Questions & Answers about نهمین اتاق هتل خالی است.
Why does nohomin come before the noun, and is there an Ezafe connecting it to otāgh?
Words ending in -omin are Type 2 ordinal numbers (like "ninth"). In Farsi, these always come right before the noun they describe, and crucially, they do not take an Ezafe. You just say nohomin otāgh, never nohomin-e otāgh.
Could I put the word for "ninth" after the noun instead?
Yes, but you would have to use the Type 1 ordinal, which ends in just -om. If you do that, it acts like a normal adjective, so it goes after the noun and requires an Ezafe: otāgh-e nohom. Both forms are correct and mean exactly the same thing.
If there is no Ezafe after nohomin, why is there one between otāgh and hotel?
The phrase otāgh-e hotel translates to "room of the hotel". When you link two nouns together to show possession or a relationship like this, you still need an Ezafe. The rule about skipping the Ezafe only applies to the specific connection between the -omin number and the noun it counts.
Why are khāli and ast grouped together at the end of the sentence?
In Farsi, the verb goes at the very end of the sentence. Here, ast (is) is the verb, and khāli (empty) is the adjective describing the room. The complete subject is nohomin otāgh-e hotel (the ninth room of the hotel), which comes first, followed by the description and the verb.