Breakdown of ما میدانیم که این فالها فقط خرافات هستند.
ما
we
این
this
بودنbudan
to be
کهke
that (conjunction)
Questions & Answers about ما میدانیم که این فالها فقط خرافات هستند.
Is the word ke (that) required here, or can I drop it like we often do in English?
While in English you can say 'We know these omens...', in Farsi, the connector ke is almost always used after verbs of knowing, thinking, or saying. It acts as a clear bridge between the main action (mi-dânim, we know) and the fact you are stating.
Why is it in fâl-hâ? Shouldn't 'these' be plural to match 'omens'?
In Farsi, demonstrative words like in (this/these) and ân (that/those) stay in their singular form when they come right before a noun, even if that noun is plural. So, in fâl-hâ literally looks like 'this omens' but perfectly translates to 'these omens'.
The word khorâfât (superstitions) is plural, but it doesn't end in the usual -hâ. Why is that?
The word khorâfât is a loanword from Arabic. Many Arabic words brought into Farsi keep their original Arabic plural endings, like -ât. You will see this ending on quite a few abstract nouns or formal words instead of the typical Farsi -hâ.
Why is the 'to be' verb hastand at the very end of the sentence?
Farsi is a Subject-Object-Verb language, and this word order rule applies inside the ke clause too! The second part of the sentence ('these omens are only superstitions') has its own subject (in fâl-hâ) and its own verb (hastand), so that verb must still go at the very end of its specific clause.