Word
وقتی که عطسه میکنم، مادر من میگوید که باید صبر کنم.
Meaning
When I sneeze, my mother says that I must wait.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of وقتی که عطسه میکنم، مادر من میگوید که باید صبر کنم.
من
I
مادرmâdar
mother
گفتنgoftan
to say / to tell
بایدbâyad
must
Questions & Answers about وقتی که عطسه میکنم، مادر من میگوید که باید صبر کنم.
The word که appears twice in this sentence. Does it do the same thing both times?
No, they have different jobs! The first که is paired with وقتی to form وقتی که, which means "when" (literally "the time that"). The second که is the main focus of this lesson: it means "that" and links the verb of speaking (میگوید, "says") to the idea that follows it.
Why is the verb "to wait" written as صبر کنم instead of صبر میکنم?
Because it comes after the modal word باید (must). In Farsi, verbs following باید must switch to the subjunctive mood. For a compound verb like صبر کردن (to wait), you form the subjunctive by dropping the می prefix. So, صبر میکنم (I am waiting) becomes صبر کنم.
Why does the sentence say "I must wait" after sneezing?
This refers to a very common Iranian cultural superstition. Sneezing once is literally called a صبر (wait or patience). It means whatever you were about to do might not go well, so you must pause and wait a few minutes before continuing.
Could I use مادرم instead of مادر من in this sentence?
Absolutely. مادرم uses the attached possessive suffix (-م) and is actually much more common in everyday spoken Farsi. مادر من uses the ezafe vowel to link the words and means the exact same thing, but sounds just a little bit more formal or puts slight emphasis on the word "my".