Breakdown of ما امشب میخواهیم بعد از کار به آن رستوران برویم.
Questions & Answers about ما امشب میخواهیم بعد از کار به آن رستوران برویم.
What does each part of ما امشب میخواهیم بعد از کار به آن رستوران برویم mean?
A word-by-word breakdown is:
- ما = we
- امشب = tonight
- میخواهیم = we want
- بعد از کار = after work
- به = to
- آن = that
- رستوران = restaurant
- برویم = we go / to go in this structure
So the whole sentence is literally something like:
- We tonight want after work to that restaurant go.
Natural English is:
- We want to go to that restaurant tonight after work.
Why are there two verbs, میخواهیم and برویم, in one sentence?
Because Persian, like English, often uses one verb for want and another for the action being wanted.
Here:
- میخواهیم = we want
- برویم = (that) we go / to go
So the structure is:
- میخواهیم + subjunctive verb
- want + to + verb
This is the Persian equivalent of we want to go.
Why is it برویم and not میرویم?
After خواستن (to want), Persian normally uses the subjunctive form of the next verb, not the ordinary present indicative.
So:
- میرویم = we go / we are going
- برویم = that we go / to go after verbs like want
Compare:
- ما به رستوران میرویم. = We go to the restaurant.
- ما میخواهیم به رستوران برویم. = We want to go to the restaurant.
That بـ at the start of برویم is a common sign of the subjunctive.
How is میخواهیم formed?
It comes from the verb خواستن (to want).
The present stem is خواه.
Then Persian adds:
- میـ for the present/imperfective
- the personal ending ـیم for we
So:
- می + خواه + یم = میخواهیم
Meaning:
- we want
In standard spelling, this is usually written میخواهیم with a half-space, not میخواهیم as one solid word.
Is ما necessary, or could it be omitted?
It could be omitted.
Persian usually shows the subject through the verb ending, so میخواهیم already tells you the subject is we.
So both are possible:
- ما امشب میخواهیم بعد از کار به آن رستوران برویم.
- امشب میخواهیم بعد از کار به آن رستوران برویم.
Including ما can add:
- emphasis
- clarity
- contrast, as in we want to go, not someone else
What does امشب mean exactly? Is it tonight or this evening?
امشب most commonly means tonight.
Depending on context, it can overlap a bit with this evening, but tonight is usually the best translation.
It is made of:
- ام = today/this
- شب = night
So literally it is something like this night.
What does بعد از کار mean, and how is it built?
بعد از کار means after work.
It is made of:
- بعد = after
- از = from/of
- کار = work
Together:
- بعد از = after
- بعد از کار = after work
This is just a prepositional phrase. You do not need anything extra between کار and the rest of the sentence.
Why is there a به before آن رستوران?
به here means to and marks the destination.
With رفتن (to go), Persian often uses به before a place:
- به رستوران رفتن = to go to the restaurant
- به خانه رفتن = to go home
- به مدرسه رفتن = to go to school
So:
- به آن رستوران = to that restaurant
What does آن mean here?
آن means that.
So:
- آن رستوران = that restaurant
It points to a specific restaurant that is not the speaker’s immediate one, similar to English that rather than this.
In speech, especially informal speech, آن is very often replaced by اون.
So in conversation you are likely to hear:
- اون رستوران = that restaurant
Why is there no را in this sentence?
Because رستوران is not a direct object here. It is the destination of going.
را marks a specific direct object, but here the phrase is:
- به آن رستوران = to that restaurant
That is a prepositional phrase, not a direct object.
So no را is needed.
What is the normal word order in this sentence?
Persian tends to put the verb at the end, so it is generally subject + other information + verb.
Here the order is:
- ما = subject
- امشب = time
- میخواهیم = main verb
- بعد از کار = time/circumstantial phrase
- به آن رستوران = destination
- برویم = final verb
A very literal structure is:
- We tonight want after work to that restaurant go.
Persian word order is somewhat flexible, especially with time phrases, so other versions are possible too, such as:
- ما بعد از کار امشب میخواهیم به آن رستوران برویم.
But the final verb position is very typical.
Why does the sentence sound like we want ... go instead of using a word for to before go?
Because Persian does not usually use a separate word equivalent to English to in want to go.
Instead, it uses the subjunctive form of the second verb:
- میخواهیم برویم = we want to go
So English uses:
- want + to + go
Persian uses:
- want + subjunctive go
That is a very important pattern to learn.
How do you pronounce میخواهیم and برویم?
A careful pronunciation would be close to:
- میخواهیم = mi-khāh-im
- برویم = be-ro-vim or bo-ro-vim, depending on accent and style
A full transliteration of the sentence could be:
- mâ emshab mikhâhim ba'd az kâr be ân restorân beravim
In everyday speech, many speakers shorten things, so you may hear something closer to:
- mikhâym instead of mikhâhim
- berim instead of beravim
Is میخواهیم the standard spelling?
It is understandable, but the standard spelling is usually:
- میخواهیم
with a half-space after می.
Likewise, standard Persian spelling often writes these with a half-space:
- میخواهم
- میخواهی
- میخواهیم
Many learners see forms without the half-space online, but if you want the standard written form, use میخواهیم.
How would this sentence sound in everyday spoken Persian?
A common colloquial version would be:
- ما امشب میخوایم بعد از کار بریم اون رستوران.
Differences:
- میخواهیم → میخوایم
- برویم → بریم
- آن → اون
These are very common spoken forms. The original sentence is more formal or standard written Persian.
Could آن رستوران also feel like the restaurant in some contexts?
Yes, sometimes in real conversation that restaurant can refer to a restaurant both speakers already know, so in context it may function a bit like the restaurant we’re talking about.
But grammatically, آن still literally means that.
So the basic meaning remains:
- آن رستوران = that restaurant
Why does برویم end in ـیم?
The ending ـیم marks first person plural: we.
So in برویم:
- برو is the verb base here
- ـیم = we
Likewise in میخواهیم:
- خواه is the stem
- ـیم = we
That is why both verbs match the subject ما.
Can the sentence be said without ما, and would it still mean the same thing?
Yes:
- امشب میخواهیم بعد از کار به آن رستوران برویم.
This still means We want to go to that restaurant tonight after work, because the ـیم endings already show we.
Using ما just makes the subject more explicit.
More from this lesson
Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor
Start learning FarsiMaster Farsi — from ما امشب میخواهیم بعد از کار به آن رستوران برویم to fluency
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods.
- ✓ Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
- ✓ Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
- ✓ Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
- ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions