Question 1

Why does the sentence use ایشان (they) and هستند (are) when the English translation says 'He is'?

Accepted Answer

This is the deferential system in action. To show high respect to a third person, such as an elder or an esteemed guest, we use the 3rd person plural pronoun ایشان and the matching plural verb هستند. Although grammatically plural, it refers to just one person here.

Question 2

Since the pronoun and verb are plural for respect, why isn't the noun مهمان (guest) also pluralized?

Accepted Answer

When using the respect-plural, we only pluralize the pronoun (ایشان) and the verb (هستند). The noun describing who the person is (مهمان) remains singular because there is physically only one guest. If you said مهمانان, it would mean there are actually multiple guests.

Question 3

How do we know the word order in the phrase مهمان محترم ما (our respected guest)?

Accepted Answer

This uses the Ezafe linking vowel in a standard sequence: Noun + Adjective + Possessor. It translates literally as 'guest [e] respected [e] us'. The core noun (مهمان) comes first, followed by its descriptive adjective (محترم), and finally the possessive pronoun (ما).

Question 4

Does the respectful pronoun ایشان indicate whether the guest is male or female?

Accepted Answer

No. Just like the standard singular pronoun او (he/she), the respectful pronoun ایشان is completely gender-neutral. The translation says 'He' here based on assumed outside context, but this exact sentence could equally mean 'She is our respected guest.'

ایشان مهمان محترم ما هستند.

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