Q: The current lesson is about cleft sentences. How would we rewrite this to say 'I think that it was this doctor who discovered the microbe'?

You would use the cleft structure you are learning: فکر میکنم این دکتر بود که میکروب را کشف کرد (I think it was this doctor who discovered the microbe). The original sentence means the same thing but avoids the cleft structure entirely by simply using the noun کاشف (discoverer) as the subject.

Question 1

The current lesson is about cleft sentences. How would we rewrite this to say 'I think that it was this doctor who discovered the microbe'?

Accepted Answer

You would use the cleft structure you are learning: فکر می‌کنم این دکتر بود که میکروب را کشف کرد (I think it was this doctor who discovered the microbe). The original sentence means the same thing but avoids the cleft structure entirely by simply using the noun کاشف (discoverer) as the subject.

Question 2

Does که (ke) in this sentence function the same way it does in the cleft sentences we are learning?

Accepted Answer

No. In this sentence, که acts as a simple conjunction meaning 'that,' linking the two clauses: 'I think that...' (فکر می‌کنم که). In a cleft sentence like این دکتر بود که... (It was this doctor who...), که acts as a relative pronoun connecting the focused noun to the rest of the sentence. Farsi conveniently uses the same versatile word for both!

Question 3

How does the word کاشف (discoverer) relate to the Farsi verb for 'to discover'?

Accepted Answer

کاشف (kāshef) is an Arabic loanword meaning 'discoverer,' and it shares a three-letter root with the compound verb کشف کردن (kashf kardan, to discover). This is a common Arabic word pattern used in Farsi vocabulary: adding an 'ā' sound after the first root letter and an 'e' sound before the last root letter turns an action into the person performing it.

Question 4

Are the words میکروب (microbe) and دکتر (doctor) pronounced exactly as they are in English?

Accepted Answer

They are very similar, but because Farsi originally borrowed these scientific and medical terms from French rather than English, the pronunciation is slightly different. دکتر (doktor) uses two short 'o' sounds and places the stress on the second syllable. میکروب (mikrob) is pronounced with an 'ee' sound for the first vowel and a long 'o' (like in 'robe') for the second.

فکر می‌کنم که کاشف میکروب این دکتر بود.

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