Breakdown of فردا چند مهمان میآیند؟
چندchand
how many / several / a few
فرداfardâ
tomorrow
آمدنâmadan
to come
مهمانmehmân
guest
Questions & Answers about فردا چند مهمان میآیند؟
Why is mehmān (guest) singular when the English translation says "guests"?
In Farsi, after numbers and quantity question words like chand (how many), the noun is always kept singular. So you literally ask "how many guest", even though it means "how many guests" in English.
If mehmān is singular, why does the verb mi-āyand end with the plural suffix -and?
This is an important Farsi rule! Even though chand forces the noun to be written as a singular word, you are still asking about multiple people. When talking about human beings, Farsi verbs match the real-world meaning. Since you expect multiple guests, the verb gets the "they" ending -and.
Why is the present tense verb mi-āyand used with fardā (tomorrow)?
Just like in English where we can say "they are coming tomorrow," Farsi frequently uses the present tense for future events that are already planned or expected to happen.
Could I put chand at the beginning of the sentence instead of fardā?
It is most natural in Farsi to put time words like fardā at the very beginning of a sentence. The question word chand needs to stay right next to the noun it is asking about, which is mehmān here.