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Questions & Answers about این قضیه مهم است.
What exactly does قضیه mean here, and how is it different from موضوع?
قضیه (qaziye) translates to 'matter', 'issue', or 'case'. While موضوع (mozu) usually just means 'topic' or 'subject', قضیه often implies an unfolding situation, an event, or a story. In daily life, you will often hear people ask قضیه چیه؟ which means 'What is the story?' or 'What is going on?'.
How would this sentence be pronounced in everyday conversational Farsi?
In spoken Farsi, the formal verb است (ast) usually merges with the word before it. Since مهم (mohem) ends in a consonant, the verb turns into an 'e' sound attached to the end. Therefore, colloquially, you will hear این قضیه مهمه (in qaziye mohem-e).
Why isn't there an ezāfe (the linking 'e' sound) between این and قضیه?
Demonstrative words like این (this) and آن (that) come directly before the noun they point to, and they never take the ezāfe connector. You simply say این قضیه (in qaziye), never with an 'e' sound in between.
How would I change this sentence to say 'These matters are important'?
You only need to pluralize the noun and the verb. The word این stays the same when it comes before a noun. Because قضیه comes from Arabic, it has an irregular plural قضایا (qazaya), though the regular Persian plural قضیهها (qaziye-ha) is also fine. The plural sentence becomes این قضایا مهم هستند (in qazaya mohem hastand).