Learn Farsi: آیا تو خودت را در آینه می‌بینی؟

It combines the word خود (khod), meaning 'self', with the possessive ending ـَت (-at) for 'your' (singular). Literally, it translates as 'your self'.

Why is the direct object marker را (râ) placed immediately after خودت?

Because 'yourself' is the specific person receiving the action of the verb (the person being seen). In Farsi, a specific direct object must be followed by را.

The sentence starts with تو (you). Could I drop it and just say 'آیا خودت را در آینه می‌بینی؟'

Yes! Because the verb ending ـی (-i) in می‌بینی already tells us the subject is 'you', the subject pronoun تو is optional. However, you cannot drop خودت, because that's the object you are looking at.

Do I have to use آیا (âyâ) at the beginning of this question?

No, آیا is mostly used in written or slightly formal Farsi to signal a yes/no question. In everyday conversation, you would usually drop it and just raise the pitch of your voice at the end of the sentence to show it's a question.

How do we get می‌بینی (mi-bini) for 'you see'?

The verb is دیدن (didan, to see). Like many Farsi verbs, its present stem is irregular: بین (bin). We add the continuous prefix می‌ (mi-) and the 'you' (singular) ending (-i) to make .