Learn Farsi: آیا ساختن آن خانه کار شما است؟

To find the past stem in Farsi, you just take the infinitive and drop the final -ن (-n). So, for the infinitive ساختن (sâkhtan), you simply remove the -ن to get the past stem ساخت (sâkht). You will use this stem whenever you need to form past tense verbs!

Why is the infinitive ساختن translated as building instead of to build?

In English, we often use the -ing form of a verb as a noun, like saying building is hard. In Farsi, you just use the full infinitive form to do the exact same thing. So ساختن can mean to build or building depending on how it is used in the sentence.

Are there any hidden Ezafe vowel sounds connecting the words here?

Yes, there are two! There is an Ezafe (an e sound) linking ساختن to آن خانه to mean the building of that house. There is another Ezafe linking کار to شما to mean the job of you (your job). Spoken aloud, it sounds like sâkhtan-e ân khâne kâr-e shomâ ast.

Do I always have to use آیا to ask a yes-or-no question?

No, آیا is optional. It is a formal question marker placed at the beginning of a sentence. In everyday spoken Farsi, people usually drop آیا entirely and just raise their tone of voice at the end of the sentence to show that they are asking a question.