Breakdown of آیا شما با برادر من هممسیر هستید؟
من
I
شما
you (plural)
بودنbudan
to be
آیاâyâ
whether (question particle)
Questions & Answers about آیا شما با برادر من هممسیر هستید؟
How is the word هممسیر formed in this sentence?
It is a compound word made of the prefix هم- (ham-), which means "same" or "co-", and the noun مسیر (masir), meaning "route" or "path". Together, هممسیر literally means "sharing the same route".
The English translation says "as my brother", but the Farsi uses با (with). Why is that?
English uses "the same... as", but Farsi relies on the mutuality of the هم- prefix. Because هممسیر means you are a "route-partner", Farsi grammar treats it as sharing a route with someone. Words starting with هم- very frequently pair with the preposition با.
Do I always have to use آیا to ask a yes/no question like this?
Not at all! آیا (âyâ) is mostly used in written or formal Farsi to clearly mark a question at the very beginning of the sentence. In everyday spoken conversation, you can just drop it and say شما با برادر من هممسیر هستید؟ using a rising tone of voice at the end.
Why isn't there a written connector between برادر (brother) and من (my)?
Farsi uses the ezâfe to show possession—a short "e" sound that connects the noun to its owner. It is pronounced barâdar-e man. Even though this "e" sound is almost never written in the Farsi alphabet, you must still say it out loud to link the words.