فیلمی که دیروز در سینما دیدیم، از فیلم قبلی بهتر بود.

The -ی here is the indefinite marker. On its own, فیلمی can mean a film or some film.

But in sentences with a relative clause, Persian often uses this form even when English would naturally say the film that... So:

فیلمی که دیروز در سینما دیدیم
literally looks like a film that we saw yesterday at the cinema

but in natural English, depending on context, it can mean:

the film that we saw yesterday at the cinema

So this -ی does not always have to be translated as a.

Here, که means that/which/who and introduces a relative clause.

So:

فیلمی که دیروز در سینما دیدیم
= the film that we saw yesterday at the cinema

It connects the noun فیلمی to the description that follows it.

Persian uses که very often for relative clauses, and unlike English, it does not change for who / which / that.

Persian normally follows Subject–Object–Verb word order, so verbs usually come at the end.

In the relative clause:

دیروز در سینما دیدیم
literally: yesterday in the cinema saw-we

So the full phrase is:

فیلمی که دیروز در سینما دیدیم
= the film that we saw yesterday at the cinema

For an English speaker, this can feel backwards at first, but it is completely normal in Persian.

دیدیم means we saw.

It is made from:

• دید = past stem of دیدن (to see)
• -یم = we

So:

دید + یم = دیدیم
= we saw

This is the simple past tense.

This part gives extra information about when and where:

• دیروز = yesterday
• در سینما = in the cinema / at the cinema

Together:

دیروز در سینما دیدیم
= we saw yesterday at the cinema

Persian often puts time expressions like دیروز early in the clause.

در usually means in, inside, or sometimes at, depending on context.

So:

در سینما
can be understood as:

• in the cinema
• at the cinema

In everyday Persian, speakers sometimes omit در in certain expressions, but using it here is clear and standard.

In Persian, از is used in comparisons, where English uses than.

So:

از فیلم قبلی بهتر بود
literally: was better from the previous film

Natural English: was better than the previous film

This is a very common Persian pattern:

• از من بلندتر است = He/She is taller than me
• از آن کتاب بهتر است = It is better than that book

In Persian, adjectives usually come after the noun, not before it.

So:

• فیلم قبلی = the previous film
• literally: film previous

There is also an ezafe sound between them, even though it is not usually written in normal spelling:

film-e qablī

So the structure is:

noun + adjective

This is the normal Persian pattern.

They are connected by the ezafe, but short vowels are usually not written in Persian script.

So although you write:

فیلم قبلی

you pronounce it approximately as:

film-e qablī

That unwritten -e- links the noun to the adjective. This is extremely common in Persian writing.

بهتر means better.

The ending -تر is a common comparative marker in Persian, similar to English -er in words like faster or smaller.

So many Persian comparatives are formed like this:

• بزرگ = big → بزرگ‌تر = bigger
• سریع = fast → سریع‌تر = faster

With بهتر, it is best to learn it as the standard word for better.

بود means was.

So:

بهتر بود
= was better

The sentence is in the past, because it talks about a film that we saw yesterday and compares it to another film.

Also, since Persian verbs usually come at the end, بود appears at the very end of the sentence.

The comma separates the relative clause from the main statement:

فیلمی که دیروز در سینما دیدیم، از فیلم قبلی بهتر بود.

It helps the reader see the structure:

• فیلمی که دیروز در سینما دیدیم = the film that we saw yesterday at the cinema
• از فیلم قبلی بهتر بود = was better than the previous film

In Persian, punctuation can be a little flexible, but this comma makes the sentence easier to read.

A very literal translation would be:

A film that yesterday in the cinema we saw, from the previous film better was.

That sounds unnatural in English, but it helps show the Persian structure.

A natural English translation is:

The film that we saw yesterday at the cinema was better than the previous film.

So when learning Persian, it is useful to understand both:

• the literal structure
• the natural English meaning