Learn Farsi: امروز چند همکار آشنا در سفارت هستند؟ - How many familiar colleagues are in the embassy today?

You add the negative prefix نا- (nâ-) to the beginning of the word, creating ناآشنا (nâ-âšnâ), which means "unfamiliar". This prefix works just like "un-" or "in-" does in English.

Why is "colleagues" translated as singular همکار (hamkâr) instead of the plural همکارها (hamkâr-hâ)?

In Farsi, whenever you use a number or the question word چند (how many), the noun that follows must always remain in its singular form. So, "how many colleagues" is literally spoken as "how many colleague" (چند همکار).

I don't see a connecting word between همکار (colleague) and آشنا (familiar). How are they linked in speech?

They are linked by the unseen ezâfe vowel "-e". When spoken, it sounds like hamkâr-e âšnâ. This short "-e" sound is the standard way to connect a noun to the adjective that describes it.

Does the word همکار (hamkâr) use a prefix similar to the ones we are learning right now?

Yes! While your current lesson focuses on bi-, nâ-, and bâ-, the word همکار uses another very common prefix: هم- (ham-), which means "together" or "co-". Combined with کار (work), it literally builds the word "co-worker".