Breakdown of آیا خریدن خانه در تهران مشکل است؟
است
is
خانه
house
آیاâyâ
whether (question particle)
درdar
in
Questions & Answers about آیا خریدن خانه در تهران مشکل است؟
Why does the sentence use the infinitive خریدن (to buy) instead of a word for "buying"?
In Farsi, the infinitive form (ending in -dan or -tan) is often used where English uses an "-ing" word to talk about the general idea of an activity. So, خریدن can translate to both "to buy" and "buying".
What is the present stem for the infinitive خریدن?
The present stem for خریدن is خر (khar). To get the past stem, you just drop the -an from the infinitive to get خرید (kharid). However, the present stem often looks quite different and usually needs to be memorized for each new verb.
Does مشکل mean "problem" or "difficult" in this sentence?
It can actually mean both! مشکل is commonly used as a noun meaning "problem", but it also works as an adjective meaning "difficult". Depending on the context, this sentence can translate as "Is buying a house difficult?" or "Is buying a house a problem?"
Why is the verb است (is) at the very end of the sentence?
This is a quick reminder of Farsi sentence structure! The language naturally places the main verb at the end of the sentence. Even though the English question starts with "Is", the Farsi sentence starts with the question marker آیا and puts "is" (است) at the very end.