Breakdown of ما میتوانیم فردا به دانشگاه بیاییم.
ما
we
بهbe
to
فرداfardâ
tomorrow
آمدنâmadan
to come
دانشگاهdâneshgâh
university
توانستنtavânestan
to be able to
Questions & Answers about ما میتوانیم فردا به دانشگاه بیاییم.
How is بیاییم formed, and why are there extra ی letters in it?
بیاییم is the present subjunctive of 'to come' (آمدن). The standard formula is the prefix بـ + present stem + ending. The present stem of this verb is آ. When we add the بـ prefix to a stem starting with a vowel, Farsi often changes the pronunciation to 'bi' and adds a 'y' sound to connect them, making بیا. Then, to add the 'we' ending ـیم, we need another connecting ی to stop the vowels from crashing into each other. This results in بیاییم (bi-ya-yim).
Why is the second verb بیاییم instead of the normal present tense میآییم?
In Farsi, when you use a verb that expresses ability, desire, or obligation like 'can' (توانستن), the second verb must be in the subjunctive form. You can think of the literal translation as 'We are able that we come.' Because coming to the university is a potential action rather than a stated fact, it takes the subjunctive بـ prefix instead of the factual می prefix.
Why doesn't the first verb میتوانیم (we can) also have a بـ prefix?
میتوانیم is the main verb of the sentence, stating a current, actual fact ('we are able'). Therefore, it uses the regular indicative prefix می. The subjunctive prefix بـ is only used for the second verb (بیاییم) because that action depends on the first verb and hasn't actually happened yet.
Do I have to include the word ما (we) at the beginning of the sentence?
No, you can safely drop ما. In Farsi, the verb endings tell you who is doing the action. Since both میتوانیم and بیاییم end with the 'we' suffix ـیم, it is already perfectly clear who you are talking about. Sentences often drop the subject pronoun to sound more natural.
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