Breakdown of این موزه مثل هتل بزرگ است.
بزرگbozorg
big / large
موزهmuze
museum
هتلhotel
hotel
مثلmesl
like, such as
Questions & Answers about این موزه مثل هتل بزرگ است.
I'm learning to use the Ezafe to link nouns and adjectives. Why isn't there an Ezafe linking muze (museum) and bozorg (big)?
The Ezafe is only used when an adjective directly attaches to a noun to form a phrase, like "the big museum" (muze-ye bozorg). In this sentence, "big" is the main point of the sentence ("The museum is big"). Because the verb ast (is) separates the noun and the adjective, you don't use an Ezafe to link them.
Is there an Ezafe used anywhere else in this sentence?
Yes! The word mesl (like) acts as a preposition here and needs an Ezafe to connect to the noun following it. So it is pronounced mesl-e hotel (like a hotel). The Ezafe is spoken, but as usual, it isn't written out as a separate letter in the standard Farsi alphabet.
Why does mesl-e hotel (like a hotel) come before the adjective bozorg (big)?
In Farsi, the normal word order places the verb at the very end. Extra details, like the phrase mesl-e hotel, usually tuck in before the final adjective and the verb. So the literal order is "This museum like a hotel big is."
In everyday speech, doesn't bozorg ast (is big) sound like it has an Ezafe?
Yes, this is a common trap! In spoken Farsi, the verb ast (is) usually shrinks to just an -e sound attached to the word before it. So people will say bozorg-e instead of bozorg ast. Even though it sounds exactly like the Ezafe particle -e, it is actually the verb "is".