Breakdown of کدام دانشجو کتاب ندارد؟
دانشجوdâneshju
university student
کتابketâb
book
داشتنdâshtan
to have
کدامkodâm
which
Questions & Answers about کدام دانشجو کتاب ندارد؟
Why is the question word kodâm at the beginning of the sentence? I thought Farsi question words go where the answer would be?
You are exactly right that Farsi uses 'in-situ' word order, meaning question words stay in the same spot as the answer. In this sentence, the answer we are looking for is the subject (a specific student). Since subjects naturally go at the beginning of a Farsi sentence, kodâm dâneshjoo (which student) also goes at the beginning.
Does the noun after kodâm have to be singular?
Yes. In Farsi, kodâm (which) is followed by a singular noun, even if you are asking a question where multiple people could be the answer. So you say kodâm dâneshjoo (which student), not kodâm dâneshjooyân (which students).
The translation says 'a book', but I don't see the word for 'a' (yek). Why is it just ketâb?
When talking about a general category or simply possessing something, Farsi often leaves out indefinite articles like yek. Saying ketâb nadârad is used to mean 'doesn't have a book' in a general, category-wide sense.
How is the verb nadârad built?
The verb nadârad means 'he/she/it does not have.' It is made by attaching the negative prefix na- directly to dârad (has). Remember that 'to have' is slightly irregular in the present tense because it does not use the standard mi- prefix.
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