Breakdown of شستوشوی لباسها وظیفه من است.
من
I
است
is
لباسlebâs
dress / clothes
وظیفهvazife
task / duty
شستوشوshostoshu
washing
Questions & Answers about شستوشوی لباسها وظیفه من است.
The lesson mentions these nouns are formed from two past stems, but is shu in shost-o-shu a past stem?
Good catch! While many of these compound nouns use two past stems, some use a past stem followed by a present stem. Here, shost is the past stem of shostan (to wash), and shu is its present stem. Together with o (and), they form the abstract noun shost-o-shu (washing).
Why is there an extra ی (ye) added to the end of shost-o-shu in this sentence?
It is the ezafe! Because the compound noun shost-o-shu ends in the long vowel sound 'u', it needs the consonant 'y' as a bridge before the ezafe vowel 'e'. So it becomes shost-o-shu-ye to link 'washing' to 'clothes' (lebâs-hâ).
Could I just use the regular infinitive shostan (to wash) instead of shost-o-shu here?
Yes, you could say shostan-e lebâs-hâ (the washing of the clothes). However, using the compound noun shost-o-shu sounds more like the general concept or chore of 'doing laundry', making it a very natural fit for talking about household duties.
How does the word vazife (duty) connect to man (I/my) in this sentence?
They are connected by another ezafe. Since vazife ends in a silent 'he' (which makes an 'e' vowel sound), the ezafe takes the pronunciation of 'ye'. So it is pronounced vazife-ye man (my duty).
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