Learn Farsi: نونوایی نزدیک بازاره، اما ریحون ندارن. - The bakery is near the market, but they do not have basil.

This sentence uses everyday spoken Farsi (colloquial Tehrani). In this accent, the long "a" sound changes to a "u" sound whenever it comes right before an "n" or "m". So, نان (nān, meaning bread) becomes نون (nun), making the bakery نونوایی (nunvāyi).

Is ریحون another example of the "a" to "u" sound change?

Exactly! The formal written word for basil is ریحان (reyhān). Since the long "a" sound is followed immediately by an "n", it turns into ریحون (reyhun) in normal everyday conversation.

If "a" changes to "u" in spoken Farsi, why doesn't بازار become "bazur"?

This pronunciation shortcut only applies when the long "a" comes before a nasal consonant (specifically "n" or "m"). Because the long "a" in بازار (bāzār) is followed by an "r", it doesn't change.

How does the word بازاره mean "the market is"?

In spoken Farsi, the verb است (ast, meaning "is") usually drops its "a" and "s", attaching to the end of the previous word as a short "e" sound. So, بازار است (bāzār ast) merges to become بازاره (bāzāre).

Why is the verb ندارن missing a "d" at the end?