Breakdown of آیا شما جواهر طلای باارزش داشتید؟
شما
you (plural)
آیاâyâ
whether (question particle)
داشتنdâshtan
to have
طلاtalâ
gold
Questions & Answers about آیا شما جواهر طلای باارزش داشتید؟
Why doesn't dâshtid have the mi- prefix if this lesson is about the past continuous?
The verb dâshtan (to have) is a major exception in Farsi grammar. It never takes the mi- prefix to show continuous or habitual meaning in the past tense. Because of this, داشتید (dâshtid) is used for "you had", "you used to have", and "you were having" depending on the context.
Why is there an extra ی at the end of the word talâ (gold) here?
That is the Ezâfe, which connects the noun talâ (gold) to its adjective bâ-arzesh (valuable). Since طلا (talâ) ends in a long vowel sound, Farsi adds a ی (y) so the Ezâfe can be pronounced smoothly as talâ-ye.
How exactly does bâ-arzesh mean "valuable"?
It is a compound word. The prefix با (bâ) means "with", and ارزش (arzesh) means "value". Put together, باارزش (bâ-arzesh) literally translates to "with value", which is how Farsi says "valuable".
Do I always need to use âyâ to ask a yes/no question like this one?
Not at all! آیا (âyâ) is a formal question word. In spoken Farsi, you usually drop it entirely and just raise the pitch of your voice at the end of the sentence to show you are asking a question.