Learn Farsi: هدیه دادن به دوست زیبا است. - Giving a gift to a friend is beautiful.

In English, we often use the '-ing' form of a verb as a noun, like 'giving' in 'Giving a gift.' In Farsi, you just use the full infinitive form, ending in -dan or -tan, to do this. So دادن translates to 'giving' when used as the subject of a sentence.

Is هدیه دادن a single verb?

Yes, it is a compound verb. Farsi frequently pairs a noun or adjective with a basic helper verb to create a new verb. Here, هدیه (gift) is paired with دادن (to give) to mean 'to give a gift'.

The lesson is about finding the present stem. How do I find the present stem of دادن?

To find the present stem, you usually drop the ending from the infinitive. However, دادن is an irregular verb, so it doesn't follow the normal rule. Its present stem is ده (deh), which you will need to memorize to form present tense verbs like 'I give'.

Why isn't the verb 'to give' at the end of the sentence? I thought Farsi verbs go at the end.

Farsi verbs do usually go at the end! The main conjugated verb of this sentence is actually است (is), which is right at the end. The phrase هدیه دادن (giving a gift) is acting as a noun here, making it the subject of the sentence rather than the main action.