غذا هنوز آماده نیست.

It follows a very common Persian pattern:

subject + adverb + predicate + copula

So here you have:

• غذا = food / the food
• هنوز = still / yet
• آماده = ready
• نیست = is not

Literally, the structure is close to:

Food still ready is not.

Natural English: The food is not ready yet / The food still isn’t ready.

Persian often puts the main verb or copula at the end of the sentence.

Because Persian is generally a verb-final language. In many basic sentences, the verb comes at the end.

Here, نیست is the negative form of است (is), so it appears sentence-final:

• غذا آماده است. = The food is ready.
• غذا آماده نیست. = The food is not ready.

Adding هنوز just places an adverb before the predicate:

• غذا هنوز آماده نیست.

This final position for the verb is completely normal in Persian.

نیست means is not / isn’t.

It is the negative form of است (is):

• است = is
• نیست = is not

So:

• آماده است = is ready
• آماده نیست = is not ready

This is one of the most common forms you will see in Persian.

It can correspond to either still or yet, depending on how you naturally translate it into English.

In this sentence, these are both good English translations:

• The food is still not ready.
• The food is not ready yet.

So هنوز often carries the idea that something has not changed up to now.

A few examples:

• هنوز نیامده. = He/She still hasn’t come. / He/She hasn’t come yet.
• هنوز خوابم می‌آید. = I’m still sleepy.

Persian does not use articles like English a and the in the same way.

So غذا can mean:

• food
• the food
• a food

The exact meaning depends on context.

In this sentence, English naturally uses the food, but Persian simply says غذا.

If you want to make it more specific, Persian usually does that through context or by adding other words, for example:

• این غذا = this food
• غذای من = my food
• غذای رستوران = the restaurant’s food

Because آماده is not directly describing غذا inside a noun phrase here. Instead, it is the predicate of the sentence.

Compare these two ideas:

1. Predicate adjective

   • غذا آماده است. = The food is ready.
     Here, آماده is saying something about the food.

2. Adjective inside a noun phrase

   • غذای آماده = ready food / prepared food
     Here, آماده is directly modifying غذا, so you need ezafe: غذای آماده

So in غذا هنوز آماده نیست, there is no ezafe because this is a full sentence, not a noun phrase.

A helpful pronunciation guide is:

ghazâ hanuz âmâde nist

Word by word:

• غذا ≈ gha-zâ
• هنوز ≈ ha-nuz
• آماده ≈ â-mâ-de
• نیست ≈ nist

A few pronunciation notes:

• غ is often pronounced like a French/German-style throaty r, but in many modern accents it sounds close to gh.
• آ is a long â, like the vowel in father.
• خ is not in this sentence, but learners often confuse it with غ. Here the first consonant is غ, not خ.

If you say gha-ZÂ ha-NUZ â-mâ-DE NIST, you will be quite understandable.

It is neutral standard Persian and completely natural.

You can use it in:

• everyday conversation
• writing
• polite speech
• basic textbook Persian

In casual spoken Persian, you may hear pronunciation reduced a little:

• غذا هنوز آماده نیس.

That is just a spoken reduction of نیست.

You may also hear the positive form reduced:

• آماده‌ست instead of آماده است

For example:

• غذا آماده‌ست. = The food is ready.

Yes, a little. Persian word order is flexible, but some versions sound more natural than others.

Most natural neutral version:

• غذا هنوز آماده نیست.

You may also hear:

• هنوز غذا آماده نیست.

This is also correct and natural. It puts a little more focus on هنوز.

A less neutral but possible order:

• غذا آماده نیست هنوز.

This can sound marked, literary, or conversational depending on context, but it is not the usual default order.

So for learners, the safest choices are:

• غذا هنوز آماده نیست.
• هنوز غذا آماده نیست.

Here, آماده is an adjective, meaning ready.

The actual verb-like part of the sentence is the copula:

• است = is
• نیست = is not

So the sentence is built like this:

• غذا = subject
• آماده = adjective/predicate
• نیست = copula in the negative

This is similar to English The food is ready, where ready is also an adjective.

The positive version is:

• غذا هنوز آماده است.

In natural spoken Persian, this is often pronounced or written informally as:

• غذا هنوز آماده‌ست.

So:

• آماده است = is ready
• آماده نیست = is not ready

Both patterns are very common.

Yes. غذا is a broad word. Depending on context, it can mean:

• food
• the food
• a dish
• the meal

So if people are waiting to eat, غذا هنوز آماده نیست can naturally mean:

• The food isn’t ready yet.
• The meal isn’t ready yet.

Context tells you which English translation fits best.

Yes, absolutely. It is a very natural everyday sentence.

For example, someone might say it when:

• guests ask if lunch is ready
• a child asks when dinner will be served
• someone is waiting for an order in a restaurant
• cooking is taking longer than expected

It is simple, common, and useful Persian.

A very common conversational version is:

• غذا هنوز آماده نیس.

That is just casual pronunciation of نیست.

You might also hear:

• هنوز غذا آماده نیس.

If you are learning standard Persian first, stick with:

• غذا هنوز آماده نیست.

Then later you can get used to spoken reductions like نیس and آماده‌ست.

A natural question is:

• غذا هنوز آماده نیست؟

Literally, this looks like The food still isn’t ready?, but depending on tone and context, Persian yes/no questions can work differently from English.

A more direct way to ask Is the food ready yet? is:

• غذا آماده است؟ = Is the food ready?
• غذا هنوز آماده نشده؟ = Hasn’t the food gotten ready yet? / Isn’t the food ready yet?

But if you are staying close to the original sentence pattern, the main thing to learn is that Persian often forms yes/no questions just by using a questioning intonation.

You can change the copula or use a fuller verbal structure.

Past:

• غذا هنوز آماده نبود. = The food still wasn’t ready.

Future-like meaning is often expressed with context or other verbs, for example:

• غذا به‌زودی آماده می‌شود. = The food will be ready soon.
• غذا هنوز آماده نخواهد بود. = The food still will not be ready.
  This is grammatical, but less common in everyday speech than simpler alternatives.

So the original sentence teaches a very useful base pattern that you can expand later.