Questions & Answers about سنِ او سی سال است.
Why does this sentence translate to "He is thirty years old" if the Farsi words literally mean "His age is thirty years"?
In Farsi, you cannot translate "He is X years old" directly word-for-word from English. The structure in this sentence literally translates to "The age of him is thirty years." It is also very common in Farsi to use the verb to have to express age, such as او سی سال دارد (He has thirty years).
Is there a hidden sound between سن (age) and او (he/she)?
Yes! There is an invisible "e" sound connecting them, known as the Ezafe. You pronounce it as sen-e u. This connects the noun to the pronoun to show possession, giving us the meaning "his age" or "her age".
Since the number is thirty (سی), why isn't the word for year (سال) in a plural form?
A strict rule in Farsi is that any noun following a number must always remain in its singular form. While we say "thirty years" in English, Farsi requires سی سال (literally: thirty year). You never add a plural marker like ها after a specific number.
How do we know this means "He" and not "She"?
We actually don't know just from this sentence! The Farsi pronoun او is completely gender-neutral. The translation provided is "He is thirty years old", but depending entirely on the context of the conversation, this exact sentence can also mean "She is thirty years old."
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