Breakdown of ما در ایران زندگی میکنیم و فارسی صحبت میکنیم.
ما
we
و
and
درdar
in
ایرانirân
Iran
فارسیfârsi
Persian
زندگی کردنzendegi kardan
to live
صحبت کردنsohbat kardan
to speak / to talk
Questions & Answers about ما در ایران زندگی میکنیم و فارسی صحبت میکنیم.
Both verbs in this sentence end with میکنیم. Why is that?
This sentence uses two compound verbs: زندگی کردن (to live) and صحبت کردن (to speak). A compound verb is made of a non-verbal word (like زندگی, meaning 'life') and a helper verb (like کردن, meaning 'to do'). Since both verbs use کردن as their helper verb, and the subject is ما (we), they both end with the first-person plural present tense form: میکنیم (we do).
Where exactly does the present tense marker می go in a compound verb?
The می prefix always attaches to the helper verb, not the non-verbal part. In زندگی میکنیم, the word زندگی stays exactly as it is, and می attaches to کنیم. You will never see the می placed at the very beginning of the entire compound phrase.
The sentence starts with ما (we), but there is no 'we' before the second verb. How do we know who is speaking Persian?
In Farsi, the verb ending always tells you who is doing the action. The suffix -یم on صحبت میکنیم clearly means 'we speak'. Because of this, you don't need to repeat the pronoun ما after the word و (and). The single ما at the beginning and the matching verb endings are enough.
Does the word و (and) sound like 'va' or 'o' in this sentence?
In formal spoken Farsi, it is pronounced as va. However, in everyday conversation, it is almost always pronounced as a quick o sound linking the two phrases together. So you will usually hear people say '...zendegi mikonim o farsi sohbat mikonim'.
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