Question 1

How is the word darbâre-y-ash formed, and why is there a 'y' sound in the middle?

Accepted Answer

Darbâre-y-ash means about it. It combines the preposition darbâre (about) with the attached pronoun -ash (it). Because darbâre ends in a spoken vowel, Farsi requires us to insert the glide consonant -y- to connect them smoothly. Without it, the vowels would clash, so we say darbâre-y-ash instead of just adding the suffix directly.

Question 2

Why does mohem (important) have an -i added to the end to make mohem-i?

Accepted Answer

That -i is the indefinite marker, which translates to 'a' or 'an'. When you have a noun phrase linked by the ezafe, like mouzou'-e mohem (important topic), the indefinite -i attaches to the very end of the whole phrase, not to the noun itself. Therefore, 'an important topic' becomes mouzou'-e mohem-i.

Question 3

The English translation says 'that the counselor spoke about'. Why does Farsi add -ash (it) to the preposition here?

Accepted Answer

In Farsi relative clauses starting with ke (that/which), we use a 'resumptive pronoun' to point back to the noun we are describing. While English simply says 'a topic that the counselor spoke about', Farsi literally says 'a topic that the counselor spoke about it' (darbâre-y-ash). This attached pronoun is required in Farsi when the relative clause involves a preposition.

Question 4

Could I move darbâre-y-ash to the very end of the sentence, like we do in English?

Accepted Answer

No, you need to keep it before the verb. Farsi verbs like sohbat kard (spoke) belong at the very end of their clause. Prepositional phrases like darbâre-y-ash naturally come right before the verb.

همدلی موضوع مهمی است که مشاور درباره‌اش صحبت کرد.

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