Breakdown of نه سوزن دارم نه قیچی.
داشتنdâshtan
to have
قیچیgheychi
scissors
سوزنsowzan
needle
نه ... نهna ... na
neither ... nor
Questions & Answers about نه سوزن دارم نه قیچی.
Why is the verb dâram (I have) affirmative if the overall sentence means 'I don't have'?
When you use the na... na... (neither... nor...) structure, the conjunctions themselves make the sentence negative. Because of this, the verb dâram stays in the affirmative. This works just like English, where you say 'I have neither' instead of 'I don't have neither'.
Why is the verb dâram in the middle of the sentence instead of at the end?
While Persian verbs normally go at the very end of a sentence, correlative conjunctions like na... na... often bend this rule. Placing the verb after the first item balances the phrase and sounds very natural. You can still put the verb at the end (na suzan na qeychi dâram), but splitting it up is highly typical in everyday speech.
Why isn't there a word for 'a' before suzan (needle) or 'any' before qeychi (scissors)?
When talking about general categories rather than specific objects, Persian uses the plain singular noun without any articles or plural endings. Here, suzan and qeychi just represent the general concept of a needle or scissors, so no extra words are needed.
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