally say "We don't have problem."
Since nadârim already has the "we" ending, can I drop the word mâ?
Yes! In Farsi, the verb ending (-im) tells us exactly who is doing the action. You can simply say moshkel nadârim and it means the exact same thing. Including mâ (we) at the beginning just adds a little bit of emphasis to the subject.
How does the word order here compare to English?
Farsi places the verb at the very end of the sentence. While English uses a Subject-Verb-Object order ("We don't have a problem"), Farsi uses Subject-Object-Verb: mâ (We) + moshkel (problem) + nadârim (don't have).
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