Breakdown of مادرا صورت بچهها رو نوازش میکنن.
مادرmâdar
mother
صورتsurat
face
بچهbacheh
child
راrâ
definite direct object marker
Questions & Answers about مادرا صورت بچهها رو نوازش میکنن.
Why is صورت (face) singular here when we are talking about multiple children's faces, and why don't we use the new plural suffix '-ân'?
In Persian, when multiple people each possess one of something (like a head or a face), the possessed object usually remains in the singular form. Also, the suffix -ân taught in this lesson is strictly for paired body parts (like hands or eyes) and is generally literary. Since a person only has one face, and this sentence is very conversational, صورت stays singular.
If we wanted to rewrite this in a formal, literary style, how would 'mothers' be pluralized?
In a highly formal or literary context, 'mothers' would take the animate plural suffix -ân, becoming مادران. However, in this casual sentence, the colloquial spoken plural suffix -â is used to make مادرا.
There are several signs that this is a colloquial spoken sentence. What are they?
There are three clear signs of spoken Persian here: مادرا instead of the formal مادرها; the object marker رو instead of را; and the verb ending میکنن dropping the final 'd' from the formal میکنند.
Is there an ezafe between صورت (face) and بچهها (children) even though it isn't written?
Yes, there is an invisible ezafe! It is pronounced as 'surat-e bachche-hâ'. In the written Persian script, the short vowel 'e' linking the possessed noun (صورت) to the possessor (بچهها) is almost never written out, but you must always pronounce it to show possession.