Breakdown of در بیابان، گرسنگی و تشنگی خیلی خطرناک هستند.
و
and
خیلی
very / many (of)
بودنbudan
to be
درdar
in
خطرناکkhatarnâk
dangerous
بیابانbiâbân
wilderness / desert (wasteland)
تشنگیteshnegi
thirst
گرسنگیgorosnegi
hunger
Questions & Answers about در بیابان، گرسنگی و تشنگی خیلی خطرناک هستند.
Since this lesson is about 'نه ... نه ...' (neither ... nor ...), how would I change this sentence to say 'Neither hunger nor thirst are dangerous'?
You would place نه before both nouns: نه گرسنگی و نه تشنگی. In standard written Farsi, when using نه ... نه ..., the verb is usually kept affirmative, so it would remain هستند (though in casual spoken Farsi, you will often hear the negative verb نیستند).
Why do the words for hunger (گرسنگی) and thirst (تشنگی) both end in گی?
They are formed from the adjectives گرسنه (hungry) and تشنه (thirsty). When a Farsi word ends in a silent 'h' (pronounced 'e'), you drop that ending and add the suffix گی (-gi) to turn the adjective into an abstract noun.
What does the suffix ناک do in the word خطرناک (dangerous)?
The suffix ناک (-nak) means 'full of' or 'causing'. It attaches to the noun خطر (danger) to create an adjective. You will also see this in words like ترسناک (scary), which is built from ترس (fear).
Hunger and thirst are abstract concepts. Why do they take a plural verb (هستند) here?
Because they are joined by و (and), they create a compound subject. In Farsi, compound subjects generally take a plural verb, even if the individual items are inanimate or abstract ideas.
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