Learn Farsi: ما نمی‌توانیم در بیمارستان برقصیم.

In Farsi, when you use a modal verb like tavânestan (to be able to), the second verb must be in the present subjunctive form. The prefix be- is the main sign of the subjunctive. So, instead of the regular present tense miraghsim, we change the first part to get beraghsim.

Both nemitavânim and beraghsim end in -im. Do both verbs need to match the subject 'we'?

Yes! Unlike English, where you say 'We can dance' (and 'dance' is just the infinitive), in Farsi you must conjugate both verbs. Since the subject is mâ (we), both the modal verb and the main verb get the 'we' ending, -im.

How do we make the sentence negative to say 'cannot'?

To say you cannot do something, you make the first verb (the modal verb) negative, not the main action verb. We add the negative prefix ne- to the beginning of mitavânim, making it nemitavânim. The second verb, beraghsim, stays exactly the same.

I see the word bimârestân for hospital. Is it related to the word for sick?

Exactly. Bimâr means sick or patient. The suffix -estân means 'place of' or 'land of' (just like in the names of many countries). Put them together, and a hospital is literally the 'place of the sick'.