Breakdown of این شهر یکی از قدیمیترین پایتختهای اروپا است.
است
is
این
this
شهرshahr
city
ازaz
from
قدیمیqadimi
old (things)
یکیyeki
one (of them), someone
پایتختpâytakht
capital (city)
اروپاorupâ
Europe
Questions & Answers about این شهر یکی از قدیمیترین پایتختهای اروپا است.
Why does ghadimi-tarin come before paytakht-ha? Doesn't the adjective usually come after the noun in Farsi?
Normally, yes! Regular adjectives follow the noun and connect with an ezafe. But superlative adjectives (ending in -tarin) are a major exception. They come before the noun they modify, just like in English. That is why we say ghadimi-tarin paytakht instead of putting the adjective at the end.
I thought Farsi used singular nouns after numbers. Why is paytakht-ha plural here?
It is true that Farsi uses a singular noun directly after a number (like do shahr for 'two cities'). However, this sentence uses the yeki az ('one of') construction. When you are selecting one out of a larger group, the noun representing that group must be plural. This works exactly like saying 'one of the oldest capitals' in English.
What does the -i at the end of yeki do?
The word yek means 'one'. Adding the suffix -i makes it act as a pronoun meaning 'a certain one' or 'a single one'. Whenever you want to say 'one of' a group in Farsi, you must use yeki az, never just yek az.
Why is there a -ye sound at the end of paytakht-ha-ye?
That is the ezafe connecting 'capitals' (paytakht-ha) to 'Europe' (Orupa), translating to 'capitals of Europe'. Because the plural suffix -ha ends in a vowel, the ezafe takes the form of -ye instead of just a short -e sound to make it easier to pronounce.
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